Hi People Watchers!
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
—Mary Oliver, The Summer Day
Over Christmas, a member of my extended family demanded to know how much I got paid for a cover illustration I had licensed. I declined to provide the information, and the relative became angry and ranted about how much time I wasted drawing and making silly poems instead of doing something to make more money.
This was not a shocking or isolated outburst from this bitter person. Being the petty guy I am, I paid them back the best way I could, I smiled and ignored them like I would an outburst from a toddler.
For reasons that remain a mystery to me, I am passionate about poetry, comics, and especially combining haiku and comics. This is how I choose to spend a lot of my one wild and precious life.
Every day I am grateful to have discovered that I can use whatever talents I have to make other people’s days a bit brighter. Remarkably, every month this insane passion of mine also brings in a little more money than the month before.
However, it’s not just creating and writing comics and poems that are my passion. I love to read them too.
Choosing a favorite poem feels like choosing a favorite child. But today, the poem that speaks to my soul in the most penetrating way is Mary Oliver’s The Summer Day. You can read this slice of divine beauty here.
How about you? What are you passionate about? I’d love to hear!
Cheers,
Jason