2022 - The Year of Growing Pains

Happy Valentines Day! And Happy very very VERY late, New Years Resolutions! To say the year 2022 was anti-climatic is an understatement. Truthfully, it ended with a slam to my confidence, which is why it’s been taking me so long to start my “New Years Resolutions”. Which happens to be to start a blog. But we can get to that later on!

Collecting my thoughts from the past year has been difficult, and it has been quite rough. So let’s review the highlights, shall we?

In April of 2022, I left my first full-time job to seek out higher opportunities and skills that I could no longer gain from this particular job. This started a journey of working on freelance projects, collaborating with local designers, and seeking new design opportunities.

Starting in July was when I officially started searching for my dream job, the next place that felt like home in the design field. Where I could be with like minds, talents, and take on a big leap in my career. Unfortunately, I encountered a lot of disappointment this year. With nearly every job interview I had, I made it to the final round or very close, but just wasn’t quite enough for the company to take the leap. Throughout the year I just kept thinking “They’re going to take a chance on me, and they’ll be so happy they did”. Unfortunately, that moment never came. I’m still looking for my full-time happy job.

I did recieve a part time position where I am able to grow, and flex my skills throughout projects, but part-time isn’t the right fit; mostly because I don’t want to eat top ramen every day!

Along with this disappointment came with the fact that I wasn’t able to move back to my home city. I sincerely miss my friends, and the design community that I grew up in. I want to find my place back home, and right now I feel quite lost in multiple places of my life. It seems that every time a spark of hope, it ended up getting crushed by a big boot. I even have the couch that I want picked out for when I finally move back!

I’ve been trying to remind myself that “Things take longer than we think they will,” and luckily I’m happy to say I’m starting to live in my Miley Cyrus “flowers” era.

Well I guess we should get onto the good things, right?

My plant collection is bordering insanity and I’m living for it. My favorite plant given to me by a good friend has grown about 5 times in size, and it’s going to get repotted next week!

Oreo, my sweet baby senior cat, is living his best life getting snacks at 3 am and getting cuddles every single day when I get home.

I’ve been taking some time to focus on fun projects, and I am determined to become the next Bob the Builder. Just within the last 6 months, I’ve taken up wood burning, furniture restoration, home decor diy, and plant propagation. I’m taking my time to enjoy things to the best of my ability, and try not to worry about a timeframe when succeeding in my very large goals.

With that, I first applaud you for reading about my messy year. I had some serious growing pains navigating the design industry, and I expect many more. Secondly, I would like to talk about what you might see from me in 2023!

I would like to write a blog about every 2 weeks. And don’t worry, they will not be as lengthy or crazy as this one! This one should hopefully only appear at the beginning of each year (assuming that it’s actually on time. Again happy valentines LOL). Instead, you should expect fun things! Seasonal wallpapers, thing’s I’m up to in the community, crafts, etc. Mostly just sharing information, as well as keeping track of accomplishments over time! If you enjoy, I’ll try to post something groovy every other Sunday. Thanks for reading.