It’s 6:30pm on a Friday evening and I’m stood on the platform at Victoria Station. It’s taken me a while to start this week’s blog, a mixture of being tied up with work, comedy, music and life in general has meant that I haven’t had much time to sit with my thoughts and my laptop and write, hence why I have decided to kick-start this week’s blog whilst stood here on a platform waiting for a train but hey, I’ve heard it said that we should start where we are, so in that vein here I go.

I woke on Monday morning and looked out of my kitchen window en route to the bathroom. My butler had prepared fresh croissants with a blueberry compote...I wish...anyway, back to reality. It was about 6am and the sky showed the first signs of a sunrise. I live a few stories up and before me was a lovely view. It got me thinking about the views we all have and how our view can literally affect our point of view, which in turn influence what we think, how we act and what we see as achievable. For example, I wake up to this view every morning and whether I am conscious of it or not, it impacts on me and affects the way I see the world. Now the homeless person living in the tent downstairs (See Blog #9) they will have a different view when they wake up in the morning and just as my view affects the way I see the world; their view will do the same. I’d wager that my view will leave me feeling more optimistic than theirs. Something many of us fail to do is take the time to look at the world or a specific situation from another person’s point of view. I was recently put in a position where this was necessary, you see, I did something that was pretty selfish. I guess deep down I knew it was selfish of me at the time, but I didn’t think the person would take it to heart, however, they did. Now I could have maintained my point of view and been arrogant about it all, but instead I took a step back and saw it from their perspective. I understood how my actions had affected them and why they felt the way that they did. Granted doing so did make me feel like crap, and that’s a large part of the reason why many of us prefer not to look at things from another’s point of view, because it may cause us to have to look at ourselves and that’s not always a pleasant experience, though it is essential.

A few months back I attended a comedy show in Brixton and MC-ing on the night was a comedian by the name of Junior Booker. Junior has a very conversational style of comedy, it’s almost as though he’s just sitting there having a chat with you, picking his thoughts out of thin air and sharing them with you and he’s guaranteed to make you laugh. I really enjoy watching him do his thing. He hosts his own comedy night every now and then and so I reached out to him and asked whether I could perform. He kindly obliged and so after work I travelled to Streatham to perform 5-7 minutes of material. The night was very relaxed, a really cool vibe, comedians trying out new material and just having fun. I myself tried out a few new pieces, some of which went down very well, others that need work but I was up on stage for 15 minutes. That’s the longest set I’ve done thus far. The following day Junior and I were messaging back and forth on Instagram when he gave me the one compliment that any performer wants to hear. He told me that, and I quote “I killed it” very kind words from the big man and although it was a decent set I know I have a long way to go in this journey, one set a a time.

Remember last week, when I vowed to no longer complain but instead seek solutions to my problems, well, as part of the solution to my commuting issue for work I started my car search. I woke up early and felt like I travelled all over London. Searching for a vehicle can take you to some very interesting parts of London, places you may have never been before. For example, have you ever been to Mudchute? I bet you didn’t even know such a place existed, I’m prepared to wager you don’t even know what part of London it is…well…do you? Ha! See! Told you. Anyway, I had to head over there…it’s East by the way. I went to view a Smart Car. I can now officially confirm that a Smart Car is not for me. If ever you wanted to feel like you were driving a box then this car will give you that experience. I first travelled to Crystal Palace to view a prius, it was advertised as having done 203,000 miles only to realise it had actually done 230,000 miles. The seller said he made a mistake and could not amend it, I on the hand smelt bullshit! From Crystal Palace to Mudchute to view the Smart Car then, from Mudchute to Holloway Road to view another Prius and nothing I viewed or test drove gave me that tingly feeling I needed. The day ended after the Holloway Road viewing, however that night at work I was granted a reprieve and not sent out to work from a different fire station. I had lined up a few more viewings for the following day and was hoping that one of these cars would do it for me.

