Echoes of the Garage

---

What Have I Been Wrong About?

---

August 4, 2026 – 8:09 a.m.

I am not polished…

and I do not believe I ever will be.

I don’t think I care to be.

I think it’s okay to be bad.

Flawed.

And still be okay.

Growing up…

I was told to do well in school.

So I did.

I began drawing at five years old.

I was encouraged.

Then…

I got to high school…

and I didn’t want to go anymore.

It felt like a prison.

The teacher was the warden…

telling me what to do.

I’d be reprimanded for being the kid drawing in the back of the classroom.

The kid that loved going off book…

just to see…

what if?

What if I were allowed to rewrite a scene from the book we were reading?

Maybe then the teacher could teach me how to write.

How to tell a story.

Creativity…

a tool that I think should be used far more often.

As I grew older…

drawing also became a prison.

The enjoyment slowly left.

“What are you going to be?”

Animator.

Character designer.

Architect.

Illustrator.

Blah…

blah…

blah.

I felt pressured to become a label.

Drawing became a prison because something I enjoyed so much…

eventually had to become a job.

Otherwise…

what do you have?

And yes…

I’d love for my drawings to make me a living.

I really would.

But I think creativity has to be treated with more delicacy than that.

It’s fragile.

I don’t think I have to ignore money.

Money matters.

I just can’t let money become more important than creating.

I can be conscious of the money…

but I have to stay unconscious of it while I’m creating.

Because the moment I begin drawing only for the paycheck…

I stop listening.

I stop exploring.

I stop playing.

And I think…

play is where my best ideas come from.

So…

I walked away.

Now…

after years of actually trying to become an artist…

and then unexpectedly beginning to write…

without someone telling me what to do…

I’ve realized something.

I never had to listen to anyone on how to do things.

All I had to do…

was understand the structure that was being presented.

After that…

it was up to me…

to figure out how I wanted to complete the task.

It’s more fun that way.

Well…

that’s all I got.

Have a great morning.

Enjoy your cup of coffee.

---

Question

Have you ever loved something so much that turning it into work began to change how it felt?

🚀 Subscribe

If you enjoyed this reflection, consider subscribing.

I write about creativity, drawing, coffee, and the things I discover while trying to protect the joy of creating.

☕ Enjoy your cup of coffee.