Personal Experience with the Law of Attraction (part 2)

I hope that in sharing my story, you can find something to relate back to your own struggles.

Back to it.

…

When I arrived home, I withdrew from the world so completely, that I still feel the effects of it even now.

I’d made myself as small as possible so that no one could see my failure; that I had returned with no visible results as tangible proof for my experiment with the Law of Attraction.

But inside myself, I knew the truth. Something in my mind had changed; something that continues to grow even now.

Nothing ever so significant had occurred in my life until that two months when I had truly lived.

Though the adventure was over, I was still in the fantasy mindset when real work was required of me at home. That’s when – not depression, but APATHY started to set in. Because I didn’t yet have the results I wanted, and because I was waiting for those things before I acted, I became completely apathetic, as I wasn’t engaged in any process of achievement. I was completely in my head, thinking I had attained some form of enlightenment, because I felt nothing.

This apathy was compounded by the lethargy that had set in from my inactive lifestyle because I had developed the belief from the teachings that I shouldn’t have to lift a finger to bring about the life I wanted. I should just “manifest” it with my “positive energy”. Except I felt anything but. So I ended up waiting and waiting and waiting. I thought I shouldn’t care about anything until I was in a circumstance where I was compelled to. So I waited constantly for a sign to leave again. Waited for a magically manifested circumstance to whisk me away from my current situation to one where I could be happy. In the meantime, I always felt out of place in my own life.

*Note:

During this ENTIRE experiment I never ONCE stopped questioning myself and my direction. I always maintained the position of the skeptic and never put my full faith in these beliefs like some kind of zealot. I always held the position of the scientist and the test subject simultaneously.

That being said, I was itching to work on SOMETHING. Anything. I knew that drawing was the only thing I ever loved enough to come back to even after I let it all go, but I had ZERO work ethic. I couldn’t to sit and draw for even 5 minutes, let alone for the rest of my life.

On top of that, a great anger began to arise in me, because nothing I’d been taught worked like I wanted it to. LOA works in ways you can’t directly control. I came to realize that you have to be willing to work too. There was a deep feeling of shame to accompany my anger because I had gotten about 40-50 pounds heavier since coming back when I had intended the exact opposite!

Most of my days were spent searching for answers in blogs and videos, the same things that had gotten me into this experiment. For recreation, I’d play Uncharted 3 Multiplayer and ponder getting into Magic the Gathering (which didn’t pan out).

There were days when I was so tired and lethargic that I woke up from sleep, too tired to get up and too awake to go back to sleep. So I just laid there in bed until the need to go to the bathroom exceeded my comfort. I had no drive, no purpose, and no reason to get up. No prospects, no friends, no signs, nothing. I would spend the majority of the day that way until I’d finally fall asleep again so I didn’t have to be awake. Eating was an even greater shame, for what had I done to earn or deserve my portion? I’d eat out of sight of everyone else and get fatter in secret.

Death became a more welcoming presence every day. I never thought about killing myself directly, but I wouldn’t mind it if God put me in a fatal car crash, or pushed me off a cliff; anything quick and painless. I considered death a better choice than having to face the world and actually DO stuff. I thought of it as a warm blanket that would swaddle me once I shed my mortal coil.

If there is anything I learned for sure, it is that full-on reliance on the law of attraction will make you incredibly lethargic and depressed if you don’t align correctly with it. Especially if you focus on fantasy over reality.

God or the Universe or whatever gives you what need, not what you want. And more to the point, you get what you ARE not what you want.

The only weapon in my arsenal was my complete and utter awareness and questioning of my mental state at ALL times.

So I started to ask myself. What had I become?

Lazy, fat, and tired.

So my situation reflected that.

I would get annoyed family members who would make me do the things they had no time for because it would fill up my time instead. And that would annoy me.

Let me tell you: When you don’t have a purpose, people will have no problem coming up with one for you. And trust me, it ain’t as glamorous as whatever you have in mind. Their purpose for you will be to watch their kids or to do the dishes. You will be stripped of privileges you once had because you aren’t earning your keep, and you’ll have no defense either emotionally or factually against it, so all you can do is sit there and stew in it. And who’s fault is it? No one but your own.

