New Years Resolutions
Wow. 2015. Wow.
I can't believe it's already 2015. 2014 went by so quickly, I remember it like it was two days ago. And since it's the new year, I know that everybody is making new years resolutions. I am too. But this year, I'll try to put more effort into keeping them.
1. DRAW EVERY DAY.
I'm making this resolution because I know for a fact it will help me in life. As some of you know, I want to work in art and animation. To be specific, I want to be a visual development artist, the artist who designs what gets animated. I've read dozens of articles about working in animation and everyone always gives the same advice: draw everyday. Nothing like the new year to start new habits! Drawing everyday will be challenging (finding time and a subject isn't easy) but it will help my drawing skills, my creativity and will help me get one step closer to my dream career.
2. TALK TO STRANGERS
No, not like that.
I am a very shy person. I don't like talking to new people. Being surrounded by people I don't know is one of my worst fears. I don't know why I get so scared around new people, but I panic at the thought of a big group of strangers. But we all know fears can be overcome. This year, I want to get better at talking to new people. It will be a slow process, but I'm tired of sitting alone at a party and being completely terrified of talking to someone. I don't want to become a total social butterfly, and I don't think I ever will. I just want to be able to talk to the other girl who's sitting alone. If I can work up the courage to talk to someone new, I can help someone who's going through the exact same thing.
Um, that's all I can think of now. Those were the ones I had already planned to be my official resolutions. Maybe it's better to have two resolutions that matter to you than a whole list of shallow ones. And maybe my list will grow, since you don't have to wait until January 1st to change your life!
And all I can say is, 2015 felt like 6 months. But when I look back on what happened last year, it does feel like a year. Psychology is weird. Anyway, I feel like I've grown so much in 2015, especially since starting high school. But I'm not here to talk about how high school has changed me, I've only had one semester of it. Right now, I'm going to talk about how I acted on these new years resolutions.
1. DRAWING EVERY DAY
I'll be the first to say that I wasn't sure I could follow through on this one. But for the most part, I did draw everyday. At first it was hard and I did a lot of last minute drawings before I went to sleep. But later on, it kind of became a habit. I can't remember the last time I went to bed without drawing at least once. I thought finding time would be an issue, but it really wasn't. And because I draw everyday, my skills have improved radically. You can literally see my style changing if you look through my sketchbooks. My style got more realistic and as I learned to draw more things, it also got more interesting. I can't wait to draw everyday in 2016, and hopefully my style will change so much, I shudder at all the drawings I did this year! ;)
2. TALKING TO STRANGERS
This resolution had a backstory. Every year, on New Years' Day, my family celebrates with our family friends and their cousins. They are a family of nine. Every year, I hated going to their house, because I couldn't hang out with any of them. Their two oldest daughters were adults, the kids my age were roudy boys, and they had littler kids. I remember last year, I was miserable. I was bored out of my mind, but too painfully shy to talk to anyone. I ended up having my dad taking me home early because I couldn't take it anymore. And I hated myself for it, making myself miserable and being too shy to do anything about it. So I decided to become less shy so I never have to do that again. And it worked, a little. I'm still shy, one year later. I don't really like to go to youth group because I'm not really friends with any of the regulars and my one friend that used to go stopped. But I'm much better. I'm more outgoing than I was last year, and I held my own at the New Years' Day party today. I basically decided I didn't wan to sit around feeling sorry for myself, and I joined a conversation between the moms and the adult daughters. I even enjoyed myself. I'm a pretty good conversationalist once I get comfortable in a group. I still left early, since my sister was at an awkward age too. But I'm proud of myself for putting myself out there and I hope I can brave youth group in 2016.
I'm really proud of myself and how much I've grown in 2015. I'll post my new resolutions later, because this post is getting a little long and I don't know what they are yet anyway.
