2007 - A Reflection

Greetings,

Well, where to begin? As many of you know I was absent for well, pretty much all of 2007. Reasons? Excuses? I have them, but is it worth providing some. Reflecting back on my time away however, I feel a short explanation would be appropriate.

World of Warcraft. Blizzard's 4th installment of successful games, and for me - the last in the franchise. I am sure many of you have heard the tales of "addictive woe" that spout from this game, and of course Blizzard is not to blame, the game in actual fact is incredibly well designed and maintained. It is indeed the fault of those playing to get addicted.

And that is exactly the trap I fell into. I put WoW above many more important things in my life. My other interests, (The Web, Music & Photography) Schoolwork and even my partner Rose. It is through good fortune that I was able to see the light and through many arguments, I decided to myself put WoW onto the shelf for good. A good decision? Yes in my eyes. While I put many a dime and time into the game, the results I got back just weren't worth it in the end.

Does this mean I have anything against the game, not at all. It was through my choosing that I put everything else aside, and I feel as if I lost a year of my life in doing so. With that however, I leave my old habits behind and look forward to a new year of productivity, not "Mats Grinding".

I have already put together a lot of things in the short span of a few days in order to re-ignite my deviantART presence, and for the first time in my life, have a blog that I am entirely proud of. I stand in the direction to move only up, and as Chris teaches me more and more about Photography, I consider it in the back of my mind a career choice, one amongst many.

It is from the bottom of my heart that I thank friends like the ones I have created through deviantART, without support from you all, an artist feels rather alone indeed, and as such - I extend my personal thanks to all of you. Thank you.

Apologies to reflect in what seems like a negative way, far from it. I couldn't be happier than in the position that I am in now, and as I return to dA, I remember the many reasons I decided to join it two years ago.

So without further ado, I am back

Thanks for reading,

Sam