Warning: blog post contains traces of horse meat and bitterness.

Since no one’s asking, I’ll do it myself: so, how’s that big change coming along, Jeroen? The short answer is: very very slowly. Dammit, change is tough. Even reminding yourself to work on it just a little each day is a challenge when faced with the easier alternative of remaining a grumpy couch vegetable.

I have been keeping very busy in the past weeks though, that is true. But I feel I have little or nothing to show for it yet. One frustration is that I haven’t found a new creative outlet to replace Happysad with. Nothing at all. What if it really was a once-in-a-lifetime idea? Another worry is that despite my somewhat improved social life, far too often I still feel lonely as shit. As if in the end, there is only one essential touchstone for happiness: am I in a loving relationship with someone who cares as much for me as I care for her? No? Then I’m not fucking happy. Nor happily.

Yes, I know what some of you are thinking. That you first have to be happy with yourself and yadda yadda yadda… That’s all very nice for self-help books, but I know what I want, and it sucks that I don’t have it. Period. And so the struggle continues. I take comfort in the fact that winter is almost over, that I’m already feeling a bit more energized, and that in general, life could be worse too. Maybe it’s a blessing that missing a mate is all I can complain about. But while working on change is a noble enterprise, and I’m most certainly not giving up on it, simply catching a lucky break would be bloody welcome too.

/rant

In a comment on my previous post about a possible new site, Mirko suggested that I could re-publish my “commercial” cartoons with English translations on this site. I could of course do that, but the issue is that most of these cartoons don’t make much sense outside their context. When a customer asks me to make a cartoon, they usually give me some input, like the text for an article or the theme of a campaign, and I use that for inspiration. Without that context, the joke often isn’t clear, or even worse – not funny at all.

But nevertheless, I really have to work on my marketing. It’s very odd, but since I ended the Happysad series, I haven’t received a single request for an illustration job. Coincidence? Or do people now think I’ve quit drawing altogether? Or maybe it’s confirmation of my theory that there is larger demand for cartoons in times of crisis – or so I’ve noticed in the past few years. Then the economy slowly getting back on its feet means bad news for me, apparently…

To make it perfectly clear: I’m still in business! So if you happen to be working for a company – particularly a Belgian one, although that is not a strict requirement – which could use some fun illustrations to brighten up its corporate communication, brochures, employee magazines, safety campaigns, etc… try to put in a good word for me! There are few examples of earlier work under the tab ‘Cartoons’ above.

Jeroen

Hey, how’s everybody doing? I hope not too many people are suffering from Happysad withdrawal symptoms? I know some are, but maybe that’s just because they’ve lost their place in the spotlight

A month has gone by now since I published my last cartoon, and it already feels like ages ago to me. To be honest, I don’t miss Happysad that much. I do a little bit of course, but in the past weeks I’ve felt much better, more confident, since I no longer have to put myself into that Happysad state of mind on a regular basis in order to come up with ideas. It feels like there’s so much more room for activities in my brain now.

So how far have I come with this changing myself programme? Well, there have been no huge strides forward yet, but I’m making small, gradual progress, and remind myself to try and change things a little bit every day. I’m quite happy so far, but I will have to pick up the pace a bit soon. One of the things I’m considering right now is creating a whole new website, meant to promote my “regular” cartoons, the ones I actually make a bit of money with every now and then. That was actually the initial purpose of this site, but then Happysad happened and the whole thing just took another turn.

So I’m going to try again now, only seven years later :-). It’ll be something entirely new, built from scratch. Because the main target audience of those cartoons is located here in Flanders, it will most likely be in Dutch. But I’ll keep using this site to blog about stuff, post the odd drawing, and who knows what else might pop up in the future. So do stay tuned, I will – as always – be back.

Jeroen

I know. Many of us make them, but few manage to successfully live up to them. So I thought that maybe it would strengthen my commitment if I shared my good intentions with a few hundreds of people. Then who knows, a few of them might hold me accountable, get back to me in about half a year and ask: “So, how’s the commitment to your goals?”. By ending Happysad, I’ve already made a clear decision to work on changing myself, but now it’s up to me to deliver the goods. That’s why I need to set specific goals for 2013. Let me share them with you.

 
Regain enthusiasm. First and foremost, I want to become enthusiastic again. About anything. Anything that can motivate me again. You may not tell from the cartoons(?), but in reality I’m turning into a cynical, grumpy old man. Nothing really stimulates me, there’s hardly any passion in the things I do. Even drawing cartoons often started to feel more like a chore than a fun hobby. I need to rekindle the fire before it dies out completely.

 
Get energized. Get inspired. In order to reverse the downward spiral of apathy and laziness, I need two things: energy and ideas. Last year, I’ve started to eat more healthily and get more exercise. I picked up running in June and it went very well, until the shitty autumn weather made me stop in October. Stupid, I know. I’ll pick it up again soon, and go for a run at least twice a week. This, I hope, will not only invigorate my body, but also my mind. Because in order to achieve my main goal, I need to get fresh ideas, about what to do and where to go. I know the inspiration is somewhere inside me, I just need to unlock it.

 
Leave my comfort zone. Probably the biggest challenge of all. Merely coming up with fresh ideas, whether they’re related to cartoons or to something completely different, is not enough. I will need to follow through on them, even if (or especially when) they compel me to leave my comfort zone. Too many times I have missed out on opportunities because of this eternally paralyzing “but what if…?”-thinking. I will find the courage to try out new things and to take risks I’ve been avoiding for too long. This includes making an extra effort to try and meet new people, both in my direct surroundings and in other parts of the world I haven’t seen yet.

 
Those are my resolutions. So what are your plans for this year?

Hi everyone.

I wanted to drop by to say how much I appreciate all the lovely reactions I’ve received from you. It is really heartwarming to get such a positive and encouraging response, despite the sad announcement I’ve made. This makes it so much easier for me as well.

In case you were wondering, no I haven’t come up with a new comic yet I’m just giving my mind some rest right now. These things can’t be forced anyway. Funny thing is that in the past few days there have been a few situations where I thought: Hmm, this might make for a good Happysad cartoon! The old reflexes are still there. Maybe they will fade away in time, or maybe not, I don’t know.

There was one last thing I wanted to mention: I forgot to say thanks specifically to the “hard core” fans who returned daily to my site and commented very frequently on my cartoons. I’m not going to list them, in case I would forget someone, but you know who you are. I will however make one exception. Boodie, you have indeed been one of my most loyal fans for a very very long time, and I just wanted to tell you: I’m sorry I made you cry. I hope you’re feeling better now.

Now this is for all of you:

Have a great year!

Jeroen