Chelsea Christian

I know everyone is doing their own recaps of this past year, and it’s something I’ve been doing also, but this year I feel like I have a lot more that I want to say. So, this is my review of 2011.

First of all, I just want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone that has supported me this past year. It’s a huge amount of people, so I won’t list everyone, but I just want to let you know that I really appreciate it. Even if you’ve done something as small as “liked” me on Facebook, “watched” me on DeviantArt, or “followed” me on Twitter or Tumblr. Those are small things, but I really appreciate it. It’s a small gesture, but every time I see someone new add me on any of the various websites that I’m on I always get this excited feeling in my stomach and I think “Hey! Someone likes what I do!” It’s silly, but every time I see someone new it honestly makes me feel all special inside and really makes me want to continue doing what I do and makes me want to do even better. I don’t want someone to sit there and say “Why did I add her? This is boring.” If no one liked what I did, I honestly don’t know if I could continue because there’d be a reason people hated it. You know?
Anyway… I just really wanted to thank all of you out there that even remotely think what I do is good. You all seriously kick some ass, and I wouldn’t be here without you. I hope I continue to do awesome shit that you all enjoy.

This past year has been really awesome for me, and I almost can’t believe that I managed to squish everything into 1 year. Somehow I did it, but when I think back I really don’t know how. It’s crazy to me.

I’ve worked with some really amazing people this year. In 365 days I worked with 186 different people and was a part of 141 different shoots and I traveled some insane number of miles. Wow… At the time I was doing all of this it seemed just like normal life, but that means that on average I was shooting every 2.5 days this year I was shooting. There is no fucking way I could have done that without the support of all of you, my friends, my parents, and my amazing boyfriend (that got dragged to all of these and helped out at most).

This year was when I was first published in an online magazine, and a print magazine. I was able to bring a lot of awareness to debilitating chronic illnesses (like Fibromyalgia, which I personally suffer from). I got some amazing print’s from photographers. I got a ton of sets published on Zivity. My fan base grew tremendously. I got recognized for the first time out in public. I launched a print store, my website, joined and remained active on a ton of websites. I maintained my status as a full-time student, and seriously improved my grades. And, I turned 21 (which I thought was pretty awesome).

But, 2011 was not without difficulties. I was in and out of the hospital at least 5 times that I can think of. I get really sick a few times. I seriously injured my hand when a glass exploded in it. Passed out in my kitchen and got a concussion. Fell down my stairs and got an even worse concussion. Got really bad laryngitis and had to go about 4 days without a voice. I’m dealing with worse symptoms from all of my health problems. My car got broken into. I had to spend $1500 to replace the entire A/C system in my car (which is still having problems), and had to replace the battery. And I’m ending 2011, and ringing in 2012, with some pretty bad poison ivy I got at a shoot.

In the past I feel like I would have let all of that knock me down and I would have given up, but this past year I found a confidence that I didn’t know that I had, and I was able to pretty much say “Oh well, that sucks. I’ve got shit to do.” While that may sound somewhat insane, and it probably is, I honestly believe that it’s made me a better person. When I was younger the smallest thing would make me give up, but now I keep surprising myself with not wanting to stop doing what I love. (My mom probably understands, because if I felt the smallest bit of sick I would refuse to go to school and she had to deal with it.)

Even despite all of that I went to a shoot with stitches in my hand, with a concussion, without my voice, a bunch of sunrise shoots that required me to wake up at 6am and it was freezing outside, while I was sick, while I was throwing up in between shots, with poison ivy, and driving around south Florida in the summer with no A/C in my car. I can honestly say I would not have been able to do that without all of the support from all of you. I truly appreciate everyone that has stuck with me throughout this year of ups and downs.

I’ve made some amazing friends and worked with some amazing people. One of the great parts about my job is all of the awesome people I get to meet and work with. Without those people, there would be no point to this. That’s how I see it anyway.

There was awesome stuff that happened that wasn’t directly related to modeling as well. My mom and I have a better relationship now, I was able to make my first trip to Miami (even if it was terrible), I travelled around the entire state of California, I met my boyfriend’s family, my cat turned into a cuddle-kitty, I became stupidly attached to a stuffed unicorn that my boyfriend gave me, I got turned on to a whole bunch of new video games and music, and a lot more.

