I had to start drawing on the smallest pieces of paper.

Not because Post-it notes and napkins are the easiest when it comes to sketching. In fact, they’re more difficult.

It was because I knew if I started with a huge canvas, it would be overwhelming, and I’d never begin.

Smaller = easier to start. And a lot of the time, starting is everything.

That simple decision changed how I work. Heck, it changed my life.

One massive painting might take months. Instead, I’m trying to do about 100 pieces in the same time.

One sketch. One quote. One day at a time.

Still doing it today (this morning in fact), seven years later, because doing small things consistently builds up over time.

Small Things Add Up

Some simple math:

Drawing one thing every day (maybe skipping weekends), that’s almost [300] a year.

Push that out over seven years?

More than [2,500] small acts of creating something where nothing existed before.

Kind of like how doing 10 pushups every single day doesn’t sound impressive. Until you realize that’s 3,650 pushups in a year.

Small things aren’t the easy way. For me, they’re the only way that actually works.

Big gestures require permission. Resources. The right timing. Perfect conditions.

Small things just require showing up.

Finding Control

The world is pretty good at reminding us how little control we might actually have over it.

Big systems break. Institutions stall. News cycle spins, spins, spins.

It’s easy to feel a bit adrift when everything moving and shaking around us feels way too big to influence.

But small things?

They never stop working.

It’s very tough to fix broken systems.

But you can draw something that makes one person smile.

You can say something kind that changes someone’s morning.

You can give something small that lifts a spirit.

One sketch won’t change the world. But it might change a moment. And moments add up.

That’s what Draw for Hope has always been about.

These are just small acts of creativity to remind people they’re not alone.

That someone out there is thinking about them. That hope is still possible, even when everything else feels uncertain.

Do you know how to solve huge, huge problems? I don’t.

But I do know I can show up with a pen and paper, and start creating something today that didn’t exist yesterday. Maybe a small piece of art into the world that might help someone breathe a little easier.

That’s not nothing. That’s something I can actually do.

One Small Thing?

So, here it is: What’s your small thing?

Not some grand gesture you’ll maybe-probably-hopefully get to someday. No, some small act you could do right now?

Creating something?

Reaching out to someone?

Giving over something small?

The specific action matters less than the doing of it.

When big things feel big, small things restore agency. A nice reminder we can make a difference in the spaces right in front of us.

I keep drawing because it reminds me I have control over something, even if it’s just a tiny space. Not everything. Just this one Post-it or napkin I’m drawing on in the moment.

All of them, piled together, have added up to a body of work I’m proud of. A daily practice that’s changed how I see the world. A way of spreading hope that actually reaches people.

Do one small thing today.

Draw something. Write something. Say something kind.

Small things are the long game.

They’re how real change happens.

They’re how we stay human when everything else feels too big to hold.

Start small. Stay steady. Keep hope in motion.

Grateful you are here,

Wade

PS - The Draw for Hope store is full of small things designed for exactly this purpose. That hope is possible. That someone out there is thinking about you. Check it out!