Today is a big day!

On November 16th 2020, I made these goals:
- minimize toxic relationships as much as possible in my life
- quit smoking
- stop eating out, and prepare almost all of my meals from basic ingredients
- draw more

Looking back at where I was then almost a year later, I'm exceedingly pleased to say that I've accomplished ALL of these goals! I've drawn more in the past year than ever before, and have pushed myself to learn new tools and methodologies to discover what my art truly means to me. The hardest of these goals was the minimization of toxicity, it's incredible how intensely some people want you to be convinced of inadequacy. I wish those people the best, but I won't self-sacrifice any longer.

I've been trying to quit smoking on and off for 4 years. Prior to this, I had made it 3-4 months before giving in- this is the longest I've been smoke-free since taking my first try. I don't ever want to go back, and cannot express in words what it feels like to finally be able to draw a full breath or taste the air on my tongue. I will keep this going as long as I can, and what made the big difference for me this time was realizing just how unavailable my coping mechanism made me to my friends. We all go through low points in our lives, and it was only by understanding and accepting that I could not expect others to lift me up if I wasn't able or willing to do the same that I kicked that habit (hopefully) for good. Thanks guys!

I ate out (fast food, delivery, dining, pre-made meals, etc.) often before because I was too lazy to learn how to create my own meals, or just do basic adult shopping. This was actually a fun goal to chase because I learned how much I love to cook and try out new recipes (to great failure or success!), as well as talk in a new sphere about something many of my connections were passionate about. I also dropped 40lbs, which is a fantastic bonus!

The drawing more goal sort of fulfilled itself naturally while I tackled the ones above. This year I've rediscovered who I was after having forgotten for a very long time, and with that self-discovery came a renewed drive to create in more abundance and fidelity. The little pic in the top left took me about a week to make when I first started, and being able to remake it in a single afternoon from nothing + a little bit more is proof to me that I have the capacity to grow further yet. Although I could have, I didn't want to go too overboard with details because that wasn't the point: This was the direction that honored who I was during the original and reintroduced that person anew.

Thanks to all of you for your support!

Drawn in Clipstudio
Original upload here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/8100531/