Cosplay Control

It has come to my attention recently that I have started to go a little overboard with all my cosplans to the point that what was initially exciting is now starting to stress me out. This post is a sort of “action plan” to get myself back in a place where I feel happy again. Maybe it seems crazy that I write posts like this only to end up writing posts later that might be a complete change of heart or just a total change of direction, but if I put it in writing for people to see then I think that having posts like this makes me feel more accountable. The best way I can explain it in simple terms is life happens. Plans change, and sometimes it’s just better to go with the flow than to lose yourself trying to swim upstream.

The Problem

Maybe some of you will remember this Instagram post about my cosplans for 2016? I really tried to pick some projects that I would stick with because I was passionate about them, but we’re already halfway into May. Here I am with none of my planned costumes finished. So what’s the deal? What’s going on?

No Attention Span

A couple of weeks ago I realized that as soon as I would start a costume I would get distracted and start buying stuff for a different one. I started to look at my Cosplanner app and realized I had over 15 costumes on the books with almost half of the year almost over already. I went and I looked at my Pinterest board for cosplay inspiration, and that was almost at 300. Needless to say, while inspiration and ambition is great it can also be a bit of a problem without self control.

Life

Believe it or not, I have a full time job that involves a lot of travel. I also have friends that I like to spend time with outside of my sewing machine. Lately, these seem to take up a lot more of my time than cosplay, and finding a balance hasn’t been very easy.

Mess and Stress

My house, not just my cosplay room, is a disaster zone. I’m embarassed to have people over, and I feel bad when my boyfriend comes home at night because of the mess that I’ve created. That little thing called life has definitely caught up with my hectic lifestyle, and it definitely isn’t something that I can keep up with anymore. I’ve had to set aside cosplay time to have cleaning time because I haven’t managed my personal expectations better.

On top of the mess, I have been dealing with a lot of stress, and after a breakdown Sunday evening I have come to the conclusion that a lot of it is unnecessary. It is ok to have some stress, but the amount that I have created for myself in the past few months is just unreasonable.

The Solution

That’s the big question, right? How do we fix a problem when it feels like things are spiraling out of control? Like I stated above, these blog posts are kind of my way of stepping back and assessing my situation. It allows me time to get things out of my head and work through it. I’ve come up with a few things that I think are really going to help me feel better about my cosplaying in general.

Organization

I haven’t been able to even get in my craft room lately because we haven’t put it back together since we painted, but we finally got the TV hung on the wall and the new shoe rack hung up. I’m hoping to have it all back together within the week. This will allow me to get the cosplay mess back where it belongs and out of the rest of the house. I have been pinning a lot of organizing ideas and watching a lot of other YouTuber’s videos on their tips and style to get a better understanding of what will work for me.

Planning

I am sad to admit that I have completely abandoned my planner in the fray of things over the last month. It is so obvious to me how much more on top of things I was when I was doing my best to make time for things rather than just living on a whim. I’m really working hard to get back into the habit of using it. I only missed about a month which doesn’t put me too far down the path of no return.

Cosplay Control

Here it is. The big one. I have put a lot of thoughts into this, and I have made a few decisions of changing my approach to cosplay. This is what is changing;

• No more announced cosplans. I think it’s too stressful for me. All it does is make me feel like a disappointment when I don’t get something done, so until I figure out for sure that something is going to work out I won’t be announcing that I’m for sure doing anything.
• No more half-assing it. Too many times I end up disappointing myself because I rushed through something instead of doing it right. That hasn’t been the case as much this year, but it definitely still happens. If a costume isn’t done then I’m not rushing to get it done in unreasonable amounts of time. Guess what? I have at least 10 other costumes. I will deal.
• No more little league. I have some projects that I’m in the middle of right now, and plan on finishing. After that, I plan on upping my game. I’ll be focusing on more heavy designs that will probably take longer to finish, but be more gratifying in the end.
• No more cosplaying for others. This is going to sound super selfish, but it is MY HOBBY afterall. I feel like lately I have been cosplaying for other people, and not for myself. I do not plan on continuing down this path. I will cosplay characters that I feel passionate about, and if people have a problem with it then too bad, so sad.

Hopefully, you’re as excited as I am for these changes. Honestly though, I’m doing this for me, and not for anyone else. I’m already feeling better having written this. Thanks for reading if you’ve made it this far.

How do you manage stress? Do you have any other tips for someone in my position? Are you feeling somewhat overwhelmed, and need some advice? Leave a comment below, and don’t forget to subscribe via email or Bloglovin’ to never miss a post!