Run.
The Flight of The Condor: The Sunday Strips, week 72
Hey,
In today’s strip, The Condor gives one of the best pieces of creative advice anyone can give:
Run.
Think about it. It’s profound. It’s ambiguous. And it moves you into action.
And you have to move.
Bob Dylan has more than 500 sogns, or so I heard. I’m too lazy to check. I’m also too lazy to write and draw a comic strip every week.
And yet, I’ve been doing it for more than a year.
Why?
Because you only need so much willpower.
If you’re starting out, you’ll need some. I won’t lie to you. But after one or two months? Routine takes over.
Yeah, routine.
Lazy people like me really don’t enjoy not having a routine. When you don’t have one, you have to make decisions all the time, and that’s exhausting.
But when you make a small decision once a day, after a few weeks, it’s not a decision anymore.
It’s a habit.
And habits don’t drain nearly as much energy.
The other day I said I draw every morning, inspired or not. That’s not because I’m incredibly disciplined (though maybe I am a little), but mostly because I get up, make breakfast, and turn on the computer on autopilot.
Before I even think about it, the file I’m working on is already open.
I’m ready to draw.
So if you’re like this week’s protagonists and want to start something new, yes, you’ll need some willpower at the beginning.
But only at the beginning.
After that, habit takes over.
In my humble opinion, what really matters is that you have enough willpower for those first few weeks.
Oh, and that you made a good decision when you chose your new habit.
Enjoy.
P.S. There are 4 slots still available (out of 6), and whether or not they fill up, I’ll stop accepting commissions next Monday.
February will be dedicated to putting all my Condor graphic novels (not these strips in coloryou’re reading here, the other comics) together into a physical book, black and white, telling the full story of his life.
So if you’re interested in an illustration for your post, short story, or book, take that into account.
Details here.
The line about the hunger of the soul makes me think that maybe answering that hunger, today, not someday, can be a habit too. A small, ordinary one. And once it is, running isn’t escape anymore. It’s just movement.
A really good story, with Condor becoming an unexpected impulse for someone else to move, without even meaning to.
Thank you again for mentoring us. I will say it again and again. I received a rejection for one of my novels and was going to shelve it because I thought it was crap. I went back and read the fine print and they said they would look at it again if I rewrote it. I am a follower. I am listening. So I am rewriting. I wasn't going to comment because I am always over here over-sharing. But what you post matters. It is so hard being an unknown author trying to get traction. Thank you again for believing in us. I'll let you know what happens. ❤️💕❤️