Everything In Due Time
Some ideas start with just a name: “The Paw Prince.”
It came to me years ago, inspired by my Shiba Inu, Louie, and my profound appreciation of puns. The vague thought was of a comic or cartoon, but I knew I didn’t have the skills to illustrate it myself. I even reached out to an artist friend or two to see if they’d be down to tackle it with me, but I didn’t pursue it that vehemently. At some point, after a while, I thought maybe I’d use the name to do a dog-centric art show, a further play on the prints element. But eventually, as happens with most ideas, it subsided and came to reside in the junk drawer of my mind. Never quite gone, but not occupying too much bandwidth.
In many cases, the story ends there. The idea sinks back into the ether from which it came and merges with the unformed morasses of potential that lives beneath the surface of our consciousness. But earlier this week, I opened up the drawer and pulled it out again unexpectedly. As I’ve started using AI in a wider variety of applications these past months, the dots connected internally and I realized AI drawing and editing tools made it possible to bring Louie to life in a way I couldn’t before. And just like that, the idea blossomed before my eyes. A character I once only imagined was now springing forth on the screen in front of me in the form of a mockup cover page. I was buzzing, excited at how it had turned out after just one attempt, but then I had to run to pick up my daughter from school. The idea hit me as I was driving back home, the notion that Louie wouldn’t be able to appreciate the awesomeness of the project, and then how he’d respond with some biting critique. And from that, the first panel hit me like a bolt of lightning, and I rushed straight to the computer to crank it out.
The experience reminded me of something important: sometimes projects don’t die. They just hibernate. They wait in the background until you’re ready, or until the right conditions show up. The timing doesn’t have to be perfect, and you don’t have to be flawless. You just have to be open to the idea that it’s not too late.
Not every old dream is worth reviving, but some of them carry a spark that never really goes out. The Paw Prince might never become a bestseller, but it already feels like a victory. It’s proof that I can circle back to an idea I thought I missed my chance on, and still find joy in breathing life into it.
So if you’ve got something lingering in the back of your mind, don’t assume it’s gone. It might just be hibernating, waiting for you (and maybe new tools) to wake it up.
