This week I got caught in the rain a few times.

This is a new experience for someone living in Los Angeles. Rain is a rarity around here, and downpours even more so. But here I was, stuck in the rain with no way to hitch a ride home.

So I chose to walk. I tucked my purse under my jacket and let the rain soak me to the bone as I walked home. My glasses fogged up. My hair sent chilly streams of water down my back and shoulders. My shoes were full of icy water. But I did it anyway.

Sometimes we need to get caught in the rain.

This past week also marked the one year anniversary of perhaps the most momentous occasion of my life. January 2nd, 2017, was the day I moved to Los Angeles. Far from the safety of the Midwest, I set out with a cat, a dream, and some money saved up. Now I have a steady job, a second cat, and a life I barely dreamed of. I have friends. I have hobbies that thrill me. I feel like I am becoming the person I was meant to be.

This is not to say that I wasn’t scared, or am not scared every single day. I’m scared of never finding a job in the field I want to be in. I’m scared of losing my cats. I’m scared of starting a new cosplay that’s difficult, scared of disappointing everyone, scared of this, scared of that…truth be told, a year in and I’m still terrified. Being an adult means accepting consequences and growing from mistakes, but I’m still scared of making mistakes in general.

But, as the indomitable Carrie Fisher once said, stay afraid but do it anyway. She said many things I try to live by, but that one I hold close to my heart. I can be scared but still choose to try and maybe fail. And that’s okay. I can fail, but what matters is that I move on from those failures.

I will continue writing, and cosplaying, even if it scares me. I will continue building a life for myself in Los Angeles. And I will continue to take walks in the rain, however rare that may be out here.