Manhattan, NY
October 2013
Today this blog turned one. This year passed faster than it should have. But that’s how things go. My friends sometimes tell me they are inspired by how much I do (work hard at my day job, make art, play music, travel often) and how driven I am. Funny to other people how my life looks - but I want to do more, more, more.
Monique paid me a compliment this week: she said that I make things happen for myself. She said that I decide what I want to do and I work until I get it. I guess I have my parents to thank for this perseverance. Really, sticking to my guns is probably the number one skill I’ve needed to make headway with my art practice.
Bravery is maybe equally important. When my friends are making a difficult decision, I tell them: it’s better to regret something you did, than something you didn’t do. I truly believe this. Fortune favors the brave is something I tell myself when I am feeling terrified by pushing myself forward.
I moved to New York nearly two years ago, alone, and heartbroken from a recent ending. People say New York is tough and it chips away at you with its size and bustle. Every day I work hard and I do feel a little beat up by it. Every couple of months this feeling builds up in me that literally explodes in a massive crying fit. Really truly serious sobbing. I cry about leaving Melbourne, and missing my friends, I cry that I haven’t met two of my three nephews, and I tell myself my art career would be so much more established if I had stayed in Australia. And then after I’ve stopped crying I ask myself if I would still make the same decision and I know that I would.