Was just thinking about this the other day myself. This doesn't mean you have like regrets or anything but let's say with all the wisdom you've accrued now, what would you tell (or force) your younger self to do?
For me I think I wouldn't have spent nearly as much time in my mid teen years sleeping and playing vidja games and instead would've worked on art and animation or something! Or maybe I would take dabble in some trade with the free time. Anyway I feel a decent portion of my 14 to 20 year range was wasted on that stuff.
What about you guys anything?
I would shoot myself before I could purchase that fedora or those suits back in freshman year
Quote from: CoolDrMoney on January 14, 2015 04:07 AM
For me I think I wouldn't have spent nearly as much time in my mid teen years sleeping and playing vidja games and instead would've worked on art and animation or something! Or maybe I would take dabble in some trade with the free time. Anyway I feel a decent portion of my 14 to 20 year range was wasted on that stuff.
who doesn't wish something the equivalent of this? we were all dumbass slackers during that time of our lives to some degree, and obviously lacked all the experiences that we have now. maybe things would have been different if we had taken our passions more seriously then, but for me i didn't have the right kind of people around me to grow as an artist that i do now.
i think the only way young prodigies are the way they are is mostly because their parents forced them into dedicating themselves to a certain craft. and it might not be the thing they actually enjoy. i guess you have to go through that being young and stupid thing to "find yourself". although for things like art and animation the educational system really doesn't give us any opportunities to explore something like that.
ill make sure not to mistake this mistake like you old people did
Honestly, I would not have joined the Air Force if I had known I had "allergy related asthma". That wasted a good chunk of time and killed my drive to go to school and my will to draw.
Silver lining: I can fold a shirt and make my bed super neat :^)
I'd wish I had taken drawing seriously at a much MUCH earlier age, but it kind of feels unrealistic as video game addiction as a kid is a powerful thing.
should be obvious
I should DEFINITELY have taken a "leap year" after finishing high school. Take the time to figure out what I wanted to do, get a shitty retail job or something, invest in my own projects, and really find out what course to take in college - or if I even should go to college at all. Rather than just haphazardly leaping straight into a very expensive course.
This would have helped me immensely, but now I'm just kinda fumbling through a lot of things, and I feel like that sentiment is only gonna die down once I start supporting myself 100%, which might take a while.
As for being more passionate about my art at an early age - shit, that's a problem for everyone, especially when you read your favorite musician / filmmaker's interviews and they're talking about how they were doing their stuff at age 12 already.
Quote from: rtil on January 14, 2015 04:31 AM
Quote from: CoolDrMoney on January 14, 2015 04:07 AM
For me I think I wouldn't have spent nearly as much time in my mid teen years sleeping and playing vidja games and instead would've worked on art and animation or something! Or maybe I would take dabble in some trade with the free time. Anyway I feel a decent portion of my 14 to 20 year range was wasted on that stuff.
who doesn't wish something the equivalent of this? we were all dumbass slackers during that time of our lives to some degree, and obviously lacked all the experiences that we have now. maybe things would have been different if we had taken our passions more seriously then, but for me i didn't have the right kind of people around me to grow as an artist that i do now.
i think the only way young prodigies are the way they are is mostly because their parents forced them into dedicating themselves to a certain craft. and it might not be the thing they actually enjoy. i guess you have to go through that being young and stupid thing to "find yourself". although for things like art and animation the educational system really doesn't give us any opportunities to explore something like that.
Yea when you put it that way it's sort of obvious. Okay wish I was more outgoing and social too. The only time I went to the Homecoming dance I got asked out by the girl I had a crush on. Ended up sitting in the hallway for the majority of the event. She tried keepin me company but at a point I understood why she went back to the dance floor without me :[
Quote from: CoolDrMoney on January 14, 2015 10:32 PM
Yea when you put it that way it's sort of obvious. Okay wish I was more outgoing and social too. The only time I went to the Homecoming dance I got asked out by the girl I had a crush on. Ended up sitting in the hallway for the majority of the event. She tried keepin me company but at a point I understood why she went back to the dance floor without me :[
that's such a dickstunt, poor girl
I used to think about this a lot, but honestly I think it's just a little silly. If you want to do something with your life, you can do it now. There's no reason to think that so many of these opportunities slipped you by and are gone forever.
