Posted by Joe Kelly on August 1, 2006

Just a quick one, gang. A breath of fresh air on an otherwise hostile day. Mercury is supposed to hit the century mark in New York today, and if the heat doesn’t get you, “The Man” will…or he’ll try.

But we won’t let him, will we? Or her. Or Them. Or whoever is pressing down on your spine with their proverbial thumb. Someone once gave me a significant piece of advice that I now pass on to you, a weapon for use in the never-ending battle of the worker bee versus the hive:

“Pay yourself first.”

This transcends mere dollars and cents. This is the First Law of Sanity. Pay yourself first in the currency of time, attention, creativity, and respect before you give any of those goodies to anyone else, even if they pay your rent. Case in point: Douglas Fredricks and the House of They. My first children’s book. Written in the wee hours of the morning, before any bread and butter gig. Gleefully, without care for the other “work” I was putting aside to write for no one by myself and my kids.

Today, I received the last gorgeous page of black and white art by maestro Ben Roman. In a few weeks, it will be gloriously colored by Jorge Molina Manzanero, another freakin’ genius…

And then, it will be done. Built by hand under the nose of The Man. And it will be mine.

Suddenly, it doesn’t feel so oppressive around here any more.

Pay yourself first.