So where did I go from the bottom?

The ONE thing that kept me going through all of this was the fact that I knew I had a powerful enough dream to see all the way through to the end. I had always maintained in my mind that I had a much better future ahead. It wasn’t based on the faith in some bullshit fantasy, but on the practical mental faculty I’d developed on the road. The mindset that NO ONE could see. Whenever I was asked how I knew what I knew, I’d always tell people the same thing: “Not a single word of mine will matter until you SEE the result.”

If I wanted this, I was going to have to make it happen. (what it is, I’ll discuss in later posts)

The Mental Faculty

As soon as I set my mind to the task of accomplishing this goal, I became aware of a strange thing that had been happening the entire time. My mind had attracted to me all the resources I needed to achieve my truest desires. It was as natural as finding the bathroom when you’re looking for it. This was the actual Law of attraction, not this fantastical, mystical belief. Whenever I had a question, I would always attract answers through practical means via blog post, Youtube video, a kind word from a friend. No magic, just practicality. This would lead me to my next course of actions to take until I had an experience that would provide an answer and/or provoke more questions.

I used RESONANCE to move forward and DISSONANCE to change course.

If it felt right to me; If it felt like it would get me closer to my goal, I would take action on it despite any fears I would have. That’s where this blog came from. That’s why I started going to the gym, why I got a job. If it would take me away from my dream; if it felt wrong, I would immediately ignore it. From there, things kept snapping into place and my life vision becomes clearer every day. I began to naturally resonate more and more with success, work ethic, and hustle because I had seen first-hand what the opposite was like and I will never choose to go back to that.

I felt like nothing inside for a long time. Because I had spent so much time in my head-space, I’d lost most of my grounding in reality. It took 6 months to rip out every last shred of LOA misunderstanding and finally get back to earth. There was no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but in order to get back to working order, I had to let it ALL go.

Nature’s Oscillation

To get from my sluggish state back to one of activity, I went through a series of energetic ups and downs. There were periods of low energy, where I just couldn’t do anything even if I tried. Then there were periods of high bursts of energy, where I had the sudden urge to do a lot. Usually a specific task like cleaning out a dirty place, cooking, or taking care of my clothes. A lot of doing stuff just to do it. Once the high energy was spent, I went back into a low cycle.

I used to beat myself up for it but had enough awareness to accept these cycles as natural and out of my control. It was most likely Nature’s way of correcting my wayward state. I couldn’t force a big burst of energy when in a low state, and I rarely wanted to rest while in the high state.

Soon, I began to notice that my low state wouldn’t sink as low as before. The duration was shorter and my higher states became more normalized and longer sustained. Eventually, the frequency of this cycle fell in alignment with rest and wakefulness, like day and night. My highest highs several months ago, were lower than my lowest lows today. I felt myself slowly fall into step with Nature’s oscillation. (There’s so much more to say about this, but I’ll leave it at this for now.)

Conclusion

The secret of the mental faculty is this: If you have a powerful enough goal (not a dream) your mind instantly begins to attract the thoughts which attract the resources, that drive you to the actions which will ultimately achieve your goal.

This is actually something I feel occur in my head on a daily basis. GaryVee calls it Self-Awareness and it has truly become my sole mode of operation. The important thing is to be in alignment with yourself. I truly believe that the best work is created in alignment. When you’re aligned with what you do, you can’t do any better.

So, this is what I learned on the road and on my darkest days at home. The mental faculty that drives my life forward one step at a time. A deep sense of self-awareness and self-questioning that always keeps me on track, even if I slip up every once in a while.

Everything thing I do in life is now related back to my ultimate purpose. If it’s unrelated, I ignore it completely. I don’t have enough time or energy to give to politics, world events, youtube drama, anything. If I see something isn’t working, I STOP doing that thing (sometimes reluctantly) and change course. If I feel a bit of fear I know I’m on the right track.