Moreover, reading good literature, meeting new people, or traveling around the world is effectively the same thing as gaining a few extra years "into the future" in your life anyways, so supposing that you've had this thought, you could just
pretend to be that time traveling kid and get the same results. I feel like some books like Steppenwolfe really do have this time leap effect on you.
QuoteFor me I think I wouldn't have spent nearly as much time in my mid teen years sleeping and playing vidja games and instead would've worked on art and animation or something! Or maybe I would take dabble in some trade with the free time. Anyway I feel a decent portion of my 14 to 20 year range was wasted on that stuff.
Really? I mean, I think that people are going to waste time or have fun regardless of how old they are. If I went back in time to my 10 year old self I'm sure I would still play video games like I do today. Maybe I would tell my old self to exercise more, work on cool side projects, eat healthy food like I do now, but supposing that you've truly unlocked the secrets of developing good habits, adding or removing a few years shouldn't affect your trajectory that much.
if i could do it over again, i would have started growing my beard much sooner
no other regrets
im still pretty young and trying to figure out what is going on but i think i would get into programming earlier than i did and learn more math.
Quote from: basketweaver on January 14, 2015 11:41 PM
I used to think about this a lot, but honestly I think it's just a little silly. If you want to do something with your life, you can do it now. There's no reason to think that so many of these opportunities slipped you by and are gone forever.
Moreover, reading good literature, meeting new people, or traveling around the world is effectively the same thing as gaining a few extra years "into the future" in your life anyways, so supposing that you've had this thought, you could just pretend to be that time traveling kid and get the same results. I feel like some books like Steppenwolfe really do have this time leap effect on you.
QuoteFor me I think I wouldn't have spent nearly as much time in my mid teen years sleeping and playing vidja games and instead would've worked on art and animation or something! Or maybe I would take dabble in some trade with the free time. Anyway I feel a decent portion of my 14 to 20 year range was wasted on that stuff.
Really? I mean, I think that people are going to waste time or have fun regardless of how old they are. If I went back in time to my 10 year old self I'm sure I would still play video games like I do today. Maybe I would tell my old self to exercise more, work on cool side projects, eat healthy food like I do now, but supposing that you've truly unlocked the secrets of developing good habits, adding or removing a few years shouldn't affect your trajectory that much.
Well if something happens that negates the original adice to my younger self, I'm sure another development would come from my life that I'd like to prepare lil' CoolDrMoney for instead. You're always getting new insight into things so the beauty of this question is that it's ever-changing until you dead~ But I get what you're saying. This is just currently how I feel.
Quote from: slack on January 16, 2015 02:37 AM
if i could do it over again, i would have started growing my beard much sooner
no other regrets
yes
Fuck bitches, acquire pizza.
if i have one big regret its not being in control of my emotions. like overinvesting in finite friendships, or letting unrequited high school puppy love stuff affect to to the point of depression & debilitation. letting minor social tragedies destroy my psyche.
in college i dropped out of classes if i felt like i was unliked. so it took 4 years to get a shitty AA instead of 2 because of anxiety spurned out of proportion.
i don't regret feeling those huge emotional tidal waves, i still do, i just wish i could have been faster to develop the coping mechanisms i use now :)
Quote from: Hey guys, look! I'm finally a parkour master! on January 19, 2015 08:38 PM
if i have one big regret its not being in control of my emotions. like overinvesting in finite friendships, or letting unrequited high school puppy love stuff affect to to the point of depression & debilitation. letting minor social tragedies destroy my psyche.
in college i dropped out of classes if i felt like i was unliked. so it took 4 years to get a shitty AA instead of 2 because of anxiety spurned out of proportion.
i don't regret feeling those huge emotional tidal waves, i still do, i just wish i could have been faster to develop the coping mechanisms i use now :)
This is actually much closer to how I really feel.
