Good evening everybody.
With several hours until the new year hit, I figured I would look back at this last year.
So what was 2015 for me? I feel 2015 was the year I managed to get a second chance in my life. Going into 2015, my life was in shambles so to speak. I quit working for Coca-Cola Refreshments before going into the new year, because the manager at the plant (Who was younger that I was) was an asshat and a boss. He didn't believe in teamwork and wanted us to follow the Smartphone for our work routes. He didn't like us calling him or offering suggestions. He wanted to be left alone, and even made the comment to me "I have 22 merchandisers to take care of. If one cannot handle the job, 'Would you like some fries with that?' might be a better route."
He would also use my lack of seniority to screw me. I was working seven days a week. On my days off, I was getting called into work because they pulled another merchandiser to the plant to drive the delivery trucks due to the actual truck drivers arriving to work three hours late (This oddly seem to only happen on my days off, kind of as if he wanted me to quit). So have me work all seven days every week , working 8-13 hour shifts of physical labor (Soda is heavy), giving me almost no free time to myself instead of holding the drivers accountable.
So going into 2015, I had no job, I was starting to eat up my savings, I was living in Schuylkyll County (One of the most negative and stagnant places I know that is stuck in the past) dealing with the problems that came from that, my parents wanting me to move back in with them. Starting 2015, I was at a dead end. My Aunt Denise made me an offer to move down to Florida with her to have a second chance, and I am glad I took it.
I remember all the negative people in Schuylkyll County telling me either I wouldn't make it, or throwing "What ifs?" at me to try to deter me. That did not stop me. My parents tryed to stop me, at the time not understanding I needed to grow. That didn't stop me. Nothing did. I made plans with Amtrak and in Feburary carried through with them. I drove to Lorton, VA from Pennsylvania in the 8 degree cold and made it. Packed my car on the train and had a very nice trip to Sanford, FL on the train.
My Aunt met me at the Sanford train station upon arrival, and she directed me back to Jacksonville. I found some scrap metal outside the train station, a sign that I thought was a good omen, and I was right. As I found out from living down here, people don't seem to care for scrap metal here in Florida and it can be abundantly found along the highways.
When I arrived down here, I found out how much nicer the people in Florida are. Unlike in Pennsylvania, where people would look at you like you were an alien or would ignore you if you were to say hi to them crossing paths, In Florida, they greet you in turn and actually hold a conversation!
Living with my Aunt until I got a job and found an appartment of my own was difficult. She was over the top with cleaning and used her 'doggie-dos' as the reason for that, because her White Male Westie apparently had allergies to everything under the sun. She also did not understand an agreement we had, where walking her dogs was conditional, as I wanted to explore and meet new people as well as job hunt in free time. Even though she agreed to it, she changed very quick, expecting me to walk her dogs everyday at 2 PM regardless.
So there was no point going anywhere with that, as I would have to driver back to my Aunt's appartment to walk the dogs, and then drive back to where I was, which was a waste of gas money, not to mention her male white Westie didn't like to walk for me, and would stall out and cock his head upright like a snob when doing so, being an asshole of a mutt. I didn't see the point of trying to walk a dog that didn't want to walk for me.
So between that, having to dust my room every several days due to the 'doggie-dos', taking the trash over to the compactor in the residency area that I usually didn't fill up the cans(Not to mention, my Aunt could've driven the trash over going into work, especially considering that she was the one who filled up the trashcans, I would take the trash over when I filled up the can).
Then she got on my case because she wasn't seeing results from me looking for a job and became a bit impatient with me. Thankfully the Goodwill Company helped me revise my resume and I got a job at Target. Not too long after, I found myself an appartment and moved out. I did so, as my Aunt was having thoughts about a new job, or moving and she wasn't sure what she wanted to do.
Several weeks after I moved out, she made up her mind and not too long after moved back to New Jersey. So I am happy I took the risks with the move. I dealt with some crap from my Aunt while living with her and drained a lot of my savings while looking for a new job, but at the end, her and I patched things up. Had I not taken her offer to move to Florida, I would be stuck today, but with risks, there are rewards
.
I am slowly learning the area in Jacksonville, going to Art Walks, exploring the beach for shells and sea glass, exploring the sides of the highway and parking lots for scrap metal, meeting new people, and growing in my job. So to all those people who told me I couldn't or threw 'What ifs?' at me, thanks for giving me even more drive to push forward. I made it, so what I ask to them is "Now what?", what do they have to say now?
My options artistically grew so much by moving. The beach offers new materials I didn't previously have and because people don't care about scrap metal down here, it is in abundance along the highways. There is a nice diversified art community here to unlike in PA. Artists actually like to talk to you about their work and love hearing the perspective of others, so you can tell they're not just trying to get exposure or just sell their artwork, they are also growing too. With new materials that were not accessible up north, I have been able to create new things, and grow on my scrap creations, as well as meet new artists.
So I would say 2015 was the year of a second chance as I:
-Moved out of a negative area and relocated into a more vibrant one
-Grew Artistically in many ways
-Got a new job
-Started moving forward instead of dwelling on the past
-Fought daunting odds and succeeded
And there was also DeviantArt in 2015.
As you know, my DeviantArt page is no longer my primary art page, though I still use it. Sad to say, it seems despite my artistic growth, alot of my DeviantArt friends outright left DA or left their accounts to collect webs. Also despite my growing art style, I have recieved less and less traffic through my DA account since I stopped drawing. So now my primary art account is now on Facebook where I recieve more traffic and I can upload multiple photos at once instead of one at a time. Also when I give out my Facebook art page, people go right to it. When I gave out my DA Account, people questioned what it was and most wouldn't visit as if they didn't trust the page.
I was told having a Premium/CORE DeviantArt account would help with having more traffic and would help me meet new people. It did none of the sort. To be honest, from my experience, a CORE Membership is nothing more than a cash grab. So did the door close on this account here, it's just not the one I show new people anymore.
So, hopefully 2016 will be a year of growth for me. So three goals I have in mind for 2015:
-Get out of gaming completely on consoles
-Go to Welding School
-Grow Artistically
So here is to 2016, may it be another year of success, and thank you 2015 for being good to me despite the obstacles.