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Expat Wannabe Freelancing Graphic Design London Mental Health

24 Things I Did When I Was 24

posted on November 8, 2014

24 Things When I Was 24

Because if you can’t reflect on what you’ve accomplished on your birthday, when can you?

1. Started a design business — or started freelancing as a designer, whichever. I filled up my Etsy shop in the wee hours of November 8, 2013, and hopefully I’ll have redesigned all the graphics by the end of the weekend. I’m also raising my prices tomorrow, so if you’ve been thinking about hiring me, today would be an excellent time!

2. Discovered print design via media kits, and realized if I could only ever do print design with the occasional logo and larger project thrown in, I would be a happy designer.

3. Designed a magazine cover with my face on it. This was last week, but it counts.

district-cover

4. Modeled professionally — i.e. for money — for the first time in my life.

5. Was on a boat also for the first time in my life. For a shoot. Wore a wedding dress for the first time in my life, also for a shoot. Modeling is kind of awesome, but can be terribly exhausting, too.

self-portrait-boat-1590

6. Attended my first ever blogger event. It was interesting. My social anxiety reached highs (lows?) I’d forgotten it could reach, but I’m glad I went.

7. Met my best friend in person again for the first time since 2008.

8. Photographed a fashion shoot with a full creative team for the first time in my life. It was one of those experiences where you learn a few things the hard way — both about yourself and about other people, the creative industry, the importance of agreements and so on. I haven’t shared this shoot on the blog yet, but I will sometime this month. I’m proud of those photos, and I enjoyed working with the creatives on that team.

9. Photographed products for money for the first time! That’s another shoot I’m dying to share with you guys. Not only did I photograph them, but I also modeled them. Self-portraiture commercial photography is so much fun when you’ve got a little bit of help.

product-photography

Click to book!

10. Photographed real-life people who were actually there to be photographed. Not for money, yet, but hopefully sometime soon. I’ve posted two bits of shoots so far: Christine Cherry and Leigh Travers. But there’s a fair bit more.

Beauty Photography by Lix Hewett London Portrait Photographer

Another beauty shoot I need to post: Paulina Maria (model) styled by herself and made-up by Bethany Owen, who styled and MUA’d and organized the boat shoot above.

11. Volunteered to photograph a Pride event. Need to share those photos on the blog, too, probably. This list may be a list of posts to come, ha.

12. Got used to getting out of the house and walking at least ten minutes every day again for the first time since I dropped out of college (again) in 2009.

13. Went off antidepressants. It was horrible. I needed a change, and I stabilized eventually, but I had some of the worst days I’ve ever had. I was suicidal and crying and couldn’t do anything.

14. Had a lot of breakdowns over money. Had some of the truly worst days of my life. Survived them all.

printrbook - lix hewett

And made a book to remember it.

15. Started making money regularly, if only because I needed it to stay housed and fed. Didn’t always make it on time, but things worked out somehow. In this new year of my life, I would like to take the “somehow” out of the equation.

16. Flathunted for the first time in my life. It was horrible. It did a number on my mental health. It really was my least favorite thing I did this year. The thought of having to do it again sometime makes me understand why people pay exorbitant agency fees. Then again, I’d probably have had less trouble flathunting if I’d had that kind of cash. Things worked out, anyway. Somehow. Stroke of luck. I don’t want anyone to think there’s a trick or a way to make it through flathunting in London on a tiny budget unscathed. There isn’t, unless you have a stroke of luck.

17. Lived in Ciudad Real, Spain, with my parents and sister and cat; lived in Belsize Park with my best friend for a very short time; lived in Leicestershire with a friend I met through this blog for another short time; lived in Ladbroke Grove with two cats and a puppy (and a landlady); lived in Streatham with a kitten (and no one else); lived in Crouch End with a flatmate whose father was the owner of the flat; lived in Hampstead Heath with a host family (and another lodger); lived — live — in Belsize Park in a rented room in the landlady’s flat, with said landlady and two cats and another lodger (and as of today, one besides).

There was a lot of moving. A lot of temporary solutions and things that didn’t work out. I have a year-long lease now, and I’m hoping it will last the year, at minimum. See #16.

There were also quite a few cats.

streatham-elliot-face

This is the one I was tasked with keeping alive for a week.

18. Wrote for money for the first time in my life. Truly never thought I’d be able to make money off my writing, so it’s been an interesting turn. I need to be more consistent about it, because I truly suck at that bit, but there’s potential for regular income and that’s really important to me.