Buying a car is so so stressful, you’re hoping that the seller is an honest person, you’re hoping that the car will not blow up on you a few days after buying it, you’re hoping that it serves you well, there’s just so many stressful elements involved and then once you buy the car YOU HAVE A CAR! Then you have to look after the car and make sure it’s working and road worthy and healthy, just like a child! I guess the good thing is the car will get you somewhere, where as a child just stops you from going anywhere. A part of me wanted a nice sexy car, I’ve always wanted a BMW 1 series, but gone are the days when I put image over practicality. I have been driving for over 13 years now and ever since I worked part time for Uber and drove a Toyota Prius my life changed. I now love hybrid cars and automatics so I lined up a few Prius viewings. The following day I travelled all the way to Dartford to view another Prius. It was mostly everything I wanted. It was black, I like black cars, the interior was black leather, the mileage was reasonable and it looked in decent condition. Two men met me at the station, it felt like we could have been doing some kind of illegal activity but if the cops were following me they’d be rather disappointed. We drove to a Supermarket where I gave the car a good look over with all of my motoring knowledge...which isn’t much and then spent the next 45 minutes ummmming and ahhhhing over whether I should buy it. After an hour, I said to the guy that if he knocked a further £100 off the price I’d take it. He agreed, we shook hands and off I went to get the money. Before I knew it, the deal was done. That first drive after purchasing a used car is always the most uncomfortable. I was listening out for any noises, constantly looking at the dashboard praying that a warning light didn’t come on and as always hoping not to get stopped by the police. Not that I had anything to be afraid of, it was all legit, plus, the fact that the police in the UK don’t carry guns means the most I’ll get is a beating. I’ll take that over a bullet. I made it home safely, the car was all good and that night I drove in to work, where I did not get a reprieve. Instead I was sent to work from Paddington Fire Station. I welcomed the news, because now, I had my wheels and so off I went, feeling like I made the best decision ever…well maybe not the best ever, but at least for the month.

I wish I could say that I am always feeling positive about my art. But the truth is that as an artist your life is filled with ups and downs but when you’re going through a down period it is essential to acknowledge it and then start to do things that will get you back up again. Recently, despite releasing new music in Upon a Lifetime and having some great things happen surrounding it I was in a bit of a lull. It was at this stage that I saw an e-mail advertising an event called BBC Introducing Live. This is an annual music event where there would be live music and seminars taking place all about the music industry. I knew that it was the kind of event I should be attending but a part of me wasn’t sure whether I would go. However, I figured it best to book a ticket anyway and see whether the spirit would take me on the day. It just so happened that a fellow musician friend of mine was in the country from Germany, her name is Lia Blue and so I invited her along as I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for us to catch up and both get some great information and inspiration. Maybe her being here was what I needed to push me to go, so I did and I must say that it was just the tonic I needed. Not only did I learn so much about the industry but I heard some words of wisdom from the people that matter. One thing that stuck with me the most was spoken by a member of the panel at a seminar about juggling music and entrepreneurship. He said that we often get so caught up in the stats and figures surround music and also get so caught up in the idea of how many followers and likes we get on social media, but what we need to focus on is making great music. It’s not that I don’t know this but we can get distracted from this message from time to time. I guess you could say I had been somewhat distracted but feel like it brought me back to where I needed to be. Whist at the event I also bumped into a few people I knew, which was amazing. One of these people was friend and fellow songwriter Lucky Bamba we met last year and during our first meeting shared a bottle of red wine and wrote a lovely song entitled ‘Sliding Door’ we’ve gone on to write a few more songs together and have never had a bad writing session. One of our co-writes will he coming out on the 22nd November. It’s entitled ‘Angels’ and it’s beautiful!!!!! Watch this space!

