It’s February! I am coming up on a full year of non-full-time employment. I haven’t had an actual “job,” like with holidays and health insurance and stuff, for about two years now, but I had a pretty regular freelance gig for most of 2006 and the first few months of 2007. When that ended, I started flying without a net, and it’s been scary, rewarding, frustrating and exhilarating in about equal measure.
Nearly a year on, I’m finding myself turning down work-for-hire gigs more and more often so I can have time to focus on the comic and other personal projects. Like Tuesday’s comic expressed (in a fashion), I don’t want to waste or give away any more of my own personal calendar-squares than I have to. Often that means that I walk away from decent paychecks or even potential career opportunities — but in doing so, I’ve realized with growing clarity how important it is to spend my finite energy in pursuit of my own goals, rather than those of an advertising agency, movie studio, or corporate client.
This transition has only been possible because of your generous support. Thank you so much for reading the comic, for blogging about it and spreading the word, for buying from the store and for offering a kind word at conventions. You are the reason I do this and why I’m thrilled to be working very hard on new, exciting directions for not only Wondermark, but the greater Wondermark Enterprises brand. Thank you all for your continued kindness — I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, do it without you.