This year has been amazing, but I can’t wait for next year. I know it’s going to be even more awesome. More shoots with amazing people. I’m going to try to travel a lot more (hopefully up to NYC, Philly, Boston, and possibly Portland). I’m working with more photographers for even better shoots on Zivity and to be published more. If you’d like to be a part of this next year, feel free to contact me to set something up (ModelMayhem, ChelseaChristian.com). I’m always looking for more awesome people to work with and to be a part of their art.

But, again, thank you everyone for all of your support. You guys are why I do this. I hope I continue to put out awesome images for you.

Happy New Year.
Thank you ,2011, for all of your ups and downs, and making me into a better person.
And to 2012: BRING IT ON.

<3 Chelsea

I don’t do many shoots that are for anything, but the strangest thing I shot with was that huge handmade African tribal belt from a recent shoot. It was cool, but I consider it the strangest because I am super white (so white I swear I practically glow in the dark), and it just didn’t look so good on my skin. It looked sooooo much better on the other model there because she was black and her skin tone was perfect for it. I still have no idea why they had me pose with it…

I have no idea what it is. It’s red and itchy in most spots, but black and numb in a few select tiny spots. It itches like crazy. Like, I’m about to scratch my skin off or something. I keep putting hydocortisone lotion on it, but it’s still itching. I’m going to have to get stronger shit before I leave for Atlanta later today because this is driving me absolutely batty…

And at this point I’m going to have to stop shooting until it goes away. It’s that bad. =T.T=

http://chelseachristian.tumblr.com/ask

There are the things I would like you to understand before you judge me…
  
Please know that being sick doesn’t mean I’m not human. I may spend most of my day flat on my back and I might not seem like great company, but I’m still me stuck inside this body. I worry about school, work, family and friends and I’d still like to hear about yours.

Please understand the difference between “happy” and “healthy”. When you’ve got the flu you probably feel miserable but it will pass. I’ve been sick for for so long that I can’t afford to be miserable all the time, in fact I work hard at not being miserable. So if I sound happy, it means that I’m happy, it does not mean that I am well. I may be in pain and sicker than ever.

Please, don’t say, “Oh, you’re sounding better!”. 

I am not sounding better, I am sounding happy. If you want to comment on that, you’re welcome.

Please understand that being able to stand up for five minutes, doesn’t mean that I can stand ten minutes, or an hour. It’s likely that five minutes has exhausted my resources and I’ll need to recover - imagine an athlete after a race. They couldn’t repeat that feat right away either. With a lot of diseases you’re either paralyzed or you can move, but with Fibromyalgia it gets more confusing.

Please repeat the above paragraph substituting, “sitting up”, “walking”, “thinking”, “being sociable” and so on … it applies to everything. That’s what a fatigue-based illness does to you.

Please understand that chronic illnesses are variable. It’s quite possible (for me, it’s common) that one day I am able to walk to the park and back, and the next I’ll struggle to reach the kitchen.

Please don’t attack me when I’m ill by saying, “But you did it before!”. 

If you want me to do something, ask if I can and I’ll tell you. In a similar vein, I may need to cancel an invitation at the last minute, if this happens please don’t take it personally.

Please understand that “getting out and doing things” does not make me feel better, and can often make me worse. Fibromyalgia may cause secondary depression (wouldn’t you get depressed if you were no longer able to participate in life?) but it is not caused by depression. Telling me that I need exercise is not appreciated or correct - if I could do it, I would.

Please understand that if I say I have to sit down/lie down/take these pills now, that I do have to do it right now - it can’t be put off or forgotten just because I’m doing something. Fibromyalgia does not forgive.

Please understand that I can’t spend all of my energy trying to get well. With a short-term illness like the flu, you can afford to put life on hold for a week or two while you get well. But part of having a chronic illness is coming to the realization that you have to spend some energy on having a life now. This doesn’t mean I’m not trying to get better. It doesn’t mean I’ve given up. It’s just how life is when you’re dealing with a chronic illness.

If you want to suggest a cure, please don’t. It’s not because I don’t appreciate the thought, and it’s not because I don’t want to get well. It’s because every one of my friends has already suggested every theory known to man. I tried them all, but quickly realized I was using up so much energy trying new treatments I was making myself sicker, not better. If there was something that cured Fibromyalgia, all of us would know about it by now. 

If you read this and still want to suggest a cure, submit it in writing but don’t expect me to rush out and try it. If it is something new, with merit, I’ll discuss it with my doctor.

Please understand that getting better can be a slow process. Fibromyalgia entails numerous symptoms and it can take a long time to sort them all out. 

I depend on you - people who are not sick for many things but most importantly, I need you to understand me.