I have these kickass VHS videos I used to watch constantly as a young teenager, where Stan Lee hosted drawing sessions with various artists, spouting forth tips and tricks and that trademark Stan Lee alliteration. At the time Image comics was booming onto the scene, and most young fanboys like myself wanted desperately for any advice on how to break into the biz.

Anyway, one of the best points made was by Jim Lee in his video, talking about the production aspects of comics, relating to how quickly you really have to work to produce a 22 page comic in a month’s time.

To paraphrase, “Imagine yourself as the director. You have an unlimited budget, unlimited scope, the best actors, the best props, the best everything. Your one constraint is time.”

So I was sitting here at work, zoning out and that little parable hit me like a ton of bricks. Just as I try to consciously apply my system of order and chaos on grander and grander scales, so too must I expand my metaphors to cover grander and grander topics.

As so that’s how it is for this life as well. You are the director, and the world is your stage. You can do anything you want, anything you can think of. You have the godlike power to help shape and create your own reality.

Only catch is, you’ve got a short and unsure timeline, unknown to even yourself. There are no re-shoots, no promotions, no trailers, no awards. Just you and your art.

How will you paint the portrait of your life?

“Get busy living, or get busy dying.”