Whether I fall short or have massive success, depends on how well I relate myself to universal principles like the law of attraction. It’s like the law of gravity: Jumping from a cliff without a parachute is relating yourself to the law in a way that is most likely to result in death.

Or how robbing a convenience store is relating yourself to the law in a way that is most likely to result in jail-time.

If you believe in fantasies without working towards a tangible goal, you relate to the law of attraction in a way that is most likely to result in failure, apathy, and lethargy.

In God’s perfectly designed world, the one thing I know that everyone can do is WORK. Let LoA do its own thing in its own time, but don’t count on it to pay your bills. I thank God for these universal principles. For the fact that I have to work; that I have to improve myself to get anything worth a damn because that’s what gives you the feeling of being alive; of being human.

How’s that for positive thinking?

In the meantime, I’ll be working towards my dreams every single day, not hoping for events, but engaging in the process.

And this time, I’ll create the adventure, not wait for it.

Until next time,

-Ken

January 24, 2018January 29, 2018

Personal Experience with the Law of Attraction (part 1)

Preface

This post is about my first-hand experience with the Law of Attraction and the powerful mental faculty I gained as a result. I hope my experiences can serve as a sort of guidepost in your own journey, as so many other articles have done for me.

To start with, I’m a self-motivated learner by nature.

I’ll stop at nothing to obtain relevant and important information to my goals.

So when I shifted to the success mindset, I naturally started reading to find answers.

The first time I’d heard about the Law of Attraction was through a book called Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill, one of THE best books on success I’ve ever read, and still listen to often. Before I caught wind of The Secret or any of the gimmick surrounding the topic, I instantly recognized this law as an invaluable key to achieving my dreams (what Napoleon Hill called the law of Hypnotic Rhythm). So what could be more important to me than mastering this universal principal for my purposes? Though it didn’t make full sense to me at the time, I decided to throw myself into the task of devouring everything I could on the subject.

So when I had learned just enough, I decided to put the Law of Attraction to the ULTIMATE TEST. Two years ago, I left the comfort of my home to see if I could manifest the life I wanted using only positive emotion, intent, and belief as my sole navigation.

I knew I had to buy in to the LOA teachings fully or the experiment wouldn’t work.

My hypothesis was, “Can one really get all they want in life merely by positive intent and belief?”

So I set my sights on a goal that I really believed would be worthwhile should my hypothesis be correct.

It’s embarrassing to say, but here’s what I wanted should my experiment succeed:

I wanted a house. Fairly big, but not a mansion. I’d make $50k a year, all passive, of course. Never having to work, but choosing to work on my art whenever it suited me. I could skateboard for fun and play video-games anytime I wanted. I would live alone, so no one could tell me what to do. I would have a workout room, so I didn’t have to leave home if I didn’t want to. But I’d also constantly be on amazing adventures with friends, traveling all around the world like in some kind of anime (like One Piece or Pokemon) living life to the fullest. I’d know multiple languages and be amazingly social and great with girls. Oh, and I’d balance all this along with doing great art.

As you can see, I did not hold back.

The goal was to start in San Diego, California and move up from there.

Why San Diego? Because it was the one place calling my name louder than anywhere else. Not to mention the locale most closely matched the vibrancy of the Youtube videos that “inspired” me.

I was resolved to do anything for this amazing fantasy. If fully surrendering to the universe via the law of attraction would truly bring me the life I wanted, then giving up everything, including my art, was a pittance.

Starting from the street was the plan…

…living there however, was not.

I won’t go into detail here, because the point of this post and the next is the power of the mind and how I learned to wield it.

But for context….

For months I had seen so many Youtube travelers and Law of Attraction success stories that I wanted the same to happen to me. Eventually, I became so overcome with the desire for adventure that I convinced myself leave home to achieve the same.

I mean, doesn’t it sound nice to not have to do anything and but feel positive emotions for good things will come?

Or too good to be true?

At my point of departure I had seen too much about life, death, illusions and enlightenment to have any more skepticism. I had to KNOW for myself what was the actual Truth.

