Zen Pencils by Gavin Aung Than for June 23, 2014
June 16, 2014
June 30, 2014
Transcript:
Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life. A person happy doing is own work is usually considered an eccentric if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities.. is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential. As if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth. You'll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you're doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out and I guarantee you'll hear about them. To invent you own life's meaning is not easy but it's still allowed and I think you'll be happier for the trouble. -Bill Watterson
Templo S.U.D. over 10 years ago
Haven’t I see this one before? (Gotta miss your artwork and stories, Bill.)
topbunk over 10 years ago
Mr. Waterson doesn’t just talk the talk – he walks the walk.
nefa over 10 years ago
Do you think the remark about “the good life” was a reference to “The Good Life”? I can see some similarities!
3hourtour Premium Member over 10 years ago
..It’s easy for Bill to throw in the towel,he can sell reruns and rerun books and reruns of rerun books…some of us have mouths to feed and bills to pay without the millions in the bank to live on….
j2p2 over 10 years ago
So THAT’s where Mr. Bun comes from…
aerilim over 10 years ago
I’ll say climb to wherever your potential allow. Climb while you’re still able to. There will come a moment when you could not climb anymore. Age and ailments will slow you down, so climb while you can. This doesn’t mean disregard your other duties with family and friends. Balance is the key to any achievement in life….
melissalomax1313 creator over 10 years ago
As an artist I can relate, truly one of my favorites! Thank you :)
MysteryCat over 10 years ago
Excellent homage to Watterson’s style.
billdungjen Premium Member over 10 years ago
go forth watterson.
spaced man spliff over 10 years ago
Whatever else B. W. said or didn’t say, he hit the nail on the head in this case. As a retiree I’m “catching up” on the life-directions I hadn’t time for or wasn’t wont to do before, while adapting to the financial and physical realities present for now.
Kind&Kinder over 10 years ago
Great to see the wonderful Bill Watterson quoted giving an awesomely on-the-nose opinion.He always did the same with Calvin and Hobbes—probably the major reason so many consider it to be the best comic strip ever produced. Thanks, Gavin. Your art work well mirrors Bill’s sentiments (and I assume yours s well. Congratulations on “Zen Pencils”, a strip I always look forward to on Mondays.
craigwestlake over 10 years ago
This explains a lot about Bill’s “withdrawal” from commercial society. Keep on truckin’…
Marisa Ruffolo Premium Member over 10 years ago
I love this one! It hits a personal note for me because my husband and I decided that I should stay home to raise our children—and homeschool them, as well. That was 19 years ago; despite all the naysayers, and the difficulties involving finances, I would do it all over again! Seeing the beautiful adults my kids have become is worth more than all the gold in the world!
pnorman1 over 10 years ago
I was halfway through tise strip when I saw the panel of them going up the hill in the wagon. I thought wow this reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes so much. I was very pleasantly surprised to see today’s quotation was from Bill Watterson. His final panel of C&H is still one of my favorite all time.
andygup over 10 years ago
Well done!