Well, I suppose I should start off with the obligatory New Year’s review of the last twelve months, so here goes:
Started a blog.
Sketching every day, blogging about it.
Big dreams and baby steps.
Small victories.
Surprisingly, no crushing defeats.
Life getting in the way.
Old habits dying hard… or refusing to die.
Seasonal depression.
Brad’s new job.
Quit my “real” job.
Summer. Who actually gets anything done over the summer?
Back to school.
Extracurricular activities.
New business venture.
Weddings and vacations.
Buying a house (that one may not have even gotten a mention here, sorry!)
Learning as I go.
Moving out.
Moving in.
Unpacking.
Thanksgiving.
Repainting and decorating.
More unpacking.
Black Friday through New Years.
Brad’s 65 hour work weeks.
Setting up new studio space.
Trying to keep business afloat.
Cooking.
Cleaning.
Visiting family.
ER visit for one of the boys.
Cooking more.
Cleaning more.
More family.
New Year’s Day.
Kids back to school.
Breathe………….
Life got moving so fast there for a while that months seemed to blur by in the span of days. 2012 was a year of change, growth. It was hectic, crazy, and stressful beyond words. But looking back, despite how hard it got at times, it was all positive and I feel incredibly fortunate for the life I have.
Looking back over the year I will be the first to admit that I had short-comings and at times, outright failures (if I’m being honest with myself). I completely stopped sketching, and then almost completely stopped blogging, I didn’t manage to stay on top of a lot of things in my life. I am a little disappointed, but I am not too hard on myself. That first step is the hardest, and after going back and reading my very first post on here I remember the flood of implications that came rushing though my mind as I thought about what it really meant to take a step toward doing art full time. I still have to give myself credit for even making it through publishing that first post. After that, deciding to quit my regular job to pursue my art was a huge personal risk, as well as some risk to my family’s financial situation as well. That isn’t to say that just by jumping off I didn’t open some doors that wouldn’t have come about otherwise, and that is what I am most excited about (all of that fantastic news will come in my subsequent posts, don’t worry!)
My take away from last year: Live and learn.
I can look back at this last year with a critical eye and see where I stumbled and more importantly, what I tripped over. Most of it doesn’t come as a surprise; as I’ve written, they are personal demons I have been battling since I was old enough to be aware of them. I can push ahead with courage and determination and foresight that I didn’t have last year.
Here’s wishing you all the best in 2013– Cheers!