Execution of my Plan

Most of my days in San Diego were spent in the library, voraciously consuming all sources of information, searching for the meaning of life and the truth of LOA. Any clue I could find was a major step forward in understanding. From the moment I arrived and at all times, I was INTENSELY AWARE of myself and my surroundings. I knew I couldn’t let up for a moment, get in a bad mood or let my circumstances get the better of me. I’d developed a sort of “shield of positivity” which could spin any negative looking situation into a positive perception. Looking back on it now, I’d call it pragmatic optimism because it was very practical to keep this mindset in a no-win situation.

I was in DEEP OBSERVATION of the law nearly every minute of every day. I wasn’t there for fun, I was there to learn by experience; to see what this “law” was really made of. I was very serious, yet detached from outcome and always tried to maintain positivity. At all times, I could feel my emotions, when they spiked, when they were calm and what effect that would have on my outside circumstances. When I was angry I would either express it or take a breather and let it pass through me, depending on the situation. What I noticed were certain patterns in my daily activities; days to weeks when I met similar daily circumstances. When some minor detail changed, I noticed immediately that it was a sign of even bigger change to come. I constantly tried to keep my mind empty of thought of both future and past events, always looking out for signs of the next step. I kept in mind ONLY visualizations of what I wanted to maximize my intent.

And the results…?

Well, instead of unrealistically getting everything I wanted,

A life on the road taught me lessons tailor-made for my growth

Stream of consciousness account incoming…

I had run out to money for motels, and on the cusp of heading to a homeless shelter, I met a guy with a van and ended up sharing it with him and three other guys as shelter and transportation for the duration of my 2-month stint. The two older guys in their 50s could actually understand what I was trying to learn and one was actively practicing LOA with some success. I’d get into weird and crazy situations with this group, seeing people fighting over trifles, get to see incredible sights, skateboard by Pacific beach fairly often, saw the amazing orange trees by the Pauma Casino, got a free buffet twice, and sometimes money we needed would come exactly when needed. The value of a cup was measured by how much piss it could hold.

I’d felt moments of deep anger and embarrassment, but instead of withholding my feelings like I did back home, from family members that wouldn’t understand or even try to, I could talk through it and work it out with this crew of homeless dudes. The two older guys would often get into verbal altercations and break apart only to come together again, in less and less time with each infraction. It’d amazed me that people could actually apologize and make up (more than once!). I could actually express more of myself than I ever had the opportunity to back home. I’d walked around in the middle of the night without a care in the world. Walked by an old woman on the sidewalk pissing on a tree under her night gown. Danced in the streets past midnight with no one around, and pissed in those very same streets. Lost some a good pair of shoes that I had worn for 3 weeks straight. I had seen crackheads, methheads, trannies, whores and the like. Caught bedbugs, had an ear infection and a cold all at once. One of our van mates shit with colitis shit his pants; and I’d pissed myself on two different occasions. Ate a whole pizza to myself, had to sleep by a gay adult toy store, tasted my first beer. Had my life threatened while trying to take a piss at 2 in the morning and I’ve been in a condo by the beach on a peaceful day eating hamburgers with my crew while the owner’s two cats played. I learned the distinct smell of marijuana without ever smoking it. I’d seen a wealthy family nearly crumble from relationship issues and by trying to live above their means. I’ve aided in the theft of a mattress and didn’t get caught. I never went hungry, and actually got fatter?! I always felt blessed and I’d felt more alive in those two months than I had in 19 years back home. And this is just off the top of my head.

But, because I had no purpose of my own, I couldn’t shake the sense I wasn’t as “free” as I thought. The one thing I thought this law of attraction would bring me, I still had not found.

I relied on the owner of the van for shelter. I ran out of money quickly, so food would be an issue too. I’d be lost as to why things weren’t working according to my plan, and to stick to the rules of the experiment I couldn’t force anything happen by will.

