Hey, thanks for sharing!

Awesome!

That same address was a recent installment of the Zen Pencil: http://zenpencils.com/comic/128-bil.....onists-advice/

I'd seen that - Berbalang finding that cartoon had me wanting to find the original speech

I found the cartoon sort of cloyingly idealized, where you're basically presented with a choice between commitment to a loving/loved family, hobbies, and still enjoying prosperity, or a vicious corporate existence with no upsides... and there's not much of a choice there. Whereas I felt Watterson's original commencement speech was a lot more nuanced, with this idea that you pursue what you love because the sort of prosperity the cartoon shows might never happen, and if that's the case, you may as well have made stuff you thought was really great, and had some really personal satisfaction to draw on.

Heh. You might find Willis' parody right on target, then. And do note that he's parodying the Zen Comics version and its selective quoting.

The comments are largely worth reading (on the INTERNET? Incontheivable!). I particularly liked this observation:

I actually normally DON'T like Zen Pencils much anymore, because most of the comics sort of revolve around, "There was this once-in-a-lifetime talented person who said something inspirational, and that means you should quit your job and do something with your life that won't pay enough to keep you alive."

Wow, that's a more vicious parody than I could ever come up with!

But yeah... I think that's one of the big things in life, really. We're living in the worst recession since the '30s, no matter how many years it's been spun as things turning around, and things like Nickled and Dimed or Bait and Switch point out that even when Watterson gave that speech prosperity wasn't that distributed. Neither "I dropped everything so I could do what I loved" nor "you've gotta be responsible and bust ass in corporate America for reward and advancement" is a surefire recipe for success. "Follow your bliss" is a process. "Working at a completely unsatisfying day job so that I can follow my bliss after work and on weekends" is something I've always considered valid. (That said, I'm terrible at judging where and when I need to compromise and give up - I feel I do sell myself short a lot.)

And I think Watterson fundamentally gets that, with how he talks about working on his own stuff while working a day job, and how he talks about the need to play with ideas instead of just vegging out after work.

Now there are other random things which connect up here in my mind. Scott McCloud talking about writing in Making Comics, Brene Brown talking about vulnerability, something a friend said to me about hobbies, a discussion of values from the book Finding Life Beyond Trauma and, weirdly, the end of The Empire Strikes Back. I did say this was random. We often think of success as winning, failure as losing. We've been taught that you only get those combinations, and our society jams it home with parables of the (fiscally) successful, from the couple of hobbyists selling computer kits who became multi-billionaires, to the guy who overcomes horrific childhood abuse to build a successful life. But a quick glance around any office, Starbucks, street or bus will reveal lots of people for whom success never materialized, especially if something stacked odds against them. We live in a time where pursuing what you actually love as a day job and having it really pay off is a lucky break. I think turning the focus on core values is a way to deal with that reality yet stay sane.

I hadn't seen the college stuff before. Thanks.

Hey. this is pretty cool. You rarely hear anything about Bill anymore these days.
I used to totally love Calvin and Hobbs.

I think the only other Comic I have enjoyed even more then that was Bloom County, by Berkeley Breathed.

I really admire that he walked away from the strip. A little like how "The Mamas and the Papas" walked at the height of their popularity. As a fan, it's sad that you're not gonna get more Calvin and Hobbes or more Mamas and Papas songs, but it's still kinda nicer than having what BC became or the way Ozomatli really seems to have gone downhill since Street Signs.

I'm pretty sure that if I were doing something people loved that much I wouldn't have the conviction needed to walk away and let go.

Anyway, yeah. Awesome freaking cartoons are awesome and make me want to start using croquil pen or brush to ink.

Nice find!