Gratitude

2018 has been a great year. Not that everything has gone well, but overall, I think I’m in a better place than I was at this time in 2017.  I’ve been very blessed and seen a lot of little miracles in my life.  I’m so very grateful.

I have continued to learn and grow and improve. It’s pretty exciting to see the progress I’ve made this year. I still have a lot of room for growth, and that’s exciting too.

My creative goals for 2018 were to publish something, make one YouTube video, and sell one artwork.

This is my index card of my creative goals for the year. Also a quote from Diane Ackerman: “I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”

I did get something published. One of my cartoons was published in the New Era in September. You can read all about it if you follow this link. I just had another cartoon published in the New Era in December, too! (And I will have one in the January New Era!! Wow!) I know that is a lot of links, but please check them out.

Here’s a look at the cartoons I just had published in the New Era!

My husband helped me make two YouTube videos. I am happy with how they turned out. It was fun to see my work progress at super-speed! You can watch both videos on my YouTube channel. (Yes, I actually have a YouTube channel!)

Have I sold any artwork solely based on its artistic merit? Not yet. But I’ve improved my skill, and that makes it more likely, I think. I’m still working on this one.

I am so grateful for the progress I’ve made. So many people have helped and encouraged me on my journey. To all of you, thank you. Thank you for reading my stories and laughing at my comics. Thank you for telling me that you like my work. Thank you for mentioning my website to others.

Sometimes, when it’s just me at my desk, trying to find my motivation, it’s nice to remember that I’m not alone. The internet isn’t like the empty wells in the cartoons where you shove something in and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait to hear it hit the bottom. There are people out there listening.

If you are reading this, thank you for being one of those people. Thank you for supporting me this year. I look forward to 2019 knowing that achieving my goals and dreams is possible. Best wishes to all of us in the new year!

From Quentin Blake‘s “ABC” Ff, reproduced by me on 6/11/18.