When I was in high school, my friends and I actually started a blog page as a group. Like current me, none of us truly had anything to talk about, but we were teenagers in the time of Vine and YouTube, and we were convinced we were going to become influencers. The four of us thought we were going to be Vine and YouTube famous, so we started the blog to be a byproduct of that fame, because obviously, our followers were going to want to know every single thing about us.

I had several conversations with various people over the course of this year who have all spoken similar words and share a similar mindset. I think so many of us who have joined this artists' community in Greeley have all just been so tired of feeling stuck, and like our art is only secondary compared to all the priorities the world demands of us. I think so many of us worked hard this year to change that, to make our art our priority, because without our art, who are we all really? Would our cups ever be truly full if we continued holding back from the one thing that truly completes us?

Dear 18 year old me,

As you enter adulthood, I should warn you now of all the things you will experience over the next 10 years.

I sat with myself a lot this year, and really questioned myself what it is I actually want to do with my life. Who am I really? Am I happy with what I’m doing now or am I failing my younger-self by not going after things I always told myself I would go after? Reading and writing have always been a HUGE part of my life, but unfortunately are both things that I’ve really felt myself fall away from in recent years. I started this blog to help myself find that spark and love I have for both again, and so far I think it’s helped a ton.

I’m not really sure when it started, but I eventually found myself writing less and less. In my freshman year of college, I began writing the story. Even now, I firmly believe this is the story I want to write and publish as a novel some day. I know my characters well and I know the plot all the way through the second or third book. I love everything about this story and I can’t wait to share it with the world and have it really kickstart my writing career.

However, there’s been a slight problem - I don’t write anymore.