When I was younger, I thought life events happened to me. Now I see they happen through me. Like storms through a forest. You don’t stay the same tree. You bend. You lose branches. You grow moss in weird places. Sometimes lightning hits and suddenly you’re on fire, spiritually speaking, while everyone else calls it “growth.”
The Hypno Bat crowned on my wall feels like this in visual form. Regal and ridiculous. like it rules something, while clearly knowing the throne is temporary and probably made of cardboard. That’s time. You think you’re the main character, then the universe rewrites the script in grief, love, awe and “what the hell was that?”
How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?
Significant life events don’t make you wiser. They make you more selective. You stop feeding things that drain you. You start protecting what keeps you alive, creatively and emotionally. You become less impressed by shiny things and more impressed by things that last. Handmade. Messy. Alive.
Time strips your illusions and hands you something better: perspective. Not calm, but rooted. Not neat, but honest. Like a bat with a Crowned Eagle, in a universe that doesn’t care about crowns or eagles. And somehow, after everything, you still choose to create. That’s the real power.
Kids Book Illustrator Andy C Marshall 