Manifestation - Update

I've always been strong in goal-setting. And making plans and having a clear destination in mind. But I understand now where I've failed to succeed is in my attitude. I have a very positive attitude generally. And I'm very diligent about achieving my goals. But I discovered this week that when something doesn't go the way I plan it, I shut down. I become very pessimistic, and narrow-focused. Essentially I start to see the glass half-empty. And this is the root of my failures in life. Goathe says "In every adversity is the seed of opportunity, for something equal or greater." But in my stubbornness to do it "my way". I can't see the opportunities all around me that the universe wants me to see. This is where affirmations come in to play. Affirmations are not dreams. They are decisions. Even though an affirmation may be far fetched and even perceivably impossible to achieve. It is still crucial to make the decision. Even if you believe it is outside of your own abilities, or the timeline doesn't make sense. It is the act of deciding that makes something happen. There must first be action before their can be a reaction. You must decide to do something before the universe can reveal the path to achieve it. It's important to clarify how an affirmation is supposed to work. You are basically making a decision, but you are phrasing it in the present tense. As though it were already happening in your life. But it is vital that you phrase it in such a way that your brain will actually believe it to be true. Otherwise you are wasting your time. Example 1: "I am now a millionaire" Is something your brain would have a hard time believing. Rightfully so, when all your bills are due and you're scrambling for money to get lunch. Example 2: "I am now creating total financial success." or "All the money I want and need is now coming to me." Is something that your brain can wrap itself around. And your subconscious starts to work away at the problem. Why? Because your brain agrees with EVERYthing you tell it. Bad or good. You tell your brain you're having a bad day and your brain will say "Yes sir, bad day Sir!" and it will look for every reason for you to HAVE a bad day. The same thing works in the positive direction. You tell your brain to look for opportunity and success and it will say "Yes sir, opportunity and success Sir!" Now of course it's not as simple as that. As I quickly discovered. We all have self-sabotaging tendencies that reinforce the negativity. So much so that it's probably best for you to come to that on your own if you so desire. I know I have been. I am simply putting this out there because it is relevant I believe to a lot of people in my life. If you want to take your life to the next level, Tony Robbins' "Awaken the Giant within" has been a big help to me. As well as "The power of intentions" from Wayne W. Dyer. Robbin's stuff, has helped me break through a LOT of obstacles in the last year. But I've been challenged to understand how to take it to the next level with him. Which is where "The millionaire course" from Marc Allen has come in, and really made things click for me. All of these are books I highly recommend. Basically I think I understand the difference now between setting goals and creating affirmations. And the importance of each. You need goals and a plan to sort of loosely outline your yearly, monthly, weekly, daily tasks. In order to keep you moving EVERYday towards reaching your goals. If you do something every day, and just get better at it 1% every day. That's a pretty amazing difference after a year. But if you don't have that plan, you're always putting stuff off till tomorrow. Until it's become another year and another. Where affirmations come in, is for the BIG stuff. Where you need the universe to get involved and make stuff work for you. And especially to help you with changing your beliefs that have held you back. Of which there are MANY, at least for me. I'm starting to see results already. It takes a different way of seeing things to understand what's happening. But through those eyes things are looking very exciting. I'm going to commit a year to manifesting. And if I see results I'll give it another. I may not write about it on here much more though. This is supposed to be my art blog. I just needed an outlet I guess. If I get enough feedback on this though I may seek another venue to delve into this a little more, where other people can participate. --Will

Manifestation - Resources

Following up on what I was writing about yesterday. I found an interesting article that says exactly what I was trying to say. It's interesting, and it clarified a few questions I had about it. It's weird to be saying "make it so". Back to the old Next Gen days. But it's not the first time that I've come across this. A friend of mine got me past a huge obstacle to moving to San Diego last year, by referencing Star Trek wisdom and the power of manifestation. Anyways, I really think this paragraph sums up the process... "Do not ask the universe for what you want. Declare it. Don’t ask. This is very similar to prayer, but you are not praying FOR what you want. You are praying WHAT you want. You are simply saying, “Here it is. Make it so.” It is like planting a seed in the ground. You do not say to the ground, “Here is the seed. Please, can you make it grow?” You simply plant the seed, and it will grow as a natural consequence of your planting and tending to it. It is the same with your intentions. Simply plant them. There’s no need to beg." And on a side note, this whole thing seems to also be modeled in one of my favorite quotes, which I think I've posted here at one point or another. "What we have is based upon moment-to-moment choices of what we do. In each of those moments, we choose. We either take a risk and move toward what we want, or we play it safe and choose comfort. Most of the people, most of the time, choose comfort. In the end, people either have excuses or experiences; reasons or results; buts or brilliance. They either have what they wanted or they have a detailed list of all the rational reasons why not." ~ Anonymous Hope this all is helpful. --Will

