John

“So if in your off hours you enjoy writing, painting, singing, dancing, taxidermy, millinery, symphorophilia or some other creative hobby, the surest path to success is to redefine what success is to you. Realize that creating something great—or as great as you’re capable of making it—is its own reward. Keep chewing through the mountain because you’ve learned to like the sensation of granite shattering between your teeth, to enjoy the small satisfaction of knowing that each bundle of pebbles you shit behind you represents another few inches of progress and really, who even knows what’s on the other side anyway? That’s when you will look around and realize that everyone is fighting the same battle, struggling to create something beautiful in a world that rarely rewards it. It’s then that you’ll see that humans are magic, a species of miraculous elves who can turn wood pulp into poetry and sand into pyramids. You’ll understand that to create anything—a joke, a family, a garden, a friendship—is a tremendous gift to the world, and that we should be kinder to ourselves for even having tried.”
― David Wong, John Dies at the End