Verse 2: The Human Nature Of Wanting To Give Up On Something-- 17 August 2026

I haven't drawn for the last couple of days. Instead, I’ve been sitting with the thought of giving up on this project entirely. It is human nature to want to quit; it’s the easiest way to escape the fear of failure.

But I don’t think I will. To counter that urge to quit, I play the "what if" game. What if this becomes a major success? What if it goes viral a year from now? Those thoughts keep me moving forward.

I haven’t made a single sale yet. But hell, I have nothing better to do with my time, so I may as well just draw lions every day. Even if nobody ever notices this project, I still want to accomplish drawing all 2,000 lions—if only for myself, to hold onto that personal pride in the work. I want to see the final result of Lion No. 2000. I want to see how drastically different it looks compared to the very first one.

I am only a month and a half into a 30-year journey, and I’ve already thought about stopping. How does that translate to business? If you are spending millions on inventory and nothing sells, then sure, maybe it’s time to cut your losses. But when it costs virtually nothing to keep your infrastructure running, what do you really have to lose?

As I meditate on this project during these quiet days in the studio, I am reminded of Galatians 6:4: "But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another." It reminds me that the pride must come from the work itself, not from the crowd.