London is a lover.

Show it loyalty. Explore it. Make the effort. Get to know it. Find a corner. Make it yours.

It takes time. It took me 18 months. One day you wake up and it is your home. You have plans all over the city. Ridiculous travel times mean meditation on the tube, listening to music. Plotting.

The noise is energy. Skyscrapers say ambition.

Massive galleries remind me to aim high. I’ve had most of my epiphanies here.

All you need is a camera to turn London into a giant creative playground. One of the best in the world.

The bad things they tell you about are the best things about London. ‘Too competitive’ means you are surrounded by peers. They are in cafes, gigs, the cinema, next to you. Make the effort. Make your formative films, music, with them. Study with them. Ascend together.

Give people proper, full hugs. Make serious arrangements. Make serious time for people. Tell people how you really are. Lead.

London will give back in inspiration, diversity, food, beautiful little cinemas. Cool, hidden places for kisses, Chinese tea, drinks you have never heard of. It has educated me as an artist. It has made me the artist I am.

You will get opportunities you can’t get elsewhere.

Yes, we have serious problems. I hate the aggressive, depressing, shit gentriication too. The grassroots art scene that made me an artist has been destroyed. It makes me furious.

But we stay. We dig deep. We make London great again. We remember it. We give back. There is still enough to love here.

Don’t give up on her. We will make her the city of epiphanies again.