2011

For many years now, my chief success at the close of each year, if I were to sit down and consider such things, has been simply surviving that year. Life’s been a little rough. In about five years, I’ve gone from being an unemployed (and briefly homeless) single mother, moving to a new city, jumping around to and being laid off from jobs, dispatching those people in my life who were feeding off of me, struggling perpetually and painfully with money and watching my mother die slowly from cancer. It’s felt very much that each time things started to look up, something else bad would happen. It might have been my imagination, but it felt that way.

Now I’m a stable single mother with a home, a secure job I love, a happy and healthy kindergartner, and a circle of smart, caring people to turn to. For the first time in many, many years, I don’t feel I have to worry about how I’m going to get my daughter and myself to the next day. For the first time in many, many years, I’m not scared of tomorrow.

While I know that given many circumstances surviving is in itself a pretty great accomplishment, I like the idea that maybe next year I’ll be able to point to progress made beyond survival.

Thanks to all my followers both on Tumblr and Twitter, and to those who like, link, retweet, reblog and otherwise let me know you’re enjoying the content I put on the internet as much as I do. It’s done wonders to encourage and help me focus on what I can and want to do as an artist. I hope you all have a fantastic new year.