Beach stones
I fear a lot of things, but one that haunts me daily is the fear of becoming chronically cynical. I think I fear it more deeply and intensely than anything else because I know it can easily happen. Every morning, when I stumble upon the news or scroll for too long on social media, I can hear a familiar gloomy, dry, defeatist voice creeping out from the darkest part of my consciousness. It brings out the worst part of me, the traces of my personality that I’m not proud of, and that I try to soothe with wishful, positive thinking. Every day, I fight hard not to let that demon take over me, perfectly knowing that, most days, it would be easier to give in simply.
A few days ago, I came across Fionn McCabe’s comic. I’ve been following Fionn’s newsletter since I joined Substack. His beautiful comics accompany challenging, inspiring exercises that I like to bring to my classes. It’s not the first time that I’m in awe and deeply moved by Fionn’s work, but this one comic about loss, grief and enduring love amid an ever-changing, detached reality, resurged emotions in me I thought I couldn’t bear.
Most of all, it inspired me to polish and show off my kindest self, to call my friends and tell them I love them, to appreciate, share and care for the good things around me. It reminded me why I don’t want to give in to the little demon, why repeating defeatist, pessimistic discourses is not the same as being “realistic”. All this because I also had a dog that I love and recently passed away.
When I started to make comics at a very young age, I was driven to use this craft as a means to connect to people, hoping that someone who would read my work would feel less lonesome, reclusive and more hopeful than I did. Through the busy rush of grown-up life, I easily forget that power resides in all of us. Reading a (beautifully drawn and written) comic about losing your dog as the world as you know deteriorates, didn’t make me feel sadder, but instead reminded me of the amount of love, compassion and hope we’re also capable of. I’m writing this down as another strategy to not forget how it feels.
The following daily comic was drawn under that big bubble of warm emotions. Hope you guys feel it, too.
