September Life Update! (Patreon)

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in joy and peace." Isaiah 55: 10-12

This week, I couldn't stop thinking about this scripture after I read it. It felt like an inditement against me. 

Why? 

Because "joy and peace" were hard for me to find. Although I was wading though deep blessings that I could see and touch all around me, I couldn't help but focus on what seemed to be lacking in my life.

What was lacking? 

A new companion. I wanted to fill that void, replace what was lost, and sometimes just escape my responsibilities. Whether a girlfriend or a wife–how could I experience joy and peace without one?–I unconsciously thought.

I tried the dating sites and even had a few girlfriends this year–all of which left me feeling more alone, empty and confused.

And so when I read "You will live in joy and peace." I couldn't help but recite it over and over until I cried. I wasn't living in joy and peace because I was searching for it elsewhere. I thought I needed a girl to give me this joy and peace. 

The next day I deleted and cancelled all my dating profiles and made a decision that I would not seek to find a replacement anymore for what I had lost. Instead I'd refocus my mind on what God has already blessed me with.

Needless to say, it's been an exciting and invigorating week. My mind is racing with new ideas, and old projects are finally getting dusted off again. I'm working on my house again, making music again, drawing more comic pages, writing a blog post (this one), and thrilled by the success of my current Kickstarter campaign. 

I don't know about you, but knowing that God spoke these words "You will live in joy and peace." and knowing that His words will accomplish their purpose just like knowing water will cause plants to grow. Suddenly, I find myself hanging out with joy and peace again. It's a good feeling. :)

--------

Public speaking

A week ago I was in Wyoming on my public speaking & workshop tour. It was really exhausting but fun. I really do enjoy public speaking now days, as long as it's not too often. ;)

We are already starting to set up some new speaking gigs in other states now. I'll let you know when things are finally on a calendar. 

---------

Kickstarter Success!

The Female Cognitive Drawing campaign has been really going strong. My guess is that it will hit somewhere around $60K to $70K, which would be amazing! The campaign is only half way finished too so there is still time to grab a tier if you want. Here are the current stats:

---------

Enoch

The Enoch comic is slowing moving forward. I have the second issue sketched and about half way cleaned up. Here is the title spread from #2.

(And just in case you are worried, No, I'm not claiming the book of Enoch should be viewed as canon. I like studying ancient literature because it informs us of how people used to think, informs us of their culture and where some of our old metaphors came from. And I also think this dream lines up with the Bible nicely.)

--------

Call Me Hallow Update

I finally dusted off my old pitch from 2 years ago called CALL ME HALLOW. There were a few things that I needed to change before starting on it again. I'm excited to say that I actually loaded up the PSD files and worked on making the art changes needed the other day. Here's the page I worked on where I changed a business card into a cell phone. After all, this comic has a lot to say about social media. ;)

It looks like I still do have an offer to help fund this project and so if it still stands then I'll probably be focusing on this for the new year. I'm seeing it as a 250 page book. :)

---------

Music

Yep, I broke out the music computer again and found this winner of a song that you might get a kick out of. My friend Eric Lichtenburg and I were (believe it or not) paid to make this song as an "on hold" song for his client. It's called "Dog Named Horse". And yes, it's an actual On-Hold song for a company. 

Enjoy it. Or hate me for it. I don't care. haha!

It's attached. 

See you in the next update!

Jason