Manifestation

I've been doing a lot of research on goal-setting lately. In fact its been a couple weeks that I've been researching and writing out these goals. A lot of this is Tony Robbins, some is NLP, some is EFT, and also a few books I've picked up over the years. Background I believe goal setting is the key to success. I heard once about a survey of a graduating class at Yale back in the 50's. Of all the people surveyed, only about 3% replied that they had clear goals for their lives. Meaning, they had sets of goals for 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 20 years and so on in their lives. A roadmap for success. 30 years later someone followed up on the survey. And most responded that they'd had success in their lives. But there was one clear distinction of this group. Of everyone in the class, the 3% that had their goal plans, had more wealth individually, than the entire rest of the class COMBINED! "If you do not have goals for yourself. You are destined to serve the goals of others." Manifestation is an interesting thing. No one seems to quite understand it yet. There is just something about committing yourself to paper. But it basically comes down to this... "Ask and you shall recieve." Essentially what goal setting is. But how you go about doing this is still tricky. You cannot demand. Nor can you control how the goals will come about. God has his own way of making stuff happen. So you're best off to let him fill in the blanks. (Why am I writing about this? I suppose, its because if you're at the right place in your life for this, it's my duty to pass it on. So here goes... ) Getting Started You're 12 years old. You're writing out your christmas list. And there is no doubt in your mind that whatever goes on this list will be under the tree Christmas morning. You scratch and scribble meticulously until the list is perfect BECAUSE you know it will be under that tree, and you want to get this right. That my friend is faith. Childlike enthusiasm. That is the mindset you need when you set these goals. This is not to be confused with Entitlement which will make your life a living hell, and lead you to bitterness and resentment. PERSONAL GOALS "A goal is simply a dream with a date attached to it." To start, write out your personal goals. Mental - Emotional - Social - Spiritual - Physical - Career - Love. Brain storm, let your mind wander. Write down anything and everything. And then, beside each one write a number, representing when you will achieve these goals. 1, 3, 5, 10, etc years... And then you take your top three One-year goals. Now the important part. On a separate sheet of paper, write out these top three goals and write out a full paragraph describing exactly why you are absolutely committed to achieving them. You have to really get to the core of it. You have to find your purpose. Motivation. If you've had trouble achieving goals in the past. It is most likely not your drive, ambition or dedication. It usually means you have impotent goals. Wanting something just to want it is not a goal. It is a neurosis. You have to know why you want it. It may be because of the way it will make you feel. Or because of what it will do for your life, for your family, friends, loved ones. It may be because it will make you feel fulfilled, secure, happy. Everyone has their own motivations. Its up to you to understand them. How is not as important. This goes back to the faith thing. Asking how it will happen, in a way, is the opposite of faith. It is not important. What matters is not whether you know how yet. Nor whether the timeline is reasonable. But whether or not you are absolutely committed to having these goals happen. The more committed to them you are, the sooner you'll reach them. THING Goals After you've done your Personal goals. You write a list of "Thing" goals. This is the material representation of success. Cars, boats, homes, islands, planes, busineses, (pirate ships). There is nothing wrong with wanting things, as long as things are not your motivation for living. Purpose is stronger than objects. Again, you have to know why. It is not about having things it's about the feelings you think you'll get from them. What will it mean? What will you be able to share? How much fun will it create for you? Again, prioritize by year, and find your top three 1-year goals and write out why you are absolutely committed to achieving these goals. Financial Goals The last part is writing out financial goals. Annual income, Net worth, realistate, investments, properties, retirement, savings, etc... anything having to do with money. Then prioritize, and find the why's. If you want to take this all to the next level, you'll find the reasons why for everything on your list. The people that go that far with it seem to be the ones at the absolute pinnacle of success. But if you're skeptical... this list of nine goals is a good introduction. Summary Now you've got your 9. And you ask yourself How will it feel if all 9 goals within a year are attained? Like a badass, huh? And if you're like me, you start pulling out these goals that you've had since you were a little kid. The kind of stuff you put away because it seemed unrealistic, or childish. But now to me they make perfect sense. Even more than the first time I dreamed them up. And I get excited, giddy even, at the thought of achieving my goals. It's only been a few days, but I could see waking up every morning with this sort of passion. I am fucking inspired! And I have no doubt that these dreams will come. My first experience with manifestation was about 4 years ago. On a whim I wrote out a list of 27 things I would do before I turned 27. I wrote the list with this childlike enthusiasm. And I put it away. Looking back at it every few weeks or so. Eventually letting it slip out of sight completely. A few months back I ran across this list again and 20 out of the 27 were things I could now check off. That's pretty remarkable considering if I'd not written the list I KNOW I wouldn't have done most of those things. And it wasn't that I was trying... it was as though the universe was fulfilling the list for me. That is the power of programming. Anyways... this is long enough. I hope it helps someone out there. Let me know if it does. --Will

"Wally Woods 22 panels that always work"

Someone has acquired the original photostat of Wally Woods 22 Panels. The creation and history of it seems to be almost as useful as the panels themselves. Read the letter from Larry Hama if you get the chance. --Will

Phat Catz

It's been a tough week. Unexpected, obfuscated and worn. This too will pass. Realized it's been a while since I posted any art. Not that I've not been drawing, just been busy. Here's a commission that I've been working on. Its a logo for a motorcycle company. Pretty fun. --Will

I've been doing it again...