I also designed an infographic.

19. Had a crush on a real live person for the first time in ages. I forgot about it until a few weeks ago, and then I was like, wait, no, it wasn’t that long ago that I last had a proper crush. I was still on antidepressants, so it was a bit different from crushes past, but it was definitely a crush. It’s just good to know I haven’t lost my ability to be attracted to real-life people, you know? Years of basically being a hermit can make you wonder.

20. Was on my own for my birthday for — the second time, actually. First was in college, the first time, when I was in a dorm. Similar bad place, similar journaling bits, only now I depend on myself, and I mostly make it work. But I haven’t cried in a really bad way yet, and that’s kind of amazing.

21. Skipped the Spanish summer, and could not be happier about that. Finally. (Sorry I missed my sister’s birthday, but you know. I wasn’t in the country.)

Not that summer skipped London, but it wasn't awful nearly as frequently.

Not that summer skipped London, but it wasn’t awful nearly as frequently.

22. Designed a mockup of my ideal blog, and delegated the coding to a friend. This was also last week, and it also still counts. I’m straightening out my branding and I’m very, very happy with the way it’s turning out.

23. Invested in a few things — was able to invest in a few things — starting with a tripod and a tablet, and ending with a flight to another country for the purpose of a trip to see my best friend or maybe staying, if I could make it work for me.

24. Made it work for me, and stayed in London. Six months last week. When 2013 started, I’d made that the year I got out, and it never happened — but it happened four months into 2014. Despite all the stress, all the worrying, all the breakdowns, all the times I’ve missed my cat and my guitar and my mom, not necessarily in that order; despite how hard it’s been, I’m so, so, so proud of myself for taking the plunge and getting that flight ticket.

I try to keep that in mind, because it was a true display of bravery that I didn’t think I was capable of. I really thought it would never happen, not on my own. But I’m here, and I’m finding my footing, and all through the pessimistic bits, all the hopelessness, this is where I want to be. This was my dream move, and I made it happen.

—

So, those are some things I did when I was 24. I still need to go through my 25 Before 25 list and see how hard I failed at it, but I did make progress on some of it. And then I’ll see about putting together a 26 Before 26 — or maybe not until I’ve accomplished at least 50% of the 25 list. That seems doable, yeah? I think it does.

Back to work now — that’s what I’m doing for my birthday, trying to use the motivation of a new beginning to get on track. I blogged about this on Tuesday, and my birthday wishlist is still open if anyone wants to buy me anything. Like I keep saying: book me for a shoot and I’ll buy that 50mm lens and use it on you. Do it for my birthday. Or for yourself. I do take excellent pictures, and I do excellent design things with them.

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40 Comments

« Birthday: A Wishlist (Or Wishlist: A Birthday? The Musical!)
Recent Work: This Beautiful Day Media Kit & Circle Logo Design »
  • Daphne Populiers

    Happy birthday Lix! Be proud of all the things you’ve accomplished! I am definitely proud for you!

    • Lix Hewett

      Thank you! I do try to keep them in mind. It’s hard sometimes when I’m overwhelmed or worried or anxiety’s beating down on me. But I try.

  • Julie @ Run Away Freckles

    This is such a great birthday exercise. Its easy to forget about everything we accomplish in a year. I am 24 and can relate to a lot you have been through. We’ll make it through!

    • Lix Hewett

      Yes! I’m really glad I put the list together. I was toying with a couple of other ideas and none of them felt quite as necessary to do on my birthday.

  • Andi Fisher

    Wow, that is one amazing list. Despite the tough times, you have come out the other side and you have had some cool experiences with modeling and photography and design….and even cats!

    • Lix Hewett

      I’ve met so many cats. I’ve lived with so many cats. I need to edit those photos – because I have photos of most of them – and post them.

  • Debi Robarts

    I love looking back over the year and seeing what I accomplished. Looks like you had a great one!

    • Lix Hewett

      It was hard but at least I have stuff to show for it!

  • Shipra Taneja

    That’s awesome! It’s a great idea to reflect what THE POSITIVES/ACHIEVEMENTS are every year just to give ourselves an idea of our success! <3

    • Lix Hewett

      It’s so difficult to remember these things sometimes, when I’m constantly stressing about money and will my business never work out and will I ever get a big client and will anyone ever hire me for a shoot, etc. etc. But look at all the stuff I did do that I didn’t think I’d get to!

