Hey everyone! So, if you've been around here for awhile, you may have wondered where I've been for the past year (IDEK when I was on here last... my memory and perception of time is literally the worst lol). If you're one of the few people who are new here, first of all, HEY!!!!! Nice to meet ya! :) Second of all, sorry that you followed me only to realize I'm not active and don't have any projects or studios worth a follow XD. Anyways, my disappearance is a combination of several factors: I'm a senior in high school (yeah, I know. I'm old.) this year. As you can probably guess, that means school takes a lot longer than a few years ago, so I have less free time. I also have college classes now and I've been trying to wrap everything up before I graduate this spring, so that's time-consuming. Life in has also been busier for my family in general the past year, which makes me busier. The other main factor is that the Scratch community has changed. There are what I will refer to as "generations" of the Scratch community. Most of the people in my "generation", whether they were people I talked with or famous Scratchers, over the past year or so, have been becoming less and less active or even leaving entirely. The current "generation" on this platform are people half my age (cause I'm old), and since I've used Scratch mostly as a way to chat with other people who are my age and have similar interests, I had less and less reasons to sign in and eventually just stopped signing in at all. In fact, I actually didn't have any intentions of signing in again. Like, ever. The reason I actually came here was to remove the bookmark from the website on my laptop and I was like "well, may as well check my notifications and see if I have anything recent" (The most recent was from a month ago lol). I started replying to a few of the people I'd been pretty good friends with, and I realized how much I've missed some of those people. I was just thinking that maybe one of the other reasons I've been less active is because of my mental health. I struggle with severe social anxiety (and anxiety in general) and possibly depression (I have an official diagnosis for the anxiety, but not depression. I'm just pretty sure I have depression to some degree, based on symptoms). For me, Scratch was a way I could interact with people and make friends without actually interacting with people. For the first few years of being on Scratch, I had one friend. ONE. In the last year, I've been getting counseling and have been doing MUCH better (still struggle with my anxiety daily, but it's definitely way better than I was) and I've actually made several friends in the past year. But before all this, I had hit probably the lowest point of my life. I felt so lonely and miserable (looking back, I was probably depressed), so I think between that and the craziness of life, I just didn't have the time or motivation to be active. Anyways, all that said, IDK if I'll be active or here or not. I'll probably stick around for a bit just to catch up with some friends (if they're even active XD). Feel free to say hi! I'm always happy to chat! Also, if you are/have struggled with mental/emotional health stuff and want to vent/chat or need help/advice/encouragement, totally reach out! You aren't a burden, and I am more than happy to help. You don't have to struggle alone. :) (We can chat here, or we can have a more private conversation on my profile or yours. Whichever you're more comfortable with) That's all for now! Bye! :)
Sooooooooo, how've y'all been? Did I miss anything big while I was gone?
