I remember the moment so distinctly: I was sitting at work, getting ready to listen to an all-company presentation. I was giddy. And no, definitely not over the hour-long meeting of finance updates and trend graphs I was about to endure. I was giddy because I finally realized what I wanted to do with the year 2017. 2017 was the year I was going to start a doodle Instagram account, and use it as my daily diary. I had been struggling with getting into the swing of "adulthood" after graduating from college a few years prior, and had been searching for something more ever since. I was longing for a creative outlet, one that could help me express my struggles, my wins, my... well, everything. An Instagram account seemed like the perfect way to hold me accountable to drawing every day, and it held a special place in my heart because it's where I found the artist who inspired me to embrace simple doodling: Mari Andrew.
So, I rummaged around my apartment for some old colored pencils and markers and purchased a small $10 sketchbook. I excitingly drew 10 little (and very bad, now that I look back at them...) doodles I had thought up out of the excitement of starting a new project. I snapped some very bad pictures of them in some very bad light, and voila: uploaded them to my new Instagram account Decade2Doodles.
I posted a doodle a day every day for over a year and found so much joy in doing so. Decade2Doodles helped me grow and express myself in a way I had never expected. And, best of all, it introduced me to a whole lot of wonderful people out there, all feeling and sharing and hoping and living just like me.
Decade2Doodles taught me that you don't have to be perfect to start something or be understood. It's also taught me that change can be exciting, no matter which stage it's at - whether it's the decision to start a project or the decision to switch it up! I recently went digital with my drawings, which has been a fun change of pace and makes me feel like I'm still learning and growing as an artist.
I feel incredibly lucky to be able to share my thoughts with so many people, and I smile looking back through my doodles as I remember the different life moments I've had over the past few years I've been drawing (one of them being getting engaged to my fiancé, who has affectionately been called "Doodle Boy" by my followers, and proposed to me by drawing a doodle! Check out my Instagram stories for that fun day). All of this is to say: for anyone looking to take a creative leap of faith - do it. It will always be worth it for the most important person out there: you. And maybe some others along the way, too!
More info: Instagram | decade2doodles.com
#1 Missing You
#2 Clothing Mishaps
#3 Bug Bites
#4 These Can Be Tough, But So Can We
#5 Mountains That We Climb
#6 Friendly Reminder That Loneliness Or Struggle Doesn’t Always “Look Like” What You’d Think
#7 What You Know
#8 Tip Of My Tongue
#9 Aaand I Have None Of These Things
#10 Not All Growth Looks The Same
#11 Animals Of The Week
#12 Also: Anywhere, Really
#13 Wanna Bet?!?
#14 Like Chutes And Ladders
#15 Sometimes You Use Your Cape For Superhero Things, And Sometimes You Just Want To Use Your Cape As A Blanket. And That’s Okay
#16 Dealing With Stress
#17 We All Have Nights Where We Tell Ourselves We’ll Be Better In The Morning
#18 Sometimes
#19 Rookie Mistake: Not Putting Your Hair Up Beforehand
#20 Not A Crybaby, But A (Go Ahead And) Cry, Baby
#21 Sundays Are For Sweatpants And Little Movement
#22 Cookie Monster
#23 Treat Yourself Like You’re Your Best Friend
#24 Heart Evolution
#25 Bright
#26 How It Was
#27 "Goodnight Room, Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Cow Jumping Over The Moon"
#28 We’ll Cross That Bridge When We Get There...
#29 Some All-The-Time, General Thoughts But Also Some Very This-Week, Specific Ones
#30 Let It Flow
#31 Some Days
#32 There Aren’t Many People Out There Who Know “Why” You Are
#33 A Hard Thing To Do
#34 Wow
#35 Surprise!
#36 Sigh. Why Am I Like This
#37 Snip Snip
#38 Very Thankful My Dad And I Are No Longer In The Pit Of Despair
#39 Yesterday I Had A Droopy Sunflower Day. Hoping Today Is A Tall Sunflower One
#40 Bite The Bullet
#41 Let's Be Honest With Ourselves. We Always Come Back To It. Always
#42 100%
#43 My Mom Does This Adorable Thing Where She Calls Inedible Things Yummy -- And These 4 Things Are Definitely High On My List Of Yummy
#44 Closing A Chapter Doesn’t Mean The Story Is Over
#45 Feet That We Put Down
#46 Don’t Judge
#47 Grass That Is Greener
#48 The Struggle That Defines My Summer
#49 Digital Drop
#50 So Thaaat's Why
#51 How Beautiful We Are Alone, But How Gorgeous We Are Together
#52 Space Doesn’t Always Need To Be Filled With Sound
#53 There’s A Difference
#54 Take It Off!
#55 Friends
#56 Love Is Love And I Love Cake
#57 Dad
#58 Greetings, Earthling, Please See Attached
#59 Nuts
#60 Your Groove
#61 Classic Love Stories
#62 Which Paths Do You Choose?
#63 Particularly Dramatic
#64 But That's Where The Ice Cream Is!
#65 Don't Look At Me!
#66 Here's To Finding A Way Back To Level Ground
#67 Special Friendship
#68 Going Back To Work Feels Like A Cramp In All Of These Places
#69 You Make Me Bloom
#70 It’s Just A Little White Lie!
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