Owen - Drawing out the dragons: a meditation on art, destiny, and the power of choice

I BELIEVE IN YOU. You have a great destiny. You are meant for great things. And its possible to live a wonderful, extraordinary life.

That is the promise offered by bestselling author and illustrator James A. Owen in this remarkable and inspirational meditation. In Drawing Out the Dragons, James shares personal stories and the deep truths he learned while navigating past obstacles and adversity toward a life of lasting belief and joy.

We all have a grand destiny, but sometimes we feel we lack the power to achieve it. But we always have the power to choose. Every drawing, every life, is nothing but a series of choices and actions. Make your lines. Make your choices.... What you create from there is entirely up to you.

Drawing Out the Dragons has the power to uplift, inspire, and change your life. I BELIEVE IN YOU. You have a great destiny. You are meant for great things. And its possible to live a wonderful, extraordinary life.

That is the promise offered by bestselling author and illustrator James A. Owen in this remarkable and inspirational meditation. In Drawing Out the Dragons, James shares personal stories and the deep truths he learned while navigating past obstacles and adversity toward a life of lasting belief and joy.

We all have a grand destiny, but sometimes we feel we lack the power to achieve it. But we always have the power to choose. Every drawing, every life, is nothing but a series of choices and actions. Make your lines. Make your choices.... What you create from there is entirely up to you.

Drawing Out the Dragons has the power to uplift, inspire, and change your life.

James inspires and motivates both the young and young at heart with personal stories that share an important belief: that you can choose to lead an extraordinary life if you will just persevere, stay focused on your goals, and believe in yourself.

LEVAR BURTON

Educator, Actor, Entrepreneur

DRAWING OUT THE DRAGONS

A Meditation on Art, Destiny, and the Power Of Choice

Cover illustration, The Green Dragon by James A. Owen, from the collection of Bruce & Nancy Foote

The original edition of this title was published by Coppervale International, LLC, in 2011. Original electronic edition was published in March 2011.

2014 Coppervale International, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

CONTENTS

All Your Choices Are Cumulative

Pain Is Only Weakness Leaving Your Body

Quality Is What Matters Most

Sometimes, A Catastrophe Is Only A Course Correction

If You Really Want It, No Reason Is Big Enough To Stop You

The Secret Of Drawing

You Havent Lost Until You Choose To Stop

Motion Does Not Always Equal Progress

Value What You Do, And Others Will, Too

To Be Happy, And To Help Other People

To Elliot S! Maggin,
who knows why I wear a Superman ring

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to thank Nat Gertler, Daanon DeCock, Angela Hunt, Jason Warren, Jeremy Owen, Victoria Morris, Heidi Berthiaume, and whoever it was that invented caffeine for their help in preparing the original version of this book. Thanks also to Lisa & Tracy Mangum, Kristin Leigh Luna, my partners at the Superstars Writing Seminars, the Tribe, Craig Emanuel & David Schmerler at Loeb & Loeb, and the designers and typographers who collaborated with me to make this beautiful new edition happen. Thanks to Chuck and Beate Chapman for letting me wreck their car, and to Cindy, Sophie, and Nathaniel Owen for earning a grateful acknowledgment more than anyone else could.

INTRODUCTION

I am often asked to speak at schools, and I find that the teachers, librarians, and booksellers who invite me to speak are often surprised that I very rarely speak about my novels. At all. Theres a good reason for that. The reason is because I believe that there are reading groups, dedicated librarians, community-active booksellers, and, best of all, excellent teachers who are all more than happy to discuss the Dragons, and myths, and legends, and storytelling in my books with their students. So if I am given the attention of five hundred middle-school students for an hour, and only that hour, Im not going to talk about my novels. Im going to talk about the things that I believe are most important, the things which have served me well in the course I have taken in this life.

Im going to talk about the things I believe are most true, and meaningful, and worth sharing. Im going to tell them stories drawn from my own life: examples about overcoming obstacles and adversity, stories about how making choices in life is like drawing a Dragon, and vignettes about heritage and destiny, and ultimately how I came to do what it is that I love most in the world for my job.

Thats an incredibly important point. Its part of what makes giving a motivational talk geared towards middle-school-aged listeners (and older) so significant to me: I love to make illustrations. I love to tell stories. And I believe theres nothing better in the world than getting to do what you love the most for your job.

The choices Ive made in my life and career are what allow me to do that, and those choices are a large part of the stories I want to share. I want the people who hear me speak and read what I write to understand that our lives are nothing but a series of choices and that you always, always, have the chance to choose a different path.

Stories are how we communicate to others the choices we have made; they are part of what bind us together as communities, as cultures, and as the never-ending family we call the Human Race. To me, stories are also the best way to convey what I believe is most necessary for one human being to communicate to another, and I think its the most significant thing that I can say to anyone: I believe in you. And I will not let you fall.

Sometimes, being told that, by someone we trust, is what we need most in our lives. And sometimes just believing that, even for an instant, may mean the difference between a terrible choice and a redemptive one, especially for someone who is so beaten down by despair and hopelessness that they dont realize how many choices they still have. How many choices they have always had.

Until now, most readers could not hear that message unless they attended a school, or some signing event where I was speaking, which is why I have long considered putting these stories, these things I most believe, into a book.

A book that is, I feel, the most meaningful thing Ive ever written.

I have always believed that if you create and offer something of value, people will return that value to you tenfold, a hundredfold, and more. Those who have heard my presentations, or who have been inspired by my writings, either online or in my books, know know that Magic is real ... and worth looking for. It exists in the world, and there are people who know how to show you where it is.

I hope that with this book, I might be one of those people for you. Id like to show each and every one of you that you can make the same kinds of choices that I did. Our paths may be different, and everyones mileage varies, but none of us is in competition with anyone else. All we are here to do is find our purpose and make the choices that keep us on as straight a path towards fulfilling that purpose as we can.

Share the Magic that you find in this book. And, hopefully, it will inspire you to make more good choices in your own life and help you see that the Magic isnt hard to find, after all. Because its everywhere. And sometimes, in order to see it, you just need someone you believe in, someone you trust, to take you by the hand, look into your eyes, and say, I believe in you. And I will not let you fall.