SPBURKE

When I posted the “Draw or Die” comic months ago, I had eluded to the fact that 2015 had been really hard on me, both financially and creatively. And that’s true. But it’s not the whole truth.

The whole truth is that, because of the desperate financial situation April and I were stuck in, I was stuck in a crappy job I was already gearing up to leave months prior for all this happened. March I think was the worst of it: the person who hired me quit, another co-worker I really got along with quit, and a friend who I had arranged to interview with my boss quit too. What’s more, I had to pick up the slack in their absences. And THEN I ended that month finding out I didn’t get another much better job I had been seeking out.

My stomach basically rebelled against me at that point. I was so stressed I had to be near a bathroom at almost all times. I kept thinking to myself “yep, bleeding ulcer is next.”

And it went on like that for months: I’d interview for better jobs, think I was close, not get them, and have to go back to my crappy one where everyone treated me horribly and I’d just spend every day wrapped up in a big ball of bitterness and hate. Is it any wonder I couldn’t draw or write in the face of that? I was barely able to function as a human being.

We really underestimate at times how big a part of our life our jobs are. Try as we might, we can’t always brush it off saying “I leave that at the office.” Fact is there are gonna be problems down the line. And I didn’t want to carry that burden around any longer, having to suck it up to my horrible boss just to barely make rent.

It reached the point where my frustrations and searches became minor saga on my personal Facebook page. I’d never name names, but I became surprised how much support and interest it engendered amongst my friends. An old colleague at the IPRC even told me it taught her “how not to manage people.”

Then, in the last two weeks, I got lucky. I got a new, better job with better hours, better pay, and more support and freedom from management. I got offered the job Thursday and turned in my resignation Saturday. Maybe it’s a bit bad of me I didn’t do the requisite two weeks, but my exit was such a long time coming I preferred to just get it over with. Almost immediately I felt a weight lifted. I forgot what it was like to not live with all that stress and anger.

I made a promise on Facebook after it was over to not talk about work anymore, including my new job. I’m not going to do it here either. Instead, I’m going to get back to my art best I can and see what new stuff I can develop. I don’t know what form it will take yet (“Oh Goodie!” or otherwise), but I’m already sketching more than I was before, so I’m going to let things blossom naturally.

Whatever I produce, I hope you’ll check it out and hope you’ll like it. Thank you all for your support.