When you have a lot of things happening in your life it’s so important to be as organised as possible. I do have myself a diary but that didn’t stop me from forgetting about an event I had been invited to on Friday. You see, A few months back I decided I would start applying for acting roles and within the first week of applying for roles I got myself an audition. It was for a short film called ‘2025 The Long Hot Winter’ and on Friday it would be shown as part of the Earl’s Court Film Festival. I only remembered last minute but as it was the first short film I had acted in I thought it would be great to go and also great to see some of the cast and crew once again. The short film was amazing, and I’m not just saying that because I was in it. It was really entertaining, with a great mixture of humour and seriousness as it brought in to focus the serious topic of climate change. The writer and director of the film really praised my contribution and expressed a desire to work with me again. The funny thing is that all of this came from rejection. I got in to comedy and acting as a result of being rejected from an audition I did for The Voice UK. After that day, I decided to quit my part-time job working for Uber and throw myself into everything that I enjoy doing and as a result of that decision the last few months have seen me doing things I never thought I’d have the opportunity to do. I say all of this, to say, don’t let your failures define you, learn from them and come back stronger. Often there is more for us to learn from failure than there is to learn from success.

I ended this week doing a few more things that I enjoy. One was playing football and the other was drinking beer. I’m a member of a football club that plays an 8-a-side game every week. I try to play whenever time permits but it had been a few weeks since my last game. I volunteered to be captain and I’m pleased to say I picked a winning team. We play first to 10 and on this occasion, we won 10-6. I even scored a goal, which is quite a rare occurrence for me. It wasn’t so much that I scored a goal, but more the way I scored it. A pin point pass was made to me form the back field, I watched the ball as it arrived and allowed the ball to cross my path, controlled it on the turn and calmly toe poked it past the on-rushing keeper. It was a thing of beauty. However, later in the game when the score was 7-6 to us I realised that I was making too many mistakes and we were being punished for it, so I put myself in goal and let the more talented players go and win us the game. It’s important to be aware of your strengths and play to them when necessary. I’m not a silky footballer with great vision but I am a good motivator and communicator, two things that are essential for being a goalkeeper. I’m also pretty agile so have been known to save a shot or two. With the score-line so close I figured I could do a better job in goal and that decision paid off.

The beer drinking on the other hand, in hindsight may have not been such a great decision. As I sit here with my stomach twisting and turning I believe that to be true, however, it was a really fun night. Here in London there’s an area called Bermondsey and it is here you’ll find the ‘The Bermondsey Beer Mile’ It’s a mile long stretch of 17 breweries that serve up craft beers and ciders. The challenge is to do the whole mile, but we managed to do two breweries. The beers were lovely though. I sampled a sour beer, not the biggest fan but it was alright, a stout called The Big Milk, which was amazing, and two Indian Pale Ale’s, I have grown to like IPA’s very much. I’m not sure just how much I consumed and at what percentage but let’s just say by the time I was heading home I could definitely feel it and my stomach is not very happy with me at the moment. Nevertheless, if you like a beer then I’d definitely encourage you to check this place out. I’ll definitely be back. I’ve got 15 more breweries to hit.

Dancing Juice (IPA) and Pointless Innocence (Sour Beer) find these at The Barrel Project — **Dancing Juice (IPA) and Pointless Innocence (Sour Beer) find these at** **The Barrel Project**

Well, here I sit, it’s nearly 9pm on Sunday. It’s very silent, so much so that I can hear the fan spinning in my laptop. She’s starting to overheat I guess. In the distance I can hear fireworks, the 5th November will be Guy Fawkes Night, a night where we let off fire works to mark the failed gunpowder plot of 1605 when Guy tried to blow up parliament but the fireworks always start a few days earlier and go on for a few days after. I am about to brush my teeth and get ready for bed, it’s been a busy week for me and I’m sure it’s been a busy one for you too. Take a moment for yourself, sit down and watch an episode of something you like, spend some time with someone you care about, or just sit in silence and get lost in the wonder of this thing we call life, whatever you do just be present, enjoy it and make a conscious effort to see the world from another’s point of view, you may be surprised at what you find.

Catch you next week

Roman Harris … Currently weighing in at 77.2 kg. Something seems to be working.

Point of view By Roman Harris