Breaking new ground is stressful. Exploring can cause all kinds of anxiety. Imagine taking a journey without guideposts or roadmaps. And you can’t use your smartphone to get directions. Your compass just spins and spins and spins. Now imagine charting a new career course during uncertain frightening times. I’ve always envied my friends who are doctors, lawyers and accountants. While their career paths are VERY difficult, they are known. Certain. Charted. On paper. My career has been a series of probes into the fog. There never has been a how-to guide for how to become an editorial cartoonist. To become one is a bizarre mixture of hard work + chance. And I’ll admit, I’ve been very lucky to this point. Chance has smiled gracefully on me. I’ve always seemed to find my way.
In the past 20 years, I’ve gone from being a Janitor to Advertising Artist to Creative Director to Creative Director to Editorial Cartoonist. It is a very analog journey with fits and stops. I’ve made mistakes and more mistakes. I’ve taken chances and I’ve turned down good opportunities. I’ve fumbled in the dark. My effort has been like ingredients in a some kind of funky career stew. Thankfully, it has turned out well. But it’s still evolving. And changing daily. The stew is still worth making.
I spoke to a very good friend who is a fantastic cartoonist on Saturday. He’s also one of the wisest people I know. His career path has been equally as bumpy as mine; he has been fired a couple of times and has made some spectacular leaps of faith. He now has his dream job at a dream newspaper. But these are tough times for the newspaper industry. Vast cuts are blowing across the media landscape, and changing it daily. So my friend realizes his dream job is as uncertain as my career has been.
We discussed the future, our next steps and what we should do to chart a new path. Like the explorers Columbus, Desoto and Magellan, we are traveling into uncertain waters. But like those globetrotters, we have to start with courage. Courage to take risks. Courage to try new things. Courage to cut lose things that we love — but don’t work. My friend will land on his feet. His talent will continue to carry him far. And as long as I continue to try new things and realize that experiments never fail, I’ll land on mine, too. There is always room for good content. I will continue to draw cartoons in some capacity.
Breaking new ground is stressful. Exploring always is. But I wouldn’t trade my crazy career for any other life or career in the world. Even though I don’t always know how I’ll get there, I know where I’m going. And while the journey can be uncertain at times, that journey is the ultimate reward.
So true.