It’s been a rollercoaster of a year for me, from huge highs to giant lows. It’s also been one of the toughest commercial years since my illustration career took flight in 2020. The year felt extremely slow and exceedingly fast at the same time and I felt like I didn’t achieve a lot of what I envisioned for this year.
But over the year I’ve learned to take the time to reflect at the end of the year to see how much I have accomplished. I’ve found that if I don’t take the time to reflect I get lost in the regrets of what could have been vs what was and the truth is we often accomplish more than we imagined. Just because it didn’t happen the way we imagined it, doesn’t diminish it. So here are some things I am so grateful for from this year.
Goals Met
I was fairly consistent with this newsletter, almost once a month.
I started the podcast I always wanted to. (ps: I hope you’ve been enjoying the episodes as much as I have, it’s been great learning from such amazing creatives)
I hit my goal of getting at least 500 followers on YouTube - next year 1000 🙏🏾✊🏾
Started my book Just Start (still need to just finish it 😂)
Had a small solo exhibition (Hoping for bigger and more next year)
Unexpected Outcomes
Got to collab with Coca-Cola (insane a
My book Wild City was published by Obrien Press and was well received so much so it was nominated for the Irish Book Awards (shocked and delighted)
I also won my very first award as an adult with my book ‘I Am The Wind’ edited by Sarah Webb & Lucinda Jacobs, published by Little Island, (Still can’t believe it)
If I hadn’t taken the time to reflect on the things that happened this year it’s easy to get caught up in the negative aspects of the year like it being an extremely tough year financially so much so that I began looking at job opportunities on LinkedIn like a hawk. But somehow each month I got by and survived another one and another, all the way to the end of the year.
Doubts and fears are okay, but when they prevent us from taking action and moving forward they are no longer okay. They are monsters we need to slay.
Don’t give up, keep moving forward even if it means taking baby steps. The truth is we often live in circumstances that are outside our control. We can either choose to allow our circumstances to control our actions or choose to control what we do within the situation. Sometimes this means we are going to go through tough times, and there will be some suffering but take hope in the words ‘this too shall pass,’ as all things do with time.
I don’t know what the next year will hold but I have hope. I hope it will be better, I hope it will be more peaceful, I hope it will be more impactful.
Before I end this letter, the last in this year I just want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who has taken the time to read my letters. It means a lot and I pray that you have a blessed Christmas Season full of joy, laughter, and love. And I look forward to a fresh new year!
Weekly Pep!
Listen
For the season finale of the Fruitful Life podcast, I had the opportunity to sit down with the one and only Al Maser an extraordinary contemporary artist and muralist.
Watch
So I am finally going back to India after 8 years of being in Ireland. I am super excited! I get to show my kids where I grew up and celebrate my brother’s wedding. I am going to be away for six weeks and I hope to document my journey.
I’m starting a mini vlog series called the India Diaries, so please subscribe and hit that notification bell to follow the journey.
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Have a wonderful week! Keep Smiling!
Ashwin Chacko
Be you x Be True
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