I was doing pretty bad at the start of the year and consistently throughout. During the whole of 2020 I've: Cancelled on a big life move, went into a deep and pervasive depression from January-February, got hit with a global pandemic just after coming out of it, and suffered multiple mental breakdowns from the state of the world. After I evened out I started going through a quarter-life crisis after my 26th birthday, and only recently got out of that after months of trying to find my identity as my 30s fast approach. Now it's all good, and someone really close to me has gotten closer.

I hope all is well for you, or things get better! Sorry for the big vent.

man, the night really is darkest before the dawn, that is a really nice way to end that off ;u; i know all about that quarter life crisis man, had one myself...they are ugly x3x im glad you came through it better ouo

I know that feel! This year has been bad for everyone. XD

I've dealt with narcissistic neighbors. (They were evicted recently. Thank god!) Stress and jaw clenching leading to TMJ, and having to shop for groceries at the dollar store.

Thankfully, my other neighbors are very nice. One man is planning to make everyone where I live breakfast. :D

But, yeah it's been a rough year. I've noticed that tragedy tends to bring out both the best, and worst of people, and it can be hard to focus on the best. XD

Take care, man! Let me know if you need someone to chat with! ^^

thanks alot for the offer ;u; ive had bad neighbors, that sucks. especially when any altercation just means more drama, thank god they got the boot c:
i do appreciate it, maybe ill take you up on that offer c:

No problem! I can be a little slow to reply sometimes, but I'm always good for a chat! ^^

Yes it has been a hell year :p.
I'm doing well though. Got a good family and stable job to keep going on.

Don't worry about not being social - It sounds super corny but you're interacting with us already by releasing art. I used to be a recluse as well, but I have changed in the course of 9 years (yes 9 years). You're allowed to talk or not talk to people, it costs energy to do things you don't want to and if socializing is not your cup of tea then nobody will blame you. Typing this comment out to reply to you 9 years ago would have cost me half a day of energy. Socialize when you want and as often as you want and you will build up stamina over time.

hmmmm...i really appreciate this comment man...i keep feeling hopeless, like im doomed and my lack of social drive is going to permanent, but that gives me hope that maybe im just slowly improving. nothing is more true then that energy comment, i find socializing to be exhausting at times, i get antsy and wanna sleep after xux
im glad this year has been pretty stable for you, that is good to hear ;3;

This year has been a roller coaster of emotions for me. I've been stuck at a crappy grocery job which labelled me an "essential" cashier, meaning I basically saw the front lines of all of humanity's nutjobs. I dealt with the TP hoarders, the endless lines of Karens, the winos with literal carts full of wine boxes and Clorox, and all without a break, 5 or more days a week, 9 hours a day.

My depression has slowly been returning after having disappeared during my college years (my family is toxic and it began to return immediately after I graduated and had to move back in last year), and this summer it hit hard. Had some...incidents...both at others and myself where I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm now keenly aware of some body issues I have that have screwed up my entire life and carefully watching a medical firm that is developing the surgery I would need to fix myself.

I also dropped out of grad school. Continuing to attend a conservatory, for composition no less, after 86% of the jobs disappeared the first three months this year BEFORE the pandemic, followed by the illegal firing of the NSO, social distancing shutting theaters and other industry-collapsing events was, well, foolish, so I didn't.

But on an upswing, I've spent this year investing in learning digital art, and revisited almost my entire gallery across two tablets as practice before moving on to new works. I also began posting stories, which was a medium I was super shy about, and after receiving positive support, I'll continue writing as well as next year trying to combine the two into comics. I'm now confident that being a furry artist is what I want to do with my life, and I'm slowly working myself up to being serious and spending hours a day doing nothing but drawing. My posting schedule is still slow for now, with the job still looming, but I'm getting better, and faster!

Also, I want to throw in here that I grew up without social media and have been a recluse myself; trust me, it is definitely a learning curve! So don't worry if you don't think you're as social as other artists here, it's totally okay. Socializing can be daunting or even just time-and energy-draining.