Quote from: Hey guys, look! I'm finally a parkour master! on January 19, 2015 08:38 PM
if i have one big regret its not being in control of my emotions. like overinvesting in finite friendships, or letting unrequited high school puppy love stuff affect to to the point of depression & debilitation. letting minor social tragedies destroy my psyche.
in college i dropped out of classes if i felt like i was unliked. so it took 4 years to get a shitty AA instead of 2 because of anxiety spurned out of proportion.
i don't regret feeling those huge emotional tidal waves, i still do, i just wish i could have been faster to develop the coping mechanisms i use now :)
Yea I can understand this, g00d 1
I would do more of what I liked and less of what I didn't. Be 100x more selfish, and do more things for me. Have more fun and be less serious. Say "No." more, and more firmly. Trust myself more.
I can start doing all that now, so whoopee I guess.
Quote from: valiums on January 20, 2015 12:08 PM
Be 100x more selfish, and do more things for me
i wish more people realized this is ok to do. and if your friends are true they will support your 'selfish' goals and be happy for you living for yourself
nothing
ahhh man there's a few regrets but I try not to dwell on them as they are in the past, just gotta make sure you learn from it and progress as a human being, namaste 420, aliens exist w r the hybridz
lots
I would have told my mom I appreciated and loved her more, especially when she was in hospice care.
I know everyone has a different parental situation, but after celebrating her birthday yesterday for the fifth year she's been gone, I wish I wasn't so reclusive because I was scared of what was going to happen when she was here. She gave up a career to be a stay-at-home mother for my sisters and I, and ever since she's been gone, I've felt that I wasn't as appreciative of the choices and the support she gave me.
I have grown a lot in her absence and I wish she were still here to see that.
Quote from: dilly on January 22, 2015 05:38 AM
I would have told my mom I appreciated and loved her more, especially when she was in hospice care.
I know everyone has a different parental situation, but after celebrating her birthday yesterday for the fifth year she's been gone, I wish I wasn't so reclusive because I was scared of what was going to happen when she was here. She gave up a career to be a stay-at-home mother for my sisters and I, and ever since she's been gone, I've felt that I wasn't as appreciative of the choices and the support she gave me.
I have grown a lot in her absence and I wish she were still here to see that.
today, one of my professors passed away of a terminal illness, and i've been thinking about similar things about him and other poeple in my life who have passed on. like the last thing i said to them, if i ever did something that made them sad, if there was something else i could have done, etc. i haven't lost a parent, so i don't know the same feeling, but stilll looking at friends, family and others in my life that i've lost in a different light, one that i didn't ever think about when i took their presence for granted.
once someone is gone, we always tend to wrestle with the "what if's", and it can be really frustrating. we beat ourselves up over it and it fills us with doubt and grief. but know that you wouldn't be the person you are today without those memories and experiences, and how much you've learned since then. you can mourn these moments in the past, but at the same time give yourself the benefit of forgiving your former self. the you of yesterday, a year ago, 5 years ago - it is not the you of today. cherish the good memories and know that there is no reason to blame ourselves for things we couldn't have possibly understood when we were experiencing them. our hindsight tries to trick us in to this circle of defeating thoughts, but the fact you feel the way you do now means that you always have loved her as best you knew how. and i don't know what you believe (i don't know myself anymore), but there's a part of me that feels that there's an existence beyond the ones we know, where those who have passed on are in a place of peace. either way, i'm sure that your mother would want you to live your life looking ahead with the love you have.
i'm not sure if anything i'm saying is helpful, but i've been through some very similar feelings and this is mostly advice given to me to help cope. in a nutshell, the quote "don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" is how i try to look at things.
thanks rtil it does :)
and I myself am not so religious anymore, but I take comfort in believing she went to the heaven she believed in.
i feel the same way. i was once very devout, then the complete opposite. now, i'm not so sure. there's a lot of philosophy and theology out there i haven't touched. and i envy those who do have the capacity to believe, i wish i still could. i think that passing on in this life will bring peace under a couple of different circumstances, so that also gives me comfort. i just can't imagine something bad happening to a good person's soul if we do indeed have one.
