This past weekend I experienced the magic of DragonCon once again. How this massive convention has not only managed to keep its character but deliver magical moments is a mystery I don’t care to solve. I won’t question a blessing when it comes my way.
In case you’re wondering what constitutes a “magic moment” at a convention, I think this story ought to clarify that.
On the final day of the show, with 90 minutes remaining, a young man came across my table. He stopped short in his tracks, looked at my books and then at me with dawning recognition, and said, “Oh my god, it’s you!” He had been a reader for a long time and didn’t know I was going to be attending DragonCon, so seeing me in person caught him off-guard.
What he proceeded to tell me damn near knocked my socks off.
He shared with me that it was my comics that taught him that it was okay for men to cry. He’d been raised in an environment that had previously taught him that men are weak or lesser if they shed tears, but my work showed him otherwise. He got teary-eyed as he spoke, which of course got me teary-eyed. I asked him if he needed a hug, but truthfully I was confessing I needed one in that moment as well.
We did hug it out. He thanked me for my work. I thanked him for sharing his emotions with me.
It’s these magical moments that help me through the difficult times of this career. When your luck seems to be running out, or you feel burnout creeping in, or any of the myriad things that threatens a creator’s happiness, it’s hearing that your work had a positive effect on someone’s life that keeps that fire lit and burning hot.
DragonCon may have left me exhausted, but it also cast its magic upon me once again.