#01: The Great Escape: My Vision for TGE
I’d been dreaming about creating a place like “The Great Escape” for years now. Looking back, different seeds of the idea popped up in my journals, like little clues of what was to come, stretching back almost 5 years. It’s funny how that works out. How an unconscious seed of an idea joins with another and then with another until it grows into a fully formed thing… which brings us to today.
A huge part of “The Great Escape” (TGE) finally becoming reality stemmed from a feeling I’d been having often lately. A feeling like I had to do something to help the world. Like really and directly contributing to help the world. Maybe it’s because I watched David Attenborough’s: A Life On Our Planet (go watch it right now if you haven’t yet) and felt the need to act… I don’t know. Either way, I felt this deep down NEED to somehow contribute to making the world shine a bit brighter and preserve it’s beauty for future generations. Oh yeah, I also have a kid now and he’s truly the best thing that could ever exist. I’m sure that contributed to my urgency too.
I know that it’s easy to convince yourself that by being an artist, you are contributing to the world already, and I agree that my art… my music has saved me and hopefully helped other people on this planet — I mean, music is the closest thing to pure magic that exists in this world, I believe. But, I’m talking hands-on, immediate, “help this planet” type of thing. So that’s one reason the Great Escape exists now.
Another reason is just that I love creating things… creating spaces… telling stories… immersing myself in worlds with interlocked continuing threads that are connected, surprising, and unexpected. For me, there’s a disconnectedness that I feel runs through much of our “connected world” so I feel invigorated to be creating a space to share my art and tell stories in a way that is connected, intertwined and inspiring.
This journal entry is the first of many entries I will be writing and probably a great example of how I picture this journal going — unfiltered, unrefined thoughts, ideas, obsessions, dreams… Now, I don’t want to explain too much more about The Great Escape right now, just know that I am so glad that you’re with me here for the adventure.
If you haven’t already, go dive in and have a look around. This is the beginning of something beautiful.