December of 2022 turned my life upside down. The stress of everything was causing a myriad of problems, and 2023 as a whole did not fair much better. In May of that year I had to make a decision to continue working at a toxic workplace on top of major life events, and I caught myself in a choice between gainful employment and mental health. I chose the latter.

It took me 5 months to get myself together enough to start looking for a job again, and even then, it was getting more and more difficult to get by on dwindling finances that my art started to suffer more and more. November and December came and went with no job, and I started getting more concerned at what would happen if I couldn't find work. By the end of the year, I found myself stressed so much that I couldn't really draw anymore. Every time I tried, I was thinking to myself I had more important things to do, get a job, tick tick tick.

But yesterday was my first day of my new job, and like magic, this little sketch of Toothless came about, and I was elated, I got my art mojo back. :>

So I sit here in the parking lot of my new job, so much stress has evaporated, and before I clock in on my second day, I wanted to post this. It may not be much in the grand scheme, but for me this drawing I did represents such a huge leap from where I was a week ago, a month ago, a lifetime ago. Without my art I felt like I had lost a limb, and when I clocked out yesterday I went home more whole than I have been in years. I'm so excited for today, tomorrow, and beyond now that I've moved past such an enormous challenge, and while theres a long road ahead, it is not so scary anymore.