Failures and Regrets

Guys, I've had a pretty incredible year.  Possibly one of the best years of my life so far.  It started off with me looking for work while trying to make a real go at my illustration and has now ended with the completion of an 8 month stop-mo animation contract that brought me from Toronto to Brooklyn.  I would not change a single thing about this year if I could.

Crazy Brooklyn Fashions!

I know I've been really sparse on the blog updates since I started working, but I hope you guys have still stuck around and I thank everyone who is still reading.  It was around this time last year that I started my blog, hoping to connect with a part of myself that I had been ignoring for a while.  The part that needs to draw and write to really feel successful.  Thankfully it worked, and then when I got my new contract and moved to Brooklyn I only really had a month or two where I was adjusting that I stopped drawing.  Although I haven't been posting them on my blog I have consistently drawn 5 times a week at least and have now filled two and a half sketchbooks since August.

Now that my project has wrapped I am looking forward to next year.  Just like last year I have no clue where this year will take me.  I have a firm sense of where I want to go and what I want to happen but you know what they say: Life happens while you're busy making plans.  I'm preparing for what I want to do but excited for all of the curveballs that I know are headed my way.

So why have I titled this entry "Failures and Regrets"?

Well those words used to be negative and hurtful to me.  But now they feel like old friends guiding me to make the right choices.  I love the concept of failure and regrets and here is why:

Failure:
Guys, I used to be really really really scared of failure.  It made me feel instantly uncomfortable and made me want to hide.  It is the one thing that I gave so much power to that it stopped me from trying certain things.  It stopped me from experimenting and questioning.  It kept me in my comfort zone like a cage.
Well guess what, if you do nothing new then nothing new happens.  Surprised?  I kinda was.
Anyways long story short I realized the only way to succeed is to embrace failure.  To try and to fail and then to show that failure to other people and not be controlled by it.  Cause I know that just because I fail at something one time or a hundred times doesn't mean I am always going to fail at it forever.  It also doesn't mean that I have to stop trying.  Every time I fail now I feel like I am really onto something.  And I am.  I have learned WAY more by failing then I ever did by doing something right the first time.
Failure is effing awesome.

Regrets:
This one is easy.  I used to have a really hard time making decisions.... Pro's and Con's lists that went on for days and friends and family that I pestered to help me make decisions.  I don't remember how I came to this realization but I have found the shortcut for all of my decision making.  I just ask myself "will you regret not doing this?" If the answer is yes then you better believe I DO IT!  Actual regrets suck, but knowing how bad it feels to regret something is priceless, as it will give you that extra push to make that decision that you are afraid to make.

So you see, going into 2012 having FINALLY figured all of this out, I'm pretty darned optimistic.

And expect the regular blog posts to return!  Once I get through this next transition (moving back to Canada!) I have made it a goal of mine to post regularly again, I'm hoping three times a week.  I really love the blogging community and look forward to being more involved with it again!

Hope everyone had a happy holiday and have a safe and happy NEW YEAR!!!!!