2021: A Year of Firsts

Oh boy it’s been a while since I’ve last blogged. But here we are. I just needed to get this off my chest.

This year was a year of firsts. It was my first full year away from an academic environment and working full-time. I designed my first interior space, had my first full-time job (and it was in a management position), left the stability of my first full-time job to start creating as a freelance artist and designer, painted my first commissioned mural, and balanced my first super busy winter season of paintings and logo commissions. 

Seems like I did a lot, right? Now it does. But I want to tell you straight up, with all the progress I’ve made, not one step has been easy. With the growth came the growing pains. Throughout the year, I battled with anxiety and my perfectionism, which kept telling me not to take chances and follow my heart. Self-doubt got in my way as I conceptualized and planned so many projects that didn’t come to fruition. Shit hit the fan due to unforeseen circumstances dozens of times, hurting my finances and self-esteem. I look back now and I feel like I could have given so much more, that I could have been more consistent and could have had more faith in myself. 

Ultimately I think it comes down to seeing myself as less than what I know I can be, and allowing that inferior self to deal with my problems. But hindsight is 2020, and that’s, like, so two years ago. Sure, it’s good to look back and understand where things went wrong, but only if it contributes toward learning to do better and correcting my course. I can’t dwell on the negatives of the past, especially when there were so many positives.

So I’ll focus on those now. Sure, there were a whole lot of firsts and personal wins which I mentioned, but the real highlights were the new friends I made, and the friendships I strengthened throughout the year. And there are SO MANY OF THEM!!! These friends were the reason why I was so successful, whether they presented opportunities for me to shine, or gave me confidence and encouragement when I doubted myself, or simply made me laugh. Lemme break the 4th wall for a sec: To all of you reading now, I am so grateful to have met and shared time with you. If it wasn’t for you, there is no way I would be able to stand as tall as I do now, poised to enter another year in pursuit of making a difference through art.

To sum it all up, this year was crazy for me. In spite of my doubts and mental health struggles, as well as the circumstances we all dealt with, I still managed to take my first steps toward fulfilling my dreams as an artist and designer, building life-long friendships and great memories along the way. 

Thank you all for sharing this journey with me. Let’s kill it in 2022.

Big hug to all of you for making this year so meaningful and successful :)