I didn’t plan this out to be 2 months, and was just going with the flow of things, so over the next few months I was taken in by relatives and eventually moved back home, where this feeling of lacking freedom became even more pronounced.

Not one thing went according to my plan, even though there were signs everywhere. When I got home I desperately searched for where I went wrong. Had the law failed me? Or had I failed to use it correctly?

My mood continued to spiral downward until things got even worse…

I’ll explain everything and the mental secret I learned in the next post.

Until next time friends,

-Ken

January 17, 2018

A Deliberate Decision to Go to Art School

Despite ALL the warnings to the contrary, I’m going to art school.

And trust me, I read EVERY. SINGLE. ONE OF THEM. THRICE!

(Looking at you, Noah Bradley!)

I managed to hold it off for a good three years, but in the end I decided that I just couldn’t pass up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this.

I mean, when again am I going to have several uninterrupted years of full focus on my area of study?

–Along with people who are passionate about the same thing?

When will I ever again have the consistent and immediate feedback loop of industry professionals over my shoulder to help me improve my work?

Of course, I’m making a lot of positive assumptions here, but I’m hoping that’s what I’ll find.

And it’s not just any old art school. I’m heading to the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon & Graphic Art this fall.

Top reasons for my decision:

No bullshit pre-requisite classes: “Oh, I have to take Pre-algebra again before I can draw some comics? Yeah, fuck that.”
Competitive Spirit: I love competition by nature, and I tend to give it my all when others are watching. When I thought about all the talented peers I could learn from that would put work ethic to shame, I knew I couldn’t pass this up.
Full-time access to teachers: “Oh, that 20-year industry vet who’s worked on comics you’ve actually read? Yeah, he’ll be your teacher now.” Sweet LORD.
Perfect timing: I know more about myself now than I did at 18. I know EXACTLY the kind of art I want to create and the kind of life I’m working towards. I know that instead of attending school to obtain credits, I’ll be going to gain specific knowledge tailored to my goals.
No more full-time job: I’m not waiting 3 or 4 more years to start eking out a living with my art while still living with parents and holding down a full-time job. I had to weigh my options: stay at home and try to balance a job with building an art business using the precious few hours I have left in the day, or get…
Three years of focused study: Y’all already know how I feel about focus. I decided that three years of focused study on comics & storytelling was worth the price alone.

I know I’m romanticizing a lot about this, but I’m ready to embrace whatever reality has to show me.

And no, I’m not going there to learn how to draw comics. Instead, I intend to improve my professional work ethic. I can draw comics, but I’m as slow as growing grass and don’t really know how fast I should be or how much work one can really handle in month. Basically, when I reverse-engineered my goals and even my own thinking, I decided that going back to school would be the best option for me to learn first-hand how professionals get it done.

I sealed my decision when I decided tuition cost was no longer a THREAT.

It’s about $99k give or take.

For the longest time, tuition cost was my #1 deterrent.

What tipped the scales for me was the day my mind went, “FUCK IT, I’ll just pay it back ten times over by going all in!” I decided I’d make it work by squeezing the most out of my education and giving back 10x it’s value in my artwork and knowledge. What this entails exactly, I don’t know yet, but I’ll find out.

The other deciding factor was; I know ME.

If I don’t have BIG, bombastic, audacious thoughts like this, it’s not worth doing. If it doesn’t seem like it could be an adventure or lead up to one, I don’t see the point.

I’m gonna pay SO hard for thinking like this.

It’s nice to dream before reality smacks you right across the face, innit? Sure I can talk big now, but when reality hits, how will I really fare? Will I drown in my own hubris? Or roll with the punches? Only time will tell.

I can’t guess how my decisions will pay off in the long run, but I’ve never placed my bets on “normal”. By that, I mean a normal straightforward life. You’ll win that bet, guaranteed. But that’s the worst part.

Just look at 99% of people around you to know exactly what awaits you. To see exactly what you’ll “win”.

Though I say that, I always calculate my wagers. I never place a bet without doing my due diligence and putting all the odds in my favor. Even that time I left home to bet everything on universal principles to guide my path. (Spoiler Alert: I won that bet).

