I'll add my welcome. I've been here just a hair (ha ha) under a month myself, and it's a friendly, supportive place. Like you, I've been bearded for 29 years -- either a full beard, a 3-4-day shadow beard, an 8-10-dayish stubble beard, a goatee, or, now, my fullest beard ever, about 1.5 inches long. I didn't set out to be bearded, but I had nice density and fast growth and I hated to shave, so ... it just made sense. Lots of compliments over the years helped. You obviously have the growth to make this work. I'm surprised you haven't tried it fuller before. Don't change your mind and clip too fast; give it a chance.