I Want to Wake Up Grateful

January 23, 2026

“Once I’m Gone, I’m Gone”

Follow me on X: @punisherpapi · IG: https://www.instagram.com/punisherpapi?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

What’s the one thing I need to do tomorrow that will make the whole day feel lighter?

I need to wake up thankful.

Thankful that I’m still here.

Even though part of me thinks that if I stopped existing—if this avatar died—it would feel like relief, because I don’t like my life as it is right now.

But even with that being true, I want to be thankful to exist in this moment, in this time, as Roberto Sanchez—because once I’m gone, I’m gone forever.

So tomorrow, the thing that makes the day lighter isn’t a miracle.

It’s waking up and choosing gratitude anyway.

Reader question: What’s one thing you can wake up thankful for tomorrow—even if your life isn’t where you want it yet?

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Journal

being human, depression, discipline, gratitude, mental health, mindset, personal growth, presence, prompt journal, resilience, self-improvement, waking up

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punisherpapi

Echoes of the Garage is my running record of rebuilding—structure, soul, and stubborn hope. I’m writing, illustrating, and hustling in LA, turning the everyday into story. If you’re learning to carry weight without losing yourself, you’re home here. Read more on the About page.

About Me

I’m Roberto Sanchez — illustrator, writer, and delivery driver in Los Angeles.

By day, I sell plastic bags out of a van across South Central.

By night, I draw, write, and build my life brick by brick.

I graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2022 with a BFA in Illustration, but art has never been just school to me. It’s survival, reflection, and expression. My illustrations come slow — patience is part of the work.

I live and create out of a converted garage.

That small room became Echoes of the Garage — the place where I put words, drawings, and the pieces of a life I’m rebuilding one step at a time.

Here you’ll find journal entries, Hood Chronicles, and visual experiments that try to capture the absurd, the painful, and the human in everyday life.

This is where I put it all: drawings, words, and fragments of a life in motion.

This site is where I put it all: drawings, words, and fragments of a life in motion.

Echoes of the Garage

“Once I’m Gone, I’m Gone”

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“Once I’m Gone, I’m Gone”

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