I tend to be an all or nothing kinda guy. I really like to see where I can push my limits in order to do and be more. Honestly, I feel like my life purpose is to conquer my own fears and emotions, then use my experiences as fodder for great stories.

But why do I have so much confidence in myself?

I DEVELOPED it when I understood THE most important thing I learned from being homeless for 2 months, depressed and lethargic for 8, then snapping out of it and spending the next 8 setting a foundation for the rest of my life.

Want to know the secret?

Find out next time, only on the Finer Points Chronicle!

つづく
To be continued

-Ken

January 9, 2018

Deliberate Focus in Art Study

Focused Progression

As a creator whose aim is to master storytelling, I’ve taken a great effort to choose my artistic focus carefully in order to ensure that I reach my goal.

I have drawn for quite a while and I’ve consumed for even longer. My Pinterest‘ll prove it. In many years of practice and observation I’ve noticed a connective thread in the themes and styles that most deeply resonated with me.

I’ve now seen enough to have developed what I call…

The Core Tenets of My Style:

Conceptual variety, interest, and execution
Mood and atmosphere-based color choices in
Interesting, unusual, odd-angled environmental compositions; usually architectural
Characters that have human-like, lively, emotional expressions with contrasting design elements
Compelling storytelling that will grab the viewer’s attention and keep it
Emotional depth created by the contrast and juxtaposition of compositional elements

The above “tenets” may sound like nonsense to most, but it makes perfect sense to me. These are my guidelines as an artist. I’ve opted for an approach in which I deliberately focus on the few most effective elements to have in my arsenal.

For me, it’s not important that my work is drawn better than others, it’s that it feels better. It’s not the technical skill, but the conceptual execution. I’ll go into detail in a later post.

I have such a strong framework for what I want my art to look like, I decided that the only way for me to reach it would be to decide for sure what I want to focus on.

What it really boils down to is three things I want to master in my artwork:

Human-like, expressive characters first and MOST importantly.
Unusual environments composed of skewed angles & colors
Emotionally impactful stories with strong characters and narrative

Starting to see a pattern?

From there, it sharpens into ONE point above all (and trust me, I’ve given this a lot of thought)

I want to become a master of juxtaposing, layering and arranging these elements to create the most IMPACTFUL emotional effect.

This is my ultimate goal and I’ve layered my practice so that I can actually reach this one day. This is what I believe whole-heartedly will allow me to take storytelling to the next level.

The reason I boiled it down like this is because I came to terms with the fact that:

I WON’T live forever
I CAN’T be good at everything and…
FOCUS works!

So I decided on the few most important things to hit HARD and EARLY on in my art and arranged them in order of most important to least in terms of creating an emotional impact.

By choosing the elements I’ve chosen, I’m deliberately shutting out other focuses that I don’t care nearly as much about. For example:

Fuck animals
Fuck mechanicals
and fuck realism

That’s not to say I don’t love work that may include these things. Or to say that none of these may be necessary to use later on. They’re just not my FOCUS.

It’s just as important to know what to focus on, as it is to know what not to focus on, and I’ve chosen what resonates with me the most from my favorite work, so I don’t waste time & energy trying to render the inside of a toaster.

There’s a lot to give up in order to specialize, but I believe the results will be worth it down the line.

Disclaimer: I DON’T recommended this for artists just starting, and I think it’s a natural process of elimination as you improve, anyway. I myself just want to be deliberate with it because it’s what that makes the most sense to ME.

The way I see it, those who specialize; those with a distinct hand are the often most successful. With a distinct style, no one can easily copy their work because they can’t replicate all the years it took to create their look. Their work becomes what’s called INIMITABLE:

in·im·i·ta·ble

iˈnimədəb(ə)l/

adjective

so good or unusual as to be impossible to copy; unique.

Just look at any of your favorite artists. Do you like them because they draw just like someone else, or because they draw like no one else can? My favorite artists are guys like Tsutomu Nihei (BLAME!), Ryan Ottley (INVINCIBLE), or Eiichiro Oda (ONE PIECE).