  • Erlene A

    What a great list. I think you should be proud of all of your accomplishments and not worry so much about a deadline on completing them (unless there is an actual deadline :-)).

    • Lix Hewett

      Ha, I mostly worry about deadlines when it’s work I owe people. Especially if they’ve paid me for it! Which… is just the professional thing to do, obviously. I jumped into freelancing without any work experience and it’s been a learning curve – not just knowing how I should behave but getting my brain on board with it, too.

  • Nancy

    Your 24th year seemed awesome, jam packed full of fun events.

    • Lix Hewett

      There was actually quite a lot of doing nothing, but it doesn’t look so bad when you just point out the things you did manage to do. ;)

  • Melissa

    This is such a great post! Love the idea of reflecting over the year. Happy birthday!

    • Lix Hewett

      Thank you!

  • songbirdsandbuttons

    Wow you’ve had a crazy busy year! Here’s to the next!

    • Lix Hewett

      It’s not as busy day-to-day, though it SHOULD be. I’m so backed up, got so much to do, am so bad at time management. If I could just get into a routine and work every day, my backlog would get so much smaller so much quicker. Alas, I have to fight my motivation issues, my anxiety and a terrible sleep schedule on a daily basis. But I’m working on it!

  • Caroline

    Im almost 21, I hope I can accomplish this much at 24!

    • Lix Hewett

      I have no doubt that you’ll accomplish more! I spent four years doing not much of anything so going over the past year – even just the past six months – is a bit shocking, in a good way.

  • Cara of Stylish+Geek Blog

    Wow! Amazing feat at such a young age! I enjoyed reading your story :)

    • Lix Hewett

      I’m glad! Thanks for commenting!

  • Karissa Ancell

    Wow what a busy year you’ve had.

    • Lix Hewett

      Sometimes I think about how much more I could have accomplished if I didn’t suck at a) motivation, b) not stressing and c) time management, and it… mostly stresses me out more. So much more motivating to look at what I did do!

  • Margarita @ WestCoastMama.net

    Amazing stories and things you’ve done!! Congrats & happy birthday!

    • Lix Hewett

      Thank you! I love your photo by the way.

  • Mia Myrabev

    Happy belated and congratulations on the lots of ‘firsts’ you have done so far

    • Lix Hewett

      Thank you!

  • amitygardens

    Yay! I got mentioned. :P You’ve accomplished a lot this year, and you should be proud. ;)

    • Lix Hewett

      You did BUT I FORGOT YOUR CATS?! In a paragraph ABOUT CATS?! I’m sorry, Ruby and Kiki.

  • Breanna ♥ More than Love

    You are amazing. End of story. You are seriously so talented – in SO many ways! Happy belated birthday! <3

    • Lix Hewett

      Thank you so much, Breanna. <3

  • Amanda Love

    You’ve done a great job with everything you’ve done. Congrats and I’m sure you’ll be doing so much more before you’re 30.

    • Lix Hewett

      God, I can only hope. Gotta get better at time management! And start making shoots happen! …and edit the ones that HAVE happened.

  • corisbigmouth

    What a busy year you had! Loved reading this!

    • Lix Hewett

      Thanks for stopping by!

  • Jade Gidley

    Wow! I hope to be this accomplished when I’m that age!!! Thank you for sharing!

  • Amby Felix

    Super awesome! Can’t wait to hear about even more success! Keep working hard. I love seeing other people doing what they love for a living instead of doing what other people pay them a limited amount of money to do.

  • Erika

    It’s been so wonderful getting to watch your journey, watch you grow, watch you thrive, watch you fight, watch you succeed! I’m really proud of you, just as someone who gets to watch along — and you should really be proud of yourself for taking steps to change your life and really live! It’s so inspiring and you’re so transparent about it, too! Happy belated birthday and I hope that 25 is even better! :)

  • Regina Sayles

    Lix you’ve accomplished amazing things some people only dream of. Congrats to you and good luck on surpassing all of your goals in 2015! xoxo

Meet Lix

Welcome to my blog! I'm Lix: full-time graphic designer for bloggers and freelancers, and part-time photographer. I'm an unapologetic cat lady and perpetually angry feminist nightmare. I like attention and pretty things, and that's why I run a lifestyle blog. Learn more.
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