I, a 17 year old, am literally in bed with three blankets, a monkey stuffed animal, two pillows, and a giraffe pillow pet. #noragrets Today I have two main themes. The first is that I feel myself growing closer to two people, who I've known for years now and respected and liked for as long as I've known them. But now we're just generally closer, we hang out all the time, I enjoy their company so much, I never have to worry if I like them more than they like me. It seems so equal, with each one of them. It's so nice to find people who don't force you to question yourself, who never make you doubt their intentions. I feel so excited to see where these two friendships go. The second major theme is that I'm just so grateful. I'm so grateful for the love that has blossomed from the hearts of others towards me, the acceptance and validation I feel from those above me in my art, the community of people who have stated openly and freely their support of me and their recognition of what I do. I am stunned, and overwhelmed, and humbled, in the truest meaning of the world. There have been immense kindnesses that have been displayed to me, and I've learned so much about the boundlessness of human generosity. I won't forget a single ounce of it. I'm proud of myself in general today, as well. I finished two more college applications today, so as of tomorrow I'll have applied to three schools. It sounds cliche, but it's completely surreal at this point. What I've been yearning for, what I've thought of as the consummation of all this endless waiting time, is finally upon me. I completed a buildup of work from a couple of my classes, and I worked really hard on a group assignment for my online class about Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. I'm so heavily intrigued by all we're learning about, and although I didn't expect to at all, I took the leadership role. I definitely think my effort level was much higher than the others in my group, and I hope that will be seen by the teacher. But in some ways it's satisfying to prove to yourself your own work ethic, so I'm not frustrated. At this point I'm feeling on top of things, and ready to take on more. And that's very rare. So it's good to document it.