My Body Doesn't Lie, But Sometimes It's A Jerk

Every now and then, my body reminds me that I need to deal with emotional aches and pains. 

I did some yoga stretch-ies and journaling. Thankfully, feeling some relief today.

Take good care and thanks for reading. 

[3-panel comic of a girl with a bun, drawing at a desk. Text reads: "When I feel anxious and I don't know what to do about it, I tend to just keep working." In panel 2, she arches her back in pain and says "owie." Text reads: "But then, my body will remind me that I'm not dealing with my emotions." Panel 3, she walks off, holding her aching back, scowling: "As usual, my body is a real jerk." Titled "My body doesn't life, but sometimes it's a jerk."]

Musical Pick-Me-Up

How it's going, late summer edition:

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading.

[Two-panel comic of a girl with a braid and pink headphones on, dancing awkwardly to music. Panel 1 text: "Me, listening to peppy pop music to cheer myself up and keep from sinking into depresh mode." Panel 2 shows her still dancing with a determined look on her face, between a work desk and chair. Text reads, "Also me: getting in daily steps without ever leaving my desk."]

Potential Wisdom

If only we had more wisdom...

Thanks for reading and supporting.

[3-panel of a girl with a messy bun, lamenting about the state of humanity: "We had sooo much potential..." Panel 2: "Oopsie! Not enough wisdom." Panel 3 shows the same girl, smaller, panned out, with an arrow pointed at her head: "Specimen of idiot."]

Nobody's Looking

Weekend recap: My floors are clean. 

Drew this for fun over a rainy Sunday, though posting late. 

Might as well dance to k-drama OSTs, as long as nobody's watching :)

Thanks for reading and supporting.

[Two-panel slice-of-life comic of an introverted girl with a braid, at home, staring out the window overlooking a cityscape and heavy rain clouds, captioned "Rainy day, what to do?" Panel 2, girl dancing to music in underwear with a Swiffer mop and with Elephant also getting down. Captioned, "Well, as long as nobody's looking."]

K-dramas Love Me

My mood every Friday ;)

Take care of yourselves this weekend.

Thanks for reading and supporting.

[Two-panel comic of a girl with a bun, sobbing dramatically in panel one: "Nobody loves me!!" Cut-to girl, sitting in front of a laptop, a bit frayed but sedate. She thinks to herself, "K-dramas love me."]

Forgot How My Face Works

This is not a joke, it's straight up reality.

Thanks for reading and supporting.

[Two-panel comic with panel 1 showing a simple drawing of a girl with a braid, holding a face mask in one hand with a flat, neutral expression on her face, with the instructions to "smile" in quotes. Panel two, labeled "me," is an identical image with no change, except that her mouth is in a painful grimace. Comic is titled, "Forgot how my face works."]

Hugs For Introverts

We should not skimp on hugs in difficult, lonely times. (But of course, be safe and all.) 

Connie on Ko-fi

[4-panel comic of a girl with a braid, musing that she has a hard time with dating apps, but if there were such a thing as "hugging apps," she'd...consider it.]

Sketchbook: "This Is Not Saigon"

Maybe not the same, but it's too familiar. (See @pivotorg's statement, h/t Tea Buoy: https://www.instagram.com/p/CSm9ffGBHth/)

"This is not Saigon." The words kept playing in my head, spoken by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the long war in Afghanistan, amidst the Taliban's blazingly swift takeover of the country over the weekend.

[Loose sketchbook drawing of U.S. forces urgently evacuating refugees from Afghanistan, referencing an AP photo by Rahmat Gul with Secretary Blinken's recent statement "This is not Saigon." Panel two: a cartoon depiction of surrealist René Magritte's iconic 1929 painting of a realistic pipe, captioned "This is not a pipe."]

Hold Me

Slowly processing what's happening on a global scale. 

Take extra care of yourselves in turbulent times. It's bigger than we are.

As always, thanks for reading.

[Two-panel comic containing a simple drawing of a girl with a bun with an image of the world in the background, in some turbulence. She says, "I want to be comforted and reassured." In panel two, the world is smoking and burning. With increased urgency, but no change in girl's expression: "Quick, somebody hold me."]

Heatwave Dress Code

I don't have any zoom meetings today ;)

Have a restful weekend and stay cool if you are in the heatwave too. 

Thanks for reading. 

[Two-panel comic about when you live alone and work from home in a heatwave. Girl with a bun sweating over a desk complains that "It's too hot to focus" and that she's melting like an ice cube. Cuts to: Girl stands akimbo, arms out, in only underwear. She institutes a new dress code and declares: "I am the boss of me."]

Therapy Update

It has been a year since I started therapy. It was the hardest, best thing I've ever done for myself.

If you think you might benefit from talking to somebody, I used Betterhelp and, after a couple tries, I found a therapist who I work well with and I recommend it. Talking to someone once a week has helped me more than I imagined it would.

Stay well and thanks for following the journey. 

[Two-panel comic showing a cartoon girl with a braid, holding a ball-sized heart in her arms, talking about starting therapy a year ago. Heart tells her to "put me down." In the second panel, Elephant pats girl on the head and says, "I'm proud of you." Girl and Heart stand side by side and Heart responds, "Thx."]

A Lonely Ladybug

Not generally a fan of bugs in my apartment, but this one stuck around for a few weeks and kept me company. It stuck around, sometimes outside the window and sometimes inside. Life on earth is such a random, fleeting thing. 

Thanks for reading and supporting.

[4-panel, monochrome diary comic of a girl in an apartment, coexisting with a red ladybug. She is working at her desk, while the ladybug crawls along the walls and ceiling. She comments that it's been her only company for several weeks, besides a decorative fern. In the final panel, she says that the ladybug died today and that she laid it to rest in the fern pot.]

Need Some Endorphins

Quick mood comic. Long week. Need endorphins. 

Take care this weekend. Thanks for reading.

[4-panel comic depicting a simple drawing of a girl with bun. She says, "I feel a bit sad, but nothing's wrong. So I have nothing to say. Nobody would understand if I tried to explain anyway." (Beat.) She walks off in search of endorphins.]

Pandemic Love Triangles

Judge me not...

Everybody, take good care of your sanity this weekend.

Thanks for reading and supporting.

[Two-panel comic about being in year two of the pandemic and several k-dramas in. Girl with crazed expression busts through a door and calls out, loudly, with emphasis: "WHERE ARE ALL THE LOVE TRIANGLES AT?!?"]

Due For An Upgrade

I don't know how all this will unfold either, but I imagine we will need to evolve.

Thanks for reading.

[Two-panel comic with a girl with a braid reacting to news of virus mutations and new variants spreading: "Wow. The virus is evolving faster than we are..." (Beat.) "Well, maybe humans are due for an upgrade."]

K-drama Deep End

There's no going back ;)

Thanks for reading and supporting.

[Three-panel comic of a girl with a bun standing at the edge of a high dive board, leaving "sensible reality" behind, in lieu of diving straight into "k-drama obsession." Dripping pool water, she writes, "Dear Diary, I have gone off the k-drama deep end." With blood-shot eyes, she adds: "There's no turning back now."]

No Reason

There are a lot of reasons why we find ourselves in this messy and unending situation with the global pandemic, but no valid reason for prolonging the unease, uncertainty, and suffering of many, as far as I can see. 

If you're tired and it feels like you haven't had a hug in years, I feel you. Stay safe and hang in there.

Thanks for reading and supporting.

[One-panel cartoon of an elephant asking a girl with a bun if the pandemic is getting to her again. Girl is curled up in a fetal position and avoids the question: "why do you ask?" The title of the comic is "No Reason."]