2 for one year! Look at us. I didn't plan on doing another one this year but it felt appropriate. This seems like a great place to air my thoughts out, art-related or otherwise, just because I feel like a good deal of you guys can relate. As Newgrounds users I feel we're all pretty similar generally speaking. We tend to be the outcasts, the social weirdos who just wanna make cartoons. And that's why I love this community more than any other.

ANYWAY

Life is what you make it. Simple as that. You may think that you're locked in to whatever situation you're in at the time, but there are always other avenues for work, or living your life in general. You can't let fear guide your judgement, or fall into the trepidatious feelings you may have about the future. You absolutely need to have love in your life, more than other negative feelings which may creep in due to apathy or inactivity, or both.

After traveling quite a bit these past couple months, I definitely feel better creatively and spiritually. I feel better about my ability to handle problems which may arise, and I feel better about my ability to disallow the past from having any great impact on my present. I used to think that creation alone WAS the key to solving all my problems, but it isn't. You have to be physically, mentally, and spiritually on your game. And that requires staying active. Because the allure of living a lax and laidback life may sound nice to some, but for people like us, for creators, it is death.

And nothing short of it.

I wish the best to all creators out there reading this. I want us as a community to continue lifting each other up and giving meaningful feedback and support to each other because we are stronger when we are here for each other. It feels great to support other artists, so please do it whenever you can. You never know what anyone else may be going through, and most support and love you can give online is absolutely free of charge.

You can't get absorbed in the past, that has been my main problem for just about my entire life. Try thinking of your life as a bunch of different TV shows, you wouldn't want to keep the same show going too long would ya? It'd get stale! After all, what's adventurous about repeating the same old story in your head and pointlessly yearning for it's impossible return? You should approach life the same way you approach art, with an ambitious, energetic, and eager attitude so you can learn, grow, and live the best life possible.

Good luck to all you guys out there. I hope I can shut the hell up and put out some new cartoons soon. But I do still plan on traveling for a bit during the next few months as well. Photography has been a fun hobby to keep up with, and it's very good for getting new creative ideas as well so I do recommend it if you're interested. Learn how to shoot in manual and it will change the way you capture all the memories you create. The memories which are fleeting, but worth living nonetheless. They're really fucking worth living actually, because we're here, and we're so lucky to be here. Let's make the most of it. Thank you so much for reading this and if you enjoy my stuff, thanks so much for sticking around.

For more frequent updates, check out my twitter: https://twitter.com/Raccatoons

Stay strong, and don't let that flame die out Newgrounds!!