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| One of the many rainbows of Iceland |
When I started this blog, I didn't know if it would last or not. I thought I'd write some advice to young adults who had just left home. If anyone reads this blog for advice after all these years, the only lessons you might be learning is what not to do in life.
To further add to the significance of my 300th post is the sense of change floating which hovers like a dark cloud over my head as well as the end of a decade. Between my insecurities and seeing people post their decade of accomplishments on social media (*cough Twitter *cough), I want to take a moment to reflect on some of the things I accomplished, for better or worse.
It's probably not going to be a comprehensive list and it's not meant as a place for me to brag. In fact some of the things I accomplished only happened because of my dogged stubbornness, others out of a lack of decisiveness, and a few from sheer dumb luck. There were a lot of tears, a few angry fists shaken at the sky, and a lot of happy moments.
But these are things that have shaped who I am and had a direct influence over since the start of 2010. I hope you read this list and think of your own accomplishments from the decade. Maybe reflect how you've changed as a person.
Because I know I'm not the person who I was in 2010. Heck, I'm not the same person today that I was last week.
So in no particular order:
- I voted for the first time
- I graduated University
- I got my first full time job and moved away from home
- I moved four times in five years (which included moving to and from three different states)
- I changed jobs once
- I was laid off
- I started taking my writing more seriously
- I published my first short story
- I had my first poem accepted for publication
- I fell in love (twice) and fell out of love (also twice)
- I played in my first rugby game
- I broke my first bone
- I made a lot of new friends...and left a few behind
- I attended my first convention (it was Bronycon)
- I cosplayed for the first time
- I was the person of honor at my sister's wedding and even got to wear a suit and bow tie
- I might have accidentally become a goddess
- I sang in the church choir
- I learned how to travel by myself...and probably will never stop
- I went to Iceland, Hong Kong, Oregon, and Washington for the first time
- I finally went back to Japan
- I learned and grew as a person outside of school
- I started a blog, and then another one about food
- I started a webcomic
- I learned how to be an artist...and a writer
- I started taking my mental health as seriously as my physical health
- I wrote my first novel (and promptly hid it from the world)
- I built a butterfly garden
- I learned how to accept myself...which is a lot easier said than done
It might not seem like a long list for a decade of accomplishments, but I think it's a nice list. You, my readers, have been around for much of it (I did start this blog in 2013). I written about my travels, cosplaying, publications, and explorations. I might have mentioned a time or two about the craziness of moving and how to make new friends in a new place.
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| It was a fun first convention. |
If you're wondering about the goddess thing...it's a joke, I swear, and has to do with one of the writer's groups I attend.
And looking at this list, I feel a little bit better. I've been in a bit of a slump and it's easy to slip into an over-critical mindset when this happens. Looking over my accomplishments - good, bad, and down right ugly - makes me feel a little less low, as though I can get through this current tough time.
I hope my list inspires you to reflect on this past decade, but don't compare what I've shared with your accomplishments. We all have different life experiences and circumstances. We all have different things that are important to us. What you've done today, this month, this year, or this decade is your accomplishment. It's awesome because you think it's awesome.
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| My drawing style has greatly improved since this. |
Things are always changing. I'd be surprised if you said you felt the same way today as you did back in 2010. I like to think that everything that happens, that shape us to the person we are today, creates a positive outcome. My life is currently all over the place (I'd like to blame Mercury being in retrograde, but that's just nonsense), but I hope it gets sorted soon.
If you feel that this decade wasn't the best, that's okay too. The 20s are just around the corner and wouldn't it be awesome if we brought back jazz and swing just in time?
Hopefully until next week.
If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.
P.S. always keep duct tape in the glove compartment.
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