Hello? Is anyone out there?
I counted my comics just now and realized that I crossed the 100 comics line 6 comics ago!
I guess I have been so wrapped up with my work that I didn’t even notice. So this is an ex post facto yay I made it to 100 post.
Some reflection is needed here now that I have been at this for one year. In no particular order, they are as follows:
(1) I still haven’t cracked the code of how to get noticed. Most days I still feel like I am doing this in the dark. I expected this and am expecting this for a lot longer. Every day, there is this strong tug to just give up because keeping on just takes so much effort. But I must continue and I must fight on. Even if no one is looking (for now anyway!).
(2) I have completely stalled on starting a new writing project. I think it’s because I have been busy trying to keep up with the comics and Quimbee. Also I was waiting for awhile for some sort of hail Mary, I think I was counting on external forces to carry me through but so far nothing has transpired. This means I must kick my own ass and be my own motivation instead of relying on the outside world. I need to pick up my pen again and get to working on my next book.
(3) Running a business is bloody hard. Especially when it’s in an area that can’t be classified neatly. I super admire people who have committed themselves to running a small business. I think about the motivation behind it and it seems to me that it comes from wanting to leave a mark in the world. There are plenty of great jobs with more established companies that let you leave a mark, but there’s something about the discomfort, the sweat, the striving and the pain of starting your own business that just isn’t the same as working for someone else. I suppose it’s wanting to be unique or special. Wanting to put your name on something. They say everything in it’s own way is a legacy project. While our bodies eventually die, we are all striving in one way or another for a part of ourselves to live on. A lot of people have children because that lets them live on. I know for myself, I want something more. Something more than just having a child.
I want to leave behind books. And I want to leave the legal profession a little bit better than I found it. I want everyone to love the law. And I want to chip away at this “legacy” project one comic at a time, one panel at a time and one book at a time.
(4) We are heading into fall and I must re-evaluate my work-load and what I can / cannot do. I need to prioritize and set out some projects for myself for the next year. I am considering dialing down the comics to focus on writing my Contracts 101 book. I need to reassess.
(5) It has been an unbelievably insane year. I have gone up and down the roller coaster and it seems like it’ll continue to be a roller coaster. I better just hold on for the ride.
working hard to keep my chin up.
-W.