Why I'm (learning to be) an Animator

This week's entry is a little personal and sentimental. Sorry. Chalk it up to a tough summer.

So at age 52, why on Earth would I be interested in becoming an animator? (Oh, excuse me... a motion graphics specialist. It means animator.) Am I stupid or something?

Yes, but also, it's a lifelong dream that, as I drift into irrelevancy and invisibility to young people, I might as well finally pursue. (See also: jazz musician. But good luck getting work doing that.)

What motivates me? Well...

Being an adult is the worst.

Ever feel like this girl?

Hey, some blue hair would beat the ring around my head!

Being an adult is painful. It's all about slowly dying from a backache for 50 years. It's about going to a job where every single day you sit on your morals and say and do things that does not improve a single life anywhere. That, in fact, makes lives worse.

Because "gotta pay the bills".

Being an adult is boring. You young people thought you knew that...oh no, you have no idea. Your life "at a certain age" (we can't even say it out loud) revolves around boring music and boring work life and boring people with mundane, shallow world views. Even sex is a chore you have to schedule to get it over with.

Drawing is my way of saying screw being an adult. Creative work in general gives you that feeling - that you are free, you are smart, and life is worth living.

Seeing stuff you've done? It's a great feeling.

Sometimes.

Yes, I want to work hard. (Do your "friends" on social media ever say that? As if they can shut up about politics for 3 seconds...) Animation can be a drudgery and a labor of love, emphasis on labor.

To me, work ethic means finding a satisfaction in coming home from your day job and pushing the pen around on the drawing tablet and seeing what happens on the screen, even if you really don't want to. Like traveling to the perfect vacation spot, having done it is the good part - but you have to do it first.

And to a certain extent, coding is like this, too. So why do this instead?

...well, when I code, it doesn't matter who I am. Creative work is largely about you and how you see the world. It's a scary experience in that regard, but also a massively rewarding one.

"But Mario," I hear you yelling, "Nobody's going to hire a 52 year old newbie!!!"

And you're right. I'm completely unemployable...so I might as well enjoy the ride over the cliff, right?

It helps that I've failed at a creative career before. It's terrible, but you move on...or you don't.

So create something today. Or at least enjoy the work of a creative that you never heard of. Maybe someone who lives near you.

Or are you busy?

PIC CREDIT

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