Thought I would type up my prepared speaking points for the few fuzzies that wanted to attend my panel but couldn't. If you read my journal from earlier this year you may remember a few elements I borrowed.

Hi! Thanks for coming, I'm glad I could peel a few of you away from the variety show. I wanted to talk to you all today about dreams. Furries are natural dreamers, we come up with characters and personas and bring them to life through art, writing, and costuming. The creative part of the fandom is what intrigues me most and I enjoy seeing all that come together at conventions.

However one thing I see alot that I don't like is the anxiety and depression that seems to plague our younger furs. Alot of them have seemingly given up on themselves or their dreams. You may know someone like this or it could be you and I want to encourage you to reach out.

Why don't people get what they want out of life? Fear is the first big factor I want to talk about, there are all different kinds of fear, failure, rejection, and success. Lets break it down and adjust our point of view on these things to see how we can overcome them.

Failure: this has a really negative connotation to it straight out of the gate but it doesn't have to be. First thing to know about failure is that it happens to everyone, the people that win are the ones that keep getting up and trying again. Anticipate it happening and steel yourself to overcome it.

Rejection: another common fear folks deal with, from relationships to job interviews its intimidating to put yourself out there and risk being kicked back to the curb. You can choose to hide from it afraid to get hurt, but even if you resign yourself to the curb the pain will find you in one form or another.

Success: some people feel like they couldn't handle what they want out of life and decide not to go for it. In some ways this is true, the person who you are and the person you want to be are two completely different people. Alot of us are familiar with the phrase "the journey is more important than the destination" Drawing from this, the personal developments you are going to make along the way are whats going to prepare you for that goal. You can go into a clinic, pay a doctor to suck 20 lbs off your waist with liposuction and walk out looking like a new person. The thing is though, you'll look different but still be the same person. You'll still be the person that eats too much of the wrong things, doesn't exercise enough, and doesn't have the discipline to say no to cravings.

Beating fear: There are two things I've learned that help me push past the paralyzing agents of fear. The first is to write down what exactly it is you are scared of once you have them written down laid bare before you its easy to break them down and get to the root of things. The second is asking yourself what is the benefit of not going through with whats scaring you. I got cold feet multiple times leading up to this panel, pondered emailing IFC asking them to cancel it, the weight of it on my shoulders felt so heavy.The thing is though I could not think of any benefits to backing out. All I could come up with were negatives, if I back out this time I'm more likely flee again, if I back out I'm letting life win and keeping me on my knees.

Life will employ all of these things to work together and try to keep you immobilized. Life is cruel, life is harsh, life will beat you to your knees and keep you down there till you're buried. Life will also yield to those who have the heart and the faith to push past those things. Faith is an important part in getting what you want out of life. You have to have faith in yourself that you deserve the things you're striving for. Have faith that tomorrow is going to be better than today. Also know that what you have now does not 100% dictate what you can have in the future.

You also have to have alot of heart. There are going to be days where you can do everything right and things just won't work out for you. You'll see everyone around you making progress while your feet are beating a deeper hole in the dirt. During these times you can fall back on why you started in the first place. Dwelling on your motivation is a great way to steel your resolve and power up the hill.

I want to encourage you to make motivational videos a daily part of your life, right after you wake up listen to one or two, find something that gets you pumped. Youtube has countless videos of different flavors you can find one that works for you. Listening to them daily is an important part to this process as you have to change your mind. I have these voices in my head telling me "you can't do this" "no one cares" "you're not a people person." Listening to these videos will help you overcome these voices and it doesn't hurt to look yourself in the mirror and tell them to shut up. Once you are at the point where your mind gives you the self affirmations and pickups you will be leagues ahead in life.

Finally, its the last day of the convention and we're all about to go home. On your way back home I want you to consider something you gave up on in your life and get back into it. You don't have to dive in face first but just take the first step and take it from there. You might be surprised to find out its easier than you anticipated! If you feel relatively happy in life I want to encourage you to expand and grow. Over the next year learn a new skill, self educate and move yourself forward in your field. Human beings were born to achieve! I also would like it if you came back next year and shared your stories with everyone here. Also feel free to contact me and share your stories, I would enjoy hearing them.