Sep 16, 2023·edited Sep 16, 2023Liked by Jacob Souva
The way I grew to think of comparison as someone coming into this industry as a second career, later in life ... is I remember to compare the effort.
This persons on social media with gabajillion followers has made thousands of amazing pieces more that I have, and post them on all the platforms, and Reddit etc. that’s a lot of work, am I doing comparable work.
This persons with a huge newsletter following and amazing newsletter, has been creating awesome free content for kids for years, and doing amazing work for decades before that.
In short I convert emotion into fuel for doing work!
And remind myself that I’m on my path and they are on theirs
Brilliant advice, Jacob! Most anytime I compliment someone on their work it's because I'm jealous. But I am genuinely happy for them underneath my own silly insecurities. I'm jealous of you for writing this a brilliant post on such an important topic! 😆 But really, thank you for sharing something we all need to read and bookmark. That feeling of envy is terribly familiar and it's nice to know we're not alone.
This hits closer to home than I'd like to admit. True, many of us are so working our brains and hearts out to carve our niche, to be noticed, to gain recognition, to land that sweet deal that will finally get us free time for exclusive dedication to our art instead of performing odd jobs to make ends meet. And while it is natural and expected to celebrate the success of others (because after all we're all on this together) the nagging "why it wasn't me" feeling never fully goes away. All the more important reasons to learn taming that beast because what you reap today is what you'll sow tomorrow. And keep spirits on a high note. Thanks for bringing this out. ☺️
This is the third article this week I read about other illustrators feeling jealous about other illustrators. :-D So that made me feel better. We all feel like this!
This was a read that came at the right time! All illustrators (I hope) know deep down that we all feel the same way at some point, but it's good to hear it sometime! Always look forward to your blogs.
Love this VERY much, thank you so much for sharing!! I’m a poet and course I can relate a ton (I think anyone can, really).
A couple of weeks ago, I walked through a big festival in my city and suddenly though - oh wow, I am passing literally hundreds of people, who a) are not poets themselves and b) could be so encouraged by my poetry! Which is to say: when you see someone’s post on Instagram, they are likely your colleague/peer/someone inside your bubble. But there’s a whole world outside of your bubble, who NEEDS your art!
Thank you again for your inspiring words (I will work on forgiving myself!) and keep up the good work 💛
Whatever challenge I’m facing when it comes to “the work,” I always find that things go better when I focus on immersing myself in the experience I’m trying to capture, the story I’m trying to tell, the emotion I’m trying to convey, than when I focus on how the work will exist in the world. The work will exist in the world in whatever form it needs to, and at that point all that will matter was did I immerse myself, capture, and convey? Sometimes, it even works.
The way I grew to think of comparison as someone coming into this industry as a second career, later in life ... is I remember to compare the effort.
This persons on social media with gabajillion followers has made thousands of amazing pieces more that I have, and post them on all the platforms, and Reddit etc. that’s a lot of work, am I doing comparable work.
This persons with a huge newsletter following and amazing newsletter, has been creating awesome free content for kids for years, and doing amazing work for decades before that.
In short I convert emotion into fuel for doing work!
And remind myself that I’m on my path and they are on theirs
Absolutely. That’s a good addition - we are on our own paths. 💯
Brilliant advice, Jacob! Most anytime I compliment someone on their work it's because I'm jealous. But I am genuinely happy for them underneath my own silly insecurities. I'm jealous of you for writing this a brilliant post on such an important topic! 😆 But really, thank you for sharing something we all need to read and bookmark. That feeling of envy is terribly familiar and it's nice to know we're not alone.
This hits closer to home than I'd like to admit. True, many of us are so working our brains and hearts out to carve our niche, to be noticed, to gain recognition, to land that sweet deal that will finally get us free time for exclusive dedication to our art instead of performing odd jobs to make ends meet. And while it is natural and expected to celebrate the success of others (because after all we're all on this together) the nagging "why it wasn't me" feeling never fully goes away. All the more important reasons to learn taming that beast because what you reap today is what you'll sow tomorrow. And keep spirits on a high note. Thanks for bringing this out. ☺️
Absolutely. Glad it did!
Exactly. Focus on the fun of making your art.
For a second I read this as “focus on making fun of your art” 😂🧐
“Seventeen figure deal” 🤣🤣🤣 Love this! 👌🏼
😉😎
Lol! Pulp magazines!
So, yeah, i need to print this list out and tape it to my desk.
I’m rereading it now as I forgot for a bit lol. It sneaks up on you.
This is so true… Thank you for sharing <3
This is the third article this week I read about other illustrators feeling jealous about other illustrators. :-D So that made me feel better. We all feel like this!
This was a read that came at the right time! All illustrators (I hope) know deep down that we all feel the same way at some point, but it's good to hear it sometime! Always look forward to your blogs.
Thanks, Jess. Same!
Yep yep and yep 👏👏🫶
How human of us. . .
I like that, move on and get back to work. 😆
😉
Love this VERY much, thank you so much for sharing!! I’m a poet and course I can relate a ton (I think anyone can, really).
A couple of weeks ago, I walked through a big festival in my city and suddenly though - oh wow, I am passing literally hundreds of people, who a) are not poets themselves and b) could be so encouraged by my poetry! Which is to say: when you see someone’s post on Instagram, they are likely your colleague/peer/someone inside your bubble. But there’s a whole world outside of your bubble, who NEEDS your art!
Thank you again for your inspiring words (I will work on forgiving myself!) and keep up the good work 💛
Thank you, Sabrina! I agree 💯- it can be easy to be in our little professional bubbles while missing all of the joy “out there”
Whatever challenge I’m facing when it comes to “the work,” I always find that things go better when I focus on immersing myself in the experience I’m trying to capture, the story I’m trying to tell, the emotion I’m trying to convey, than when I focus on how the work will exist in the world. The work will exist in the world in whatever form it needs to, and at that point all that will matter was did I immerse myself, capture, and convey? Sometimes, it even works.
Brilliant points - this has been my experience too.
Nailed it.
I needed to read this. Thank you so much for sharing. Brizida
I'm super glad it helped, Brizida. Onward!!!
“You do you, John” 😂 Thanks for your honesty and vulnerability!
I’m glad it resonated. I mean who am I to say 😂