This picture was taken at Comikaze 2011, and it’s a deeply bittersweet memory for me.
Here, I'm hugging the amazing Batman cosplayer who I had met just a few months prior. We genuinely clicked over our shared love for all things Batman. Unfortunately, this friendship was already struggling, with my own depression and anxiety swimming around, which was only amplified by the presence of some of the elitist cosplayers at the con.
I made a lot of mistakes, and by the time I saw them again at Comikaze 2012, they wanted nothing to do with me. It was a brutal lesson, but an important one: It taught me not to take anything for granted, to let go of grudges, and that sometimes you just have to learn the lesson and move on with your life.
This image reminds me of the good times, the mistakes made, and the personal growth that followed.
