✿ I’m 23 today. It’s a really weird feeling! When I was eighteen, I thought twenty-three was, like. Old. I thought by twenty-three, I’d be this old person who has their life figured out and who is satisfied with their art and writing. I thought I’d have something measurable finished, I thought I’d be in a relationship, I thought I’d have graduated and had a full-time job and maybe own a cat or two.
I have none of those things. And thinking about it, it’s kind of messed up I thought I’d have any of those things by now.
I know a lot of people following me are young. You’re probably thinking some of the same things as me - that you’re going to have your life together, and that you’re a failure if you don’t. You’re probably measuring yourself by the success and standards of other people, and you probably are finding yourself lacking in comparison.
This is dumb and a lie. You won’t have it figured out, you aren’t a failure, and the people who are fabulously skilled and successful at ages like 21, 22? Those are unusual stories, and should be used as inspiration... but not a goalpost for your own life. Take your time. Everyone progresses differently. Learn some cool things. Have fun. Don’t be crushed by the success of others; be curious about what you can do and what you can learn from it.
You’re not old. I’m not old, though I feel pretty old when I see these amazing illustrators who are like... twenty. We’ll all get there eventually if we keep working at it.
So keep working at it. You’ve got this.
