There’s a lot of cynicism in the world now, and something that I find depressingly common is the notion that “following your dreams” is a trite phrase only for children. That there’s no reason to waste your time chasing something that could practically be considered a statistical impossibility in the first place. I disagree.

My father is the “Rick” in Heir of Rick. He could always draw anything I desired at the drop of a (top) hat. I wanted to be like him. I wanted to be an art wizard, capable of conjuring any creature with a wave of my magic wand. With a few quick strikes, I would be able to create wonder and joy, just like he could. I always had it in my head that, if I were to be anything as an adult, I would be a master artist. That was the dream.

As I got older, my dream became more and more fantastical. I imagined I would be like my new heroes on the Internet: webcomic artists, who spun tale after tale week after week. I discovered online animators, and my dream only grew. I would create animations, my own fully animated music videos. And my dream kept spiraling; I wouldn’t just animate, I would be an animation director. I would unleash all kinds of cartoons and comics and drawings onto the world. It was my wildest fantasy. An impossible dream.

When I made it to college, I quickly realized I was nowhere near as good as anyone around me. In a flash, I gave up on all my wild dreams. I largely stopped drawing, with only a doodle here and there outside of the art class I didn’t drop out of, committing myself to other activities. But the dream still lingered. Then in February of 2011, I was introduced to this little cartoon you may have heard of, with magical ponies, friendship, and songs. And I loved it. I loved it so much, I dusted off my old art supplies and drew a big, smiling pony. And then I drew another. And another, and another. And I drew Pokémon again, and my own original characters, and all kinds of dumb stuff.

And then one fateful day, remembering that silly dream of maintaining my own webcomic, like my heroes, I started posting my drawings to tumblr. And I would get likes, and reblogs, comments, and asks. And I realized that I was reaching people. I was touching their lives in some small way, adding wonder and joy. And it was a dream come true. I would go into reddit threads and do drawn responses, and with a wave of my magic wand, I could brighten peoples’ day. My follower count grew slowly over the years, but I did not care. If I could get 20 followers, that would be magical. I was flabbergasted the day I reached 100 followers. And when I reached 1,000 followers it was truly unreal. People were coming week after week to see what wonderfully stupid new thing the Heir of Rick had cooked up. And then, because of my drawn responses, I was given the opportunity to collaborate on a genuine, bonafide animated music video. I traveled across the country to see it premiere live. It was met with applause. I was signing autographs afterward. As of right now, it has been viewed over three million times.

But of course, the best part of it all was meeting the most wonderful, creative, encouraging, absolutely fantastic friends in the whole world. Encountering people like them was something I didn’t dream of even in my wildest fantasies.

I never did become a master artist, able to draw anything at the drop of a top hat (frankly, I consider myself the worst artist in the fandom). I never became the next Awkward Zombie. And I’m certainly not pumping out a new animation every week. I did not achieve my wildest dream. But it was not a waste of time to pursue it. I would say the time I spent chasing this “impossible dream” was the most personally fulfilling thing I’ve ever done with my life.

And so I say to you now, follow your dreams. (You have to be responsible about it of course!) But follow your dreams. Where you end up may be completely different than where you imagined you would, but if it truly is something you are passionate about, something fulfilling, you won’t even notice. You’ll be too busy enjoying the journey. I see so many up-and-coming artists on tumblr, and I get excited to think they’re at the very beginning of the same incredible journey I’m experiencing. And if someone with my meager skill could get all of this, I can only imagine what magical doors they’ll unlock.

So don’t give up on your dreams, at least not entirely. Don’t stop believing in yourself. And continue to be absolutely fantastic.







tumblr