Something about your plans was very appealing to you. What about them gave you a sense of identity? Why those plans specifically? Try to figure that out: be very specific, write it down even, and discuss it with people. Once you figure out the driving force behind your plans, use that to guide you.
I’ve been using Gimp for simple things, and it’s been OK once I realized that whatever I want to do, I should look it up first instead of just trying to figure it out through trial and error.