Peace out, 2013!

Last year I got a little daily planner with the intention of drawing in it at least once a day. I wanted to see if I would be able to not only come up with something original every day for a year, but also keep at a creative habit for the duration of those 52 weeks.

It was my inner fat kids version of going to the gym resolution.

I'm happy to say that 365 days later, I totally succeeded! Sure, some days I got lazy and only scribbled a stick figure or something stupid, but I did it!

Looking back on it, there were plenty of times that I was annoyed [first world problems, anyone?] I had to draw something on any given day, but there are also a lot of little memories sprinkled within all of these that make me remember sort of obscure details I probably would have forgotten. Memory is a funny thing - how itty bitty doodles of completely random things are able to trigger such vivid recollections of tiny, often insignificant, moments. There are many times looking back through this notebook that I remember where I was when I drew something, or I know exactly what I was feeling when it was being made, even if it was totally unrelated. This is definitely something I'll keep doing in future years, and I've even purchased my next planner for the coming days (it's so much fancier than this one, too! I can like, put a photo in the clear front slip of it! So now I'm stuck in this huge debate about what picture I like enough to put in there and stare at for the rest of my life! Conundrums!)!

2013 was a pretty rollercoastery year, as most tend to be. There were many defining moments, huge emotional swings within the span of hours, tried lots of new things, and even failed at a few of them. It's nice to leave the year with no big regrets, though. It's a new feeling, and I really like it. I'm walking into 2014 with more confidence than ever before (I don't even get uncomfortable looking in a mirror anymore!), a keen understanding that sometimes you need to just say fuck it and jump, and that the fuck it and jump mentality applies not only to new experiences, but to people, too. 

I'm not really sure what the hell the second half of 2014 will entail, since that's when I come back to America and start dealing with big girl problems like "getting a real job" and "paying my student loans." But I'm pretty sure that if a single mom with three kids can work and go to school and stay afloat that I'll be fine, also. Especially now that I'm armed with janky developing world solutions to pesky problems like "having a lot of things." Thank you, Georgia!

Basically, what I'm trying to say is this:

Triumphant fist and everything!