No one can easily replace them, so with that, they become indispensable. A status that can’t be attained without time and focus on their strengths.

With all that said,

I’ve dedicated the next 4 years to a Deliberate Focus on my core skills an artist.

Starting from this year, I’ll be working on…

Human Expressions (Year 1)
Composition and Environment (Year 2)
Color Theory (Year 3)
Writing: Narrative and characters (Year 4 and beyond)

I’ve recently begun something I’d like to call the Expression challenge. A challenge in which every day for a year I will be drawing expressions starting from the eyes down to the entire body with the aim to have a solid foundation in human expression by the end of the year.

My drive to master human expression is a Deliberate Focus

Because I have at least the basics of art down, putting a laser-like focus on one area will likely get me the results I want before moving on to the next….in theory. I’ll use this year to test it, then compile my results for you to learn, too. You can check out my progress on my twitter here.

Now to you.

What are your greatest strengths as an artist, and what are the best aspects of your favorite work that you would like to see in your own?

‘Til next time,

– Ken

January 3, 2018January 22, 2018

New Year, First Post

Call me Ken Syd.

This is the first of many posts to come and I’ve got a lot to say.

I’ll start with who I am and what I do.

I’m an artist who writes and draws comics and illustrations. Not professionally yet, but I’m getting there. Been doing this since I was 11, so I have a good 10 years of amateur work under my belt. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I started producing anything anyone would consider “good”. You can check out my work here.

To be honest, I never thought things would turn out like they are today.

I thought by now I’d be in Japan plugging away at my first hit manga series, Tetsujou. Yes, it has a name, and yes, it’s in a high school. I wrote it when I was 15.

You know what my original plan was?

Draw a ton> Learn to write> Learn Japanese> Go to Japan> Create a hit manga series> Get an anime and watch my creations in action> Make that $money$> Be set for life like Kishimoto-sensei> Have adventures and create more manga> Die.

I came up with that when I was 12.

What Changed?

Well, as you can imagine, a lot has happened to steer me off of the original path, but nothing could have been more beneficial for me as a person.

Since deviating:

I’ve gone on a real adventure where I ended up homeless, yet felt more alive in those 2 months than in the last 20 years of my life
I’ve expanded my conscious awareness and learned and the truth of the law of attraction
I have experienced depression and extreme lethargy and managed to crawl out of it even stronger than before
I’ve had the time to contemplate and really decide what I want out of life.
I’ve developed a master plan to bring my vision to fruition
I now have the drive to share it through my blog work and stories I create.

Having been lucky enough to go down this “detour”, I learned that life is not as cut and dry as I once assumed it to be coming out of high school. The fact that my desire to be a comic creator was stronger than anything else meant that college wasn’t necessary for me to make a good living. This allowed me to explore other avenues of learning and earning for a long time.

This meant TONS of books and YouTube videos, highlighting alternative mindsets and paths for one to take in life. The last three years have just been an insane download of information, internalized through observation, application, and testing, which I hope to elaborate on in future posts.

With this blog, I hope to connect to people with like minds and tastes who really believe in the latent potential in animation and comics; who won’t settle for less (in their art or their lives), and are determined to win their own (financial) freedom and do the art they love.

I’m still figuring this stuff out myself. So I’ll be sharing any insights and resources I find along the way.

However, I don’t want to get mired in analysis and theory for too long because all I want to do is demonstrate to you the ideas brewing in my head. If you want a taste of the aesthetic I want to present, you can take a look at my dedicated Pinterest board here.

Like I said, it’s hard to put into words, but I’ll damn well try!

To be honest, I feel like I shouldn’t be revealing the secrets behind this style, because it’d just ruin the magic within. But hey, someone had to say something and I don’t see anyone else talking about it!

STILL…

Saying it is one thing, doing it is another.

THAT’S where the fun’s at.

Until next time, folks.

-Ken

Feel free to leave any comments or email me at: finerpointschronicle@gmail.com