Changes Ahead

To my fellow deviants,

Tomorrow marks the first step of a new path in my life, and I can't help but feel a little uncertain.  Tomorrow, I will begin taking the reigns of my future, and steering it in a direction away from comfort and towards risk and adventure.  Tomorrow... I start school again.

I've been working in retail for a long time—full time for the last 11 months—and I can honestly say that the experience has been good for me.  My full-time position was called Inventory Control Specialist (later renamed Sales Support Associate), and it was my job to take care of stock that was damaged, defective, returned from online purchases, etc., as well as ship packages to other stores and vendors, recycle batteries/printer cartridges, take inventory counts, restore returned tech items to factory settings, and a few other miscellaneous tasks.  At the risk of sounding boastful, I believe I have done an outstanding job in that position, cleaning up messes that my predecessors took nonchalantly.  But a few months back, I came to a realization: full-time retail was not where I wanted my career to set up camp.

So, on Friday, August 28, I put away my full-time shoes and aimed my feet towards the university campus.  I will be pursuing a Statistics degree to complement the Mathematics one I already have ('cause you can't do much with math except teach it or study it till it's coming out your ears). I'm not afraid to mention that I'm a little scared at what lies ahead.  But I'm also not afraid to mention that I'm a little excited, because this is the first time in a long while that I've felt comfortable taking charge of my life.  I used to be overly concerned with doing what others wanted me to do, and I tried my best to be who I thought others wanted me to be.  For the most part, that has had a positive influence on my thoughts and actions, but it taught me to trust others above myself, and now, I am beginning the journey towards trusting me again.

As a result of this decision, I will have more time to myself, most of which I intend to spend studying or tutoring, but I want you all to know it is not my intention to forget about my art.  I still owe one very patient deviant a commission from earlier this year, and it is my promise to them, either on my own or with help, to get it finished.  But along with the reintroduction to school, I would like to reintroduce myself to the world of fan art, but this time focusing more on general pieces and less on gifts and commissions.  Don't get me wrong, drawing for you guys is wonderful, because I love the feeling I get from making another deviant happy.  But I've been neglecting drawing things that are self-inspired, and it feels terrible, because for the last year I felt like everything I drew had to have grand meaning and purpose, and I've learned that not everything needs to be exceptional; art, as life, needs ebbs and flows.

So, if all goes well, you'll see some new art soon, perhaps more run-of-the-mill ideas, as well as more sketches and join.me's.  NO PROMISES, mind you, but this is part of the change I want to enact on my life, and it'd be awesome to have my friends along for the ride.

A big thank you to ITBluebeadTI for helping me make the decision to return to school—she's such an inspiration, both on and off dA!!  Good luck to everyone starting a new school year or working on their future!  We can do this!