I would have taken high school more seriously and gone to college right away.
I would tell myself not to go to college.
I would tell myself to make video game parodies once the early 2000's hit so I could end up being a rich and famous youtuber later in life and not have to work anymore.
I would tell myself to give up on a lot of hopes and dreams that fizzled out as time went by.
I would tell myself not to get on that bus.
I would tell myself to make porn with Tim when I had the opportunity so I could be a famous pornographer later.
I would tell myself of the glut of Let's Players later and to quickly beat them to it before it becomes a popular thing.
I would tell myself not to accept just a meager sum for that one piece of Minecraft fanart that sells in Walmarts and Spencer's Gift Stores across the united states that I don't see a penny for.
I would warn myself what happens when I teach flash animation to others for free.
I would warn myself not to trust Khawner.
I would warn myself not to trust Tom Fulp.
I would warn myself not to trust Happy Leet Gost.
I would warn myself not to put up cartoons for free.
I would warn myself not to work for free.
I would warn myself not to trust Armor Games.
I would warn myself not to trust Billy Monks.
I would warn myself that by the time I hit 30 I will be everything I was always frightened I'd become.
Actually looking at this list I think I'd probably tell myself to just give up on art entirely and get a less depressing better paying career in something else.
invest in bitcoin and sell off accordingly
Quote from: ZekeySpaceyLizard on January 23, 2015 03:35 PM
I would tell myself not to accept just a meager sum for that one piece of Minecraft fanart that sells in Walmarts and Spencer's Gift Stores across the united states that I don't see a penny for.
I would warn myself not to trust Tom Fulp.
I would warn myself not to trust Billy Monks.
I am sort of interested in these ones here. What Minecraft thing did you do and why not trust them two dudes. If the latter is just some drama bullshit I don't need to know then don't bother tellin me.
I'm pretty much with ya on all of them and it's sort of depressing. I've built most if not all of my life around this idea of what I wanted to do when I was older and kept working towards that goal and now I'm here and I just expected to be further along then I am. I'm happy but I would like a more fulfilling job or actually start a career for my degree that I spent so much (government) money on..
Long story short I'm starting to think Egoraptor was right all along.
Quote from: CoolDrMoney on January 26, 2015 04:28 AM
Long story short I'm starting to think Egoraptor was right all along.
right about what?
There was a thread on here awhile ago where we got into an argument it was probably around when Brawl Funnies came out. He was saying he animated vidya game parodies which got him to where he is today and that it would give him the opportunity and free time to make other art related, meaningful content since he wouldn't have to rely on some wage job for his income. I was arguing pretty much the opposite. But man with 40 hours being devoted to some job that I don't get any fulfillment or much dough at and barely having time to work on anything anyway I'm starting to think his way was right all along. Got to pander first and then you can start doing your own shit.
There's probably a drawback to that method too but I wouldn't know! Also looking back at all the old posts when we were collabin got me awful nostalgic~
you do realize that the pandering is a vicious cycle, right? there is no exit strategy. ask anyone who does "game grumps animated" or anything of an equivalent - once you get subscribers for that kind of content, that's all they want to see! they're not going to be interested in anything else. they will even get angry at you for not making more of it, and probably unsubscribe. unless if it's very well produced, in which case the ROI usually puts you in the red. there are only a handful of people who can 'ride' their ad revenue comfortably, and for everyone that can there's thousands who don't.
ego wasn't right, he was lucky.
