Delays, Shitstorms, and Staying Motivated Anyway

Hey everybody—it’s Juan. Yeah, I know, I’ve been MIA. Missed a couple of episodes since September. My bad.

And no, I wasn’t out there selling my ass on Biscayne Boulevard… but honestly? It came close. Life’s been busy as hell, and when the bills scream louder than your muse, you gotta answer.

But that’s not the only reason I hit pause. Truth is, after the Charlie Kirk incident, it got really hard to sit down and record something motivational. I mean, how do you scream “be good, make art!” into the mic when the world feels like it’s circling the drain?

Every day, I catch myself thinking about how fast things are unraveling. And I try to balance it—like, “Juan, it’s not that bad.” But then I scroll the internet, and holy hell… it’s toothpaste ads next to hate speech, conspiracies being treated like facts, and everyone yelling louder just to be heard.

And here’s the thing—I’m always more wary of the people pushing hate and violence than anyone speaking about peace. Because peace takes real work. Violence? Any asshole can pull a trigger. We’ve seen that.

Charlie Kirk—yeah, I’ll say it—was a racist piece of shit. He didn’t deserve to die. Nobody does. And no, I’m not saying that to make myself look noble. I’m saying it because if people get shot in the neck for their opinions—no matter how shitty—then what’s stopping someone from putting a bullet in me because they didn’t like this podcast? That’s the scary part.

We think pacifism means “doing nothing.” But nonviolence is harder. Martin Luther King, Gandhi—they weren’t passive. They chose the long road, the painful road, but the right road. It’s easy to blow something up. It’s harder to build something worth living for.

Now don’t get me wrong—I’m a Second Amendment guy. I’ve sold guns. I get it. Self-defense is real. But owning a gun means facing a truth: it’s not for sport, it’s not for decoration—it’s a tool designed to kill. And if you’re not ready to own that responsibility, then maybe rethink it.

Here’s how I see it: life right now feels like a hurricane. The outer bands hit first—wind, rain, chaos. Then comes the eye, calm and quiet. And that’s where people make the mistake—they think it’s over, walk outside, and get wrecked by the second half of the storm.

I don’t think we’re even in the eye yet. I think we’re still getting hit by those outer bands. And when it looks calm? That’s when we’ve got to be extra careful. Because the second wave could be worse.

So what do we do? We prep. We make sure we can eat, drink, sleep, and shit without panicking. We don’t panic-buy—we prepare smart. And most importantly, we build community. Because that’s the antidote to division.

Neighbors. Friends. Each other. That’s what’ll get us through, not lone-wolf Rambo fantasies.

So yeah—your “motivational guy” got unmotivated. Happens. Doesn’t mean I wasn’t working. Doesn’t mean I wasn’t creating. Just meant it was hard to come back here and push positivity when the storm outside feels louder than my mic.

But I’m back. This is a little bonus episode to reset. Monday’s episode—number 29—is coming, and I’ll be working to make up the ones I missed.

Thanks for sticking around. Thanks for being patient. And remember—life is chaos, but we keep making, we keep moving, we keep showing up.

Until then—as always—be good.

PS: My Kickstarter for FWACATA Issue 3 is out, get your copy now in the pre-order and other awesomeness all right here! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ThisisJuan/fwacata-3-comics-to-the-face?ref=9gnlxm