Whew. Sorry for the huge post. I took the prompt a little literally XD

wow, jeez you had a rough year, im sorry dude x3x needing surgery is scary asf, i got so anxious over the thught of being put under for wisdom teeth surgery i was having daily anxiety, and jsut had them to local anasthetic instead xux.
learning to art is a great idea, streaming, whatever, making vids, there is SO MANY WAYS to monetize yourself nowadays, its a good idea to seek any avenue C:
i didnt have a com till i was in my 20's it has been rough learning xux though im glad things are on the uptick, stay positive man, keep on it, youll get there if you want it C:

I turned 23 this year and have only hd one comm before, so I’m still nervous about that XD I might be headed the likes of Funkybun and perhaps doing Patreon and other stuff instead so I can stick to my characters and canon, but I dunno. Maybe I can be persuaded otherwise? I at least have over a decade of lurker accounts and watching people I admire to look towards for guidance.

I was also terrified for my wisdom teeth, but this one’s...even more personal, and important. It’s also still in testing; I’m signed up to hopefully get it once it enters human trials. I dunno how I’ll afford it if I don’t, but I’m still hopeful :3

To be fair I'm pretty sure almost everyone who made promises at the beginning of this year had to end up breaking them... :P

LOL very fair point, a certain something, caused that xux

I'm alright, nothing too exciting going on.

i suppose thats better then bad c:

I've been keeping an even keel throughout the year. I'm not going crazy and bouncing off the walls, but it isn't a whole lot of fun to be stuck inside all the time, or forced to minimize human interaction outside. Maybe it is these conditions that are making me feel less inspired lately. I've been meaning to work on my art output, but it just never ended up happening.

Wouldn't you know it, though, as soon as I switch from a contract job where I could move at any time so it's not worth the effort to make friends, to a job where I will never be asked to move and I can at least try to make some friends around town, a pandemic hits and we aren't allowed to socialize. Or, at least, it can be dangerous to do so. Go figure, right?

I mean, I guess an increased rate of package theft has also been an unfortunate side effect. Had to take out a PO Box because the problem got so bad. I had to have around $150 worth of merchandise refunded so far, and most of it was out of stock so I couldn't order it again.

But I know that I'm fortunate. I have a job where I can work from home, and we are actually not allowed to go to the office because of COVID. But, because I know that I've been lucky, I've been making regular donations to the local food bank, so hopefully I can lighten the load on everyone else who wasn't so lucky. I actually drive past the food bank to go to the store. I see cars lined up and I hope that we're donating enough for them to keep up.

this year is pure hell for extroverts especially, im an introvert so i have coped semi well, as well as i could at least xux

it would figure that when its like"lets go make friends" suddenly everything is closed xux

that is awesome of you to do, and dont feel like you arent doing enough. giving to the foodbank and giving whatever you are comfortable with is more then most do C:

Gosh this year has been rough for everyone. Back in June, my car broke down, I almost got evicted and I had to switch jobs too. I don't wanna go into too much detail but things were rough for a few months. But I did get a new place and car and I;m doing much better now!

wel, im glad things picked up ;3; im sure your story is very common this year, which is really sad x3x

Hugs

This year has had its ups and downs for me too. Please be nicer to yourself.

eh....ill try bud xnx not easy to do tho ;3;

Hugs More

This year is boredom. I'm reasonably introverted, but I still like to have some scenery changes. Having to be cooped up in my house for the majority of the time is therefore not fun.

Having to do university online is eh. The experience is better delivered in person, but it's still doable. It sucks ass however that the virtual classroom sometimes decides to not connect for the first 10 minutes due to arcane computer sorcery.

This year has been quite the rollercoaster for me. Covid hasn't really changed my schedule up very much, as I'm already rather reclusive; just made it harder to go out for a meal on weekends. Work got real messy though; watched a third of my plant's workforce get furloughed (and not all of them were brought back), we had our yearly raises cancelled, and trying to move around in the company became impossible. Morale has tanked and my superiors are scratching their heads trying to figure out why nobody is sticking their necks out for the company now. We lost some good people from the furloughs and layoffs and now nobody wants to do more than the bare minimum to get by at work, so now we're going to be working mandatory 6-day weeks to play catch-up, but that extra 6th day is on a completely different schedule to our normal 5 days so our sleep schedules are about to get screwed up.

All that aside, I've made it this far and I'll find a way to keep making it beyond this; I always seem to find a way.

It’s been awful for me. Death in the family, natural disasters, my ever present depression. It’s probably a new worst year of my life. I wish I was done living

Could be worse I suppose. Not too bad tho. Just hanging in there day by day. Your art continues to amaze me just like the other artists I follow. Cheers to a better year next year. And a happy holidays in the coming months