Writing
Daren Sirbough
26 was when my whole world was turned upside ...

I was that energetic yet insecure kid in high school. Always wanting to make friends and to be nice to everyone. Once high school had finished, I was invited innocently by a friend to a church which I joined and stayed in for 8 years. It woke my passion for music but it also squashed my ability to question the world around me.

26 was when my whole world was turned upside down
Music, Writing
Daren Sirbough
Why I quit music as my main income stream

I've been playing music my whole life, I've been teaching music since I was 19 and up until 2017 I had only thought of music as my only career option. I would never have thought that I'd be writing about this topic today and had you told me two years ago that I'd be doing something completely different for a career, I'd tell you that you were crazy!

26 was when my whole world was turned upside down

26 was when my whole world was turned upside down

I was that energetic yet insecure kid in high school. Always wanting to make friends and to be nice to everyone. Once high school had finished, I was invited innocently by a friend to a church which I joined and stayed in for 8 years. It woke my passion for music but it also squashed my ability to question the world around me.

The day I almost took my own life

ian-espinosa-311604-unsplash.jpg

In 2010 I almost took my own life.

Image: Ian Espinosa

I stood at the edge of the cliff full of despair and hopelessness. One step and all of the pain would go away. I would be free of the demons that would haunt me. They were there where I lay sleeping. They were there when I woke. They walked with me through life. They would not leave me alone. This was my living nightmare.

A friend noticed my agony and approached me to ask if I was ok. Those words began to make their way through my cold shell and bring life where only darkness was. This started the year long process of healing and facing the fact that I was suffering from depression. Those kind and thoughtful words changed my world. That was eight years ago. I am happy to be alive today.

Depression is a debilitating condition. Everyone who goes through it experiences it quite differently. A simple question can start a conversation that could potentially save a life.

Remember that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

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Why I quit music as my main income stream

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I've been playing music my whole life, I've been teaching music since I was 19 and up until 2017 I had only thought of music as my only career option. I would never have thought that I'd be writing about this topic today and had you told me two years ago that I'd be doing something completely different for a career, I'd tell you that you were crazy!

2018 Goals

I'm sitting here in a cosy Airbnb in Melbourne taking stock of 2017 and making a list of things I'd love to see become a reality in 2018. Like all of us, life goes up and down and we mountaintop moments and moments in the valley. There's nothing surprising about that. However, I am a firm believer that it is what we do with those moments that can move us forward in life. It's the inspiration that we take from mountaintop moments that continues to fuel us when we are in that valley.