...Making plans without knowing my purpose for them. Without purpose goals become impotent. They become about doing for the sake of doing. And that in and of itself is impossible to maintain. It's made me live very reactionary lately. Doing things out of reaction to fear. Without the equilibrium that purpose brings. It's brought me to my knees. Obstacles are wonderful things for that. The Universe's way of letting you know that you are most definitely NOT on the right track. And if you ignore them, out of ignorance, arrogance or in my case sheer-bull-headed determination. They will lead you eventually to a great big thick wall. "Hello wall." So in that, today was a wonderful day. For I know what I once knew, once again. And I realize what I've done. And now I'm making goals, first writing them down. Then asking "why?" And lastly, but not nearly as importantly, asking "how?" It's funny how often "how?" used to be higher up on my list than now. But that impotence thing I mentioned earlier... yeah, "how?" doesn't matter near as much as "why?" For the most part, when I know "what?", and "why?" the universe takes care of the "how?" Well then, I'm glad that's elucidated. --Will "...Work without purpose draws nectar with a sieve, And Hope without an object cannot live." --Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Quote

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." - Steve Jobs

Down Time

Just in case anyone was wondering. My sites are down - On purpose for once. They may be down for a few days, no telling. I'm transferring my domains to a new server, and these things are never predictable. But at least now it will be loads cheaper because of - Dun Dunh dunndunn dun DUUNNNN!!!! www.1and1.com They host 3 domains for a little cheaper than what I was paying for one before. Thanks to Luis for the tip. Wish I coulda got you the commission bud. This is the end of an era for me in a way... Since I'm switching servers it means I'm losing a lot of my statistics records for www.lucidcomics.com. I was about to pass the "7 MILLIONth HIT" mark sometime in the next month or so. Now we're starting from scratch again... a moment of silence please. Now, Back to work monkeys!!! --Will

Update

Gargoyles Issue One Reviews I meant to post this earlier. There's a lot of reviews out for the first issues of Gargoyles. Way more than I expected. In general they seem to be pretty favorable. Actually, most of them sound pretty much the same. At least they're positive. One Two Three Four Five Six Tutorial My friend Francis showed me this awesome tutorial from Kazu (Flight, Copper) on his process for doing a comic from thumbs to completion. Very interesting stuff. I love Kazu's work. I've been a fan for a long time. I honestly had no idea that he drew this comic tradionally. I could have sworn that it was all digital. Really cool. Jeff Smith Has a new blog. He transcribes a lot of his motivations and inspirations over the years. Right now he's talking about Joe Kuberts take on Tarzan, and how it influenced his art as a kid. I'm a big fan of Jeff as a person and as a creator. And I of course am a huge fan of Bone. It's really nice being able to have that insight into what all he's done and been through, and how he made it through all of it. El Pacifico I am at once inspired and destraut at this comic. It's a group of three professional artists, all extremely talented, that decided to do a round table online comic strip. With the theme of Pirates. The art is fantastic and the storytelling fun and entertaining. --Will

Lubbock Sketch Night Saturday!

I'm trying to make the local sketch club a more legitmate organization. I figure starting with a regular time is the best thing to do. Any suggestions on a more suitable/permanent location? I'm also considering taking $1.00 donations at each sketch night from everyone, so we can print up some postcards and buy newspaper/classifieds ads. I started a new blog just for the local sketchclub. I may make it group access. Anyways, help me out. Feedback is needed, and appreciated. --Will

"Cigars... Cigarettes.."

Todays warm-up sketch. I still feel like i'm stuck between doing realism and cartoony. I make a conscious effort to do cartoony, but I always end up trying to render it realistically. I guess I'll just keep practicing it. I like how the background turned out on this one. It's cool how you can just noodle a few little scribbles and they end up looking somewhat realistic. This sketch was about an hour. Back to work. --Will

Digital Sketches

I've been trying to do some digital sketches each morning before work. So far I've enjoyed the results. And I feel like after a few months of doing this I'll really start to grow with my art. I already have. The first image, started off as a reproduction of this warm-up sketch from Dub. Whom inspired me to start doing warm-ups in the first place. I actually reproduced that sketch as an acrylic painting as well Sunday night. It was my first attempt at acrylics and I was VERY pleased with how it turne dout. I'll take a photo and post it soon. The other three are sketches taken loosely from magazines. Anyways, I'll post again this week. I still intend to do a con report for Comic-con. It was an incredible show. And I want to share some of the realizations I found from it. --Will