Self-Delusion

In Bill Watterson's introduction to The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, he writes:

To persist in the face of continual rejection requires a deep love of the work itself . . . But in the midst of repeated failure, some self-delusion about your abilities also comes in handy.

After years of struggling to make ends meet with his art, Watterson finally prevailed when he created one of the most acclaimed comic strips of all time.

But in those interim years, there was no guarantee that the hours spent honing his craft would amount to much.

This is the core struggle young artists face. To succeed, sometimes you need a crazy belief in yourself — that success is in the cards for you, even with little evidence.

It's a dance between arrogance and humility; delusion and confidence; and between blind hope and quiet faith that you will one day arrive at your destination.