From the Inspirational Thought Unit
In 2009 I shared a table at a Mocca Arts Fest in NYC with 3 other people who were all just starting our careers in comics in the previous years.
A few nights ago I was reading a report on the best selling comics of 2022, and there was a list of authors in order of how many books they sold last year.
One of the people I shared the table with was 7th on the list selling 850,000 books!
Another was 22nd on the list selling 350,000 books!
While completely happy for them and their well deserved success, I was feeling bad and anxious about my much dimmer success in comics the next morning. I was just down on myself for not reaching those heights of achievement. Then I came across a quote by Epictetus in my morning studies:
“When I see an anxious person, I ask myself, what do they want? For if a person wasn’t wanting something outside of their own control, why would they be stricken by anxiety?”
I thought about that in relation to my current bout of anxiety. A book’s success is wildly out of the creators hands. All the creator has control over is making it as good as he or she can.
Just focus on making something the best you can make it.
That’s the part you can have anxiety over, because that’s the part you control.
-Jake