all of ego's animated content not only is video game parody related, but he doesn't even produce it anymore. he pays other people to animate it. his live action stuff is just another lets play channel. easy money if you're popular, sure, but the revenue model is volatile and unstable. and, in my opinion, is not a fulfilling "career". he is not doing his own shit. he is riding off the coattails of video game pop culture. he has never produced anything that didn't involve references.
don't regret the conscious choice you made not to take that path. there is no reason you can't make original content. we are all in the same boat. none of us have the luxury of being able to just sit around and do whatever we want to do. from the outside looking in, it seems like the youtube starlets are people to be envious of, but trust me when i say it's far from the truth. it's a world chock full of just as much bullshit as everywhere else. in fact, it might possibly be worse. and some day it will all come crashing down. youtube won't be around forever, and google has no obligation as a service to provide the revenue it does to its content providers. it's also incredibly unfriendly to animators because of how they scale ad revenue.
I guess the grass is always greener. Overall I am content with my life and the world around me. I'm just tired of my job (along with 99.9% of people in the country)
everyone always wants something they can't have. just try to remember that when looking at other people, you often only see the "highlight reel" of their lives. don't hold yourself to that impossible standard. we all have our ups and downs.
my life is cool
I would have put more effort into getting enough pizza points for a whole pizza by now.
One of my life goals is to make RTIL buy me a pizza, sometimes it gets hard and I want to give up but my friends are there to help me when I lose my way.
you have my sword (https://thebackalleys.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thebackalleys.com%2Fforum%2Fawards%2Fslice-add.png&hash=7512b59143c86694400741934ae095a1b07ca87d)
and my sick beats (https://thebackalleys.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thebackalleys.com%2Fforum%2Fawards%2Fslice-add.png&hash=7512b59143c86694400741934ae095a1b07ca87d)
and my lurking (https://thebackalleys.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thebackalleys.com%2Fforum%2Fawards%2Fslice-add.png&hash=7512b59143c86694400741934ae095a1b07ca87d)
and my rpms (https://thebackalleys.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thebackalleys.com%2Fforum%2Fawards%2Fslice-add.png&hash=7512b59143c86694400741934ae095a1b07ca87d)
If I could do it all over again I'd have told someone about my depression back when it first hit me in my teens instead of letting it stew into my mid-20s giving me a serious of weird and tiring compulsions and complexes to deal with.
Also, in opposition to everyone else here - I wish I'd slacked off and watched more mainstream movies and TV shows instead of the weird niche surreal stuff that only I seem to have heard of. It's hard to talk to some of the people in my life as I haven't seen various 'MUST SEE' stuff.
Also I'd have slapped that first chocolate bar out of younger me's hands and replaced it with oranges.
i would have stopped myself from being a useless piece of shit for half my life waiting for things to come my way and work hard to make those things come a lot sooner
I would have bought an orb of venom
I would not change much... Young self already knew most of the preachy advice that old self would give. Age and experience has provided context.
Remain disciplined; work hard. Be ambitious, but know your limits and be humble. Don't blame others, but don't beat yourself up. When someone's shitting on your face, try to take a walk in their butt? Have empathy.
Always have a plan to get to where you want to be. Rather than letting your mind wander, concentrate on a single subject for as long as you can.
Quote from: Shida on January 28, 2015 09:04 PM
Also, in opposition to everyone else here - I wish I'd slacked off and watched more mainstream movies and TV shows instead of the weird niche surreal stuff that only I seem to have heard of. It's hard to talk to some of the people in my life as I haven't seen various 'MUST SEE' stuff.
ya but when you find other people who like that weird niche stuff those people are irreplaceable uwu I'd rather have that than anything else tbh. Maybe if i pretended to like sports id Know more people in this dumb town but fuck it
I'd read a couple books sooner, set up my dual monitors sooner, be more firm with dad, not stop running for that year or so, and gotten into coding sooner.
oh and stopping being a bitch about sitting down and drawing