I know everyone is doing their own recaps of this past year, and it’s something I’ve been doing also, but this year I feel like I have a lot more that I want to say. So, this is my review of 2011.
First of all, I just want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone that has supported me this past year. It’s a huge amount of people, so I won’t list everyone, but I just want to let you know that I really appreciate it. Even if you’ve done something as small as “liked” me on Facebook, “watched” me on DeviantArt, or “followed” me on Twitter or Tumblr. Those are small things, but I really appreciate it. It’s a small gesture, but every time I see someone new add me on any of the various websites that I’m on I always get this excited feeling in my stomach and I think “Hey! Someone likes what I do!” It’s silly, but every time I see someone new it honestly makes me feel all special inside and really makes me want to continue doing what I do and makes me want to do even better. I don’t want someone to sit there and say “Why did I add her? This is boring.” If no one liked what I did, I honestly don’t know if I could continue because there’d be a reason people hated it. You know?
Anyway… I just really wanted to thank all of you out there that even remotely think what I do is good. You all seriously kick some ass, and I wouldn’t be here without you. I hope I continue to do awesome shit that you all enjoy.
This past year has been really awesome for me, and I almost can’t believe that I managed to squish everything into 1 year. Somehow I did it, but when I think back I really don’t know how. It’s crazy to me.
I’ve worked with some really amazing people this year. In 365 days I worked with 186 different people and was a part of 141 different shoots and I traveled some insane number of miles. Wow… At the time I was doing all of this it seemed just like normal life, but that means that on average I was shooting every 2.5 days this year I was shooting. There is no fucking way I could have done that without the support of all of you, my friends, my parents, and my amazing boyfriend (that got dragged to all of these and helped out at most).
This year was when I was first published in an online magazine, and a print magazine. I was able to bring a lot of awareness to debilitating chronic illnesses (like Fibromyalgia, which I personally suffer from). I got some amazing print’s from photographers. I got a ton of sets published on Zivity. My fan base grew tremendously. I got recognized for the first time out in public. I launched a print store, my website, joined and remained active on a ton of websites. I maintained my status as a full-time student, and seriously improved my grades. And, I turned 21 (which I thought was pretty awesome).
But, 2011 was not without difficulties. I was in and out of the hospital at least 5 times that I can think of. I get really sick a few times. I seriously injured my hand when a glass exploded in it. Passed out in my kitchen and got a concussion. Fell down my stairs and got an even worse concussion. Got really bad laryngitis and had to go about 4 days without a voice. I’m dealing with worse symptoms from all of my health problems. My car got broken into. I had to spend $1500 to replace the entire A/C system in my car (which is still having problems), and had to replace the battery. And I’m ending 2011, and ringing in 2012, with some pretty bad poison ivy I got at a shoot.
In the past I feel like I would have let all of that knock me down and I would have given up, but this past year I found a confidence that I didn’t know that I had, and I was able to pretty much say “Oh well, that sucks. I’ve got shit to do.” While that may sound somewhat insane, and it probably is, I honestly believe that it’s made me a better person. When I was younger the smallest thing would make me give up, but now I keep surprising myself with not wanting to stop doing what I love. (My mom probably understands, because if I felt the smallest bit of sick I would refuse to go to school and she had to deal with it.)
Even despite all of that I went to a shoot with stitches in my hand, with a concussion, without my voice, a bunch of sunrise shoots that required me to wake up at 6am and it was freezing outside, while I was sick, while I was throwing up in between shots, with poison ivy, and driving around south Florida in the summer with no A/C in my car. I can honestly say I would not have been able to do that without all of the support from all of you. I truly appreciate everyone that has stuck with me throughout this year of ups and downs.
I’ve made some amazing friends and worked with some amazing people. One of the great parts about my job is all of the awesome people I get to meet and work with. Without those people, there would be no point to this. That’s how I see it anyway.
There was awesome stuff that happened that wasn’t directly related to modeling as well. My mom and I have a better relationship now, I was able to make my first trip to Miami (even if it was terrible), I travelled around the entire state of California, I met my boyfriend’s family, my cat turned into a cuddle-kitty, I became stupidly attached to a stuffed unicorn that my boyfriend gave me, I got turned on to a whole bunch of new video games and music, and a lot more.
This year has been amazing, but I can’t wait for next year. I know it’s going to be even more awesome. More shoots with amazing people. I’m going to try to travel a lot more (hopefully up to NYC, Philly, Boston, and possibly Portland). I’m working with more photographers for even better shoots on Zivity and to be published more. If you’d like to be a part of this next year, feel free to contact me to set something up (ModelMayhem, ChelseaChristian.com). I’m always looking for more awesome people to work with and to be a part of their art.
But, again, thank you everyone for all of your support. You guys are why I do this. I hope I continue to put out awesome images for you.
Happy New Year.
Thank you ,2011, for all of your ups and downs, and making me into a better person.
And to 2012: BRING IT ON.
<3 Chelsea
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