We recently connected with Lumin O. Morgan and have shared our conversation below.
Lumin O., we are so deeply grateful to you for opening up about your journey with mental health in the hops that it can help someone who might be going through something similar. Can you talk to us about your mental health journey and how you overcame or persisted despite any issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
One issue that impacts me and others in comic industry is being able to remember your self-worth. With how rigid and competitive the field is, it’s challenging to remember how important your stories and art are, especially when getting your work rejected a lot. Rejection is unavoidable in this field, because of how much you have to put yourself out there to start making a living. Having a low sense of worth is a problem I’ve struggled with ever since I was a kid because of the way I was treated by my peers. I was isolated and avoided by my peers a lot because of my undiagnosed ADHD symptoms. These days, I don’t blame them for not knowing how to reach out to me, because I wouldn’t know what to do myself. In the end, they were just kids who just didn’t know and I forgave them for that. However, at the time, it still led me to believe that how I felt and the very core of my being didn’t matter and wasn’t valuable unless others thought it was. Over time, as I grew up, I found out how toxic this belief was, especially within friendships, relationships, and eventually my career. I found myself relying on other people’s opinions to base my self-worth which wasn’t very healthy or fair to anyone. I learned that instead of looking at my self-worth at face value as an end-all-be-all, I started to shift my perspective to give my thoughts more nuance. Protecting oneself from that crippling anxiety becomes a lot easier when one gives themself space to think logically. I started to lean more into my Christianity when I wanted to change my point of view because it allowed me to view my life in a healthier light. I found it was also very crucial to look for meaning within myself and to have gratitude. I think the worst thing you can do when you’re having a self-worth crisis is to hide yourself away since that doesn’t change anything and prolongs those thoughts of not measuring up. It also causes a lot of regret in not continuing your work. I found that the best thing to do when questioning your self-worth is to keep making and creating because it allows you the grace of finding value in your work. As of now, I’m currently working on a few comic projects that I am very excited about because there’s a reason I’m doing them. I realized that it’s easier to see value in my work when I do it for a specific purpose that I find is important, because, in the end, self-worth is based on who you put first in your life. I learned that the key to a better sense of worth is to do what you believe is worthwhile and to put yourself first.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My name is Lumin O. Morgan, and I am a sequential artist mainly focusing on creating graphic novels and comics. I am currently creating a short mini-comic called Divine and Demand, which is all about the demise of a group called the Hyacinth Team because of one man’s selfishness and delusions. The story is a 5-6 page comic that deals with themes of apocalypse, religion, and hubris. I’m studying at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) for my Bachelor of Fine Arts in sequential art. My hopes in the future are to create stories that inspire others and make a difference in the world. I dream of making many creator-owned graphic novel series and contributing to other amazing projects. I would also love to be able to table at conventions and events because I enjoy creating products like mini-comics, stickers, prints, and keychains. Another thing I would love to do is become a character designer because designing characters has always been one of my favorite parts of story-making. My most prized series that I’ve been working on for years is called, The Spirit’s Apprentice, which is about a group of young spirits living in a very prejudiced world. On one side, there are the spirit-borns: souls that are born from two other spirits, and the death-borns: humans that have died but have been reborn as spirits. The death-borns are not respected or treated with dignity in this world, as many spirit-borns believe that their religion doesn’t recognize death-borns as real spirits but instead as abominations. This story is one I would love to be able to tell one day because I think it teaches a valuable perspective of faith and bigotry that isn’t seen in many books, movies, and media.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
For me the most impactful qualities were gratitude, faith, and passion.
For others who are looking to go into comic industry, it’s valuable to uphold those three qualities because it’ll grant a valuable foundation needed to create. Embracing gratitude allows a person to appreciate the skills that they have and the opportunities that they can get from it. Without gratitude, it becomes difficult to find connections out of jealousy and it causes major burnout because of rejection. Faith is crucial as well, because having the belief that your work can go far and is important is one major step forward to getting your work recognized. If one doesn’t have faith in their work, it’s difficult for everyone else to believe in it too. Lastly, passion allows your ideas to become reality, because ideas will not come to fruition if one keeps them inside their head. It’s important to enjoy the work you’re doing and to have that drive in order for it to become real.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
While it is great to embrace your strengths as an artist within your work, it is also vital that one branches out and improve on creating things you’re not familiar with. Before I started taking classes in college, I was really good at character design, and drawing people, because I enjoyed that part of the process so much, however I also came to recognize that in order to create the stories I want, I needed to know how to draw other things like backgrounds, animals, cars, and technology. My professors always emphasize how important it is to learn and master how to draw vehicles and weapons, because if you can draw those things, the more likely employers are to hire you. It is valuable to know how to draw a range of things because you never know what kinds of opportunities that will bring you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://illuminosityworld.wixsite.com/my-site-2
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/illuminosity_world/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/illuminosityworld/?_rdr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lumin-o-morgan-109677332?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@illuminosity_world?si=6_4uWTYSBgyzmzO6
- Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@illuminosity_worldBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/illuminosityworld.bsky.social
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
