"Yes, And" Mental Health

This has been a particularly tense week in the U.S., if you follow our news. On top of the global health crisis, all the ways that we are fractured as a society feels like it is ripping us apart socially too.

I had a hard time cartooning this week. Seeking relief and clarity, but that will take longer. I was only able to sketch this comic when I forgave myself for all of my own contradictions. 

Take care of yourselves; the road ahead is long.

In the last panel, I refer to American poet Walt Whitman's line from "Song of Myself": "Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"

Sketchbook: Earth As A Snow Globe

It feels like we are inside an upside down snow globe, being shaken up.

If we could watch ourselves from the moon, maybe this is what it would look like.

We can't know how the pieces settle again, but it won't be the same. Like a definitive heartbreak, there is only a before and then after.

Let us not forget what we learn about ourselves.

The Year Of Bread

I've been learning how to make breads I grew up with, like mantou (steamed buns), huajuan (twisted rolls), and congyou bing (stovetop scallion bread). It has been comforting and stress-relieving, if also fattening :p

Still, I'm enjoying being a total beginner at something in these days of upheaval and uncertainty.

View on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CAguswSg_4k

Pandemic Diary: Upside Down Face Masks

Slice-of-life diary comic about wearing face masks in NYC. Plus, first shopping trip to Trader Joe's since the city locked down 2 months ago! It was about a 40-minute wait to get inside, but the staff are as nice as ever.

Sketchbook: Still Life Of A Lunch

Food diary with homemade bread!

Pandemic Diary: Quarantine Crash Course

New 4-page journal comic. I baked bread for the first time! It was awesome! Gluten is not the enemy!

Read on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CAOfMOtA5AF

Pretend To Be A Cat Day

I don't know what's "normal" anymore.

Just for fun sketchbook comic / pandemic diary.

View on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CAJWbwXgEIJ

Sketchbook: Mother's Day Drawing

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and the injured wild parrot who stayed for 6 months before flying off again. ⁣

https://www.instagram.com/p/CABneO6gOum/

Pandemic Diary: Nothing Like a Food Memory

Sharing a sketchbook diary page. Taking one day at a time and focusing on small routines to rest my mind on.

I've been nostalgic about food lately and cooking dishes that remind me of childhood. Such a blessing, especially now; food memories are sacred.

View as separate panels: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_7gzdDADHr

Sketchbook: A Simple Pleasure

Almond butter and plain greek yogurt with banana on toast is one of my go-to treats.

Comfort Food Boost

Less pain, more comfort today.

Hope you make something yummy for dinner too.

Knowing Your Pain Threshold

My hand is healing and I'm better, but not before going through a full range of hard emotions.

This is not a funny one, but I want to share what I'm learning about stages of pain, both physical and emotional. Doctors used to tell me that I have a "high" pain threshold, but it serves me less these days.

Especially in times of stress, I'm learning that it's important to name the pain you feel, when you feel it. Seems like it's critical to the healing process.

Pandemic Diary: My Best and Worst Self

Everything comes to the surface in a pandemic, including the things I don't like about myself.

Sketchbook: Elephant Umbrella

Sketchbook illustration for any rainy days that may come.

Less Than Zen

Today was a hard day. Just drawing it out.

Hard-On-Yourself Personality Type

Ugh, true story. Some days, creative process is just agony and frustration. Trying to forgive myself when things don't work out.

Sharing this fallback journal comic in case you also need the self-compassion reminder.

Pandemic Diary: Quarantine Lonely

I've been keeping a visual diary during these pandemic days and have now reached the stage of self-isolation when I examine all of my personal failings and regrets. LOL.

Pandemic Diary: Struggling Mental Game

(Author's note: I've been keeping a sketchbook journal to help me to process and manage anxiety around the coronavirus pandemic, somewhat different from my usual comics.)

This week, I'm struggling with mental game. I think this is normal. Emotions are up and down.

I've been trying different coping strategies, but I find I need to keep adjusting them day by day.

Talking with friends and daily dance breaks have been helpful, but I find I have to balance it out with silence and solitude. I'm also terrible at dancing, it turns out ;)

Rejected Ideas: Stay-At-Home Life

I've started posting some of these for fun.

Staying at home is a privilege during a pandemic. But that doesn't mean it's not hard. Hope you're hanging in there.

Gratitude for the brave ones on the front lines of this battle.

Pandemic Diary: A Quarantine Care Package

With huge gratitude to my family for sending me supplies in the mail.

New pandemic diary comic. Big thank you to my cousin Lily and my parents for their special pandemic care packages. I feel loved.

Thanks to them and to everyone who is doing what they can to help and be a light to those around them.

Pandemic Diary: Virtual Dinner

*I've been keeping a sketchbook diary of these pandemic days of the coronavirus outbreak in NYC.

I don't typically like to talk on the phone or do video conference calls. Since most of us are staying home and not meeting in person, I'm doing this more than I ever have. A few friends suggested having virtual dinners and I think I needed the social contact more than I thought I did. When everything feels scary and uncertain, it reminds us of just how much we need each other.

Note on format: These images started as scattered sketch notes and I cobbled it together, so it's hard to read on a single page. Not really meant to be a comic, but sharing it anyway.

It might be easier to read as separate panels on Instagram.