Dear Fellow Fighters of the Good Fight,
This week’s newsletter is a little late because sometimes I’m still horrible at task management!
This past week I had a few days where I considered stopping this whole Weirdo Poetry project. Most days, the idea of making poetry comics seems quixotic, but for several days it felt idiotic. And self-indulgent.
We found out this past week that my wife Becky has an autoimmune disease and probably at least one or two more related autoimmune conditions. She has to see a rheumatologist and undergo another series of tests before we know more.
The two of us have been married for 24 years—we’ve been together longer in our lives than we’ve been apart. She works as a pediatric nurse, and I work as a copywriter/poet/collage artist/essayist/creative rambler.
With her health, we’re not sure she can continue working—and this next part may shock you—the economics of poetry comics are not yet vibrant.
I make much better money as a copywriter, and it seemed ridiculous to spend any working hours doing anything other than copywriting. After all, there are only so many hours in the day, and I only have so much energy.
I mentioned to my oldest daughter that I was thinking of taking a hiatus from the newsletter, and she frowned in that way that she does when she has something to tell me that she knows I won’t like.
She gently said, “Don’t you think you sometimes get a bit grumpy when you’re not making art?”
She’s right.
But I still felt the need to attend to our future financials.
I spent most of the next several days fixing stuff around the house and completely reorganizing our garage and some of my children’s rooms. This was all planned as part of our get-ready-to-go back-to-school phase of the summer.
I decided to quit the whole poetry and art thing multiple times, but that decision never felt right.
I spent a couple more days walking around being surly and staring at my phone.
Then last night, when I finally set my phone down and tried to go to sleep, the haiku from the top of this letter came to me. Because I had put my phone away to charge, I had to get up and write it down, almost against my will.
After I scribbled it down on a nearby notepad, I stumbled back into bed, and a sliver of understanding settled into my brain.
Whether I like it or not, my brain is wired for art and poetry. I can’t stop it. Plus, K was right. I’m a grump when I’m not creating.
This morning I created this poetry comic and wrote this letter. I have to hold into hope. Art is what gives me hope.
I’m not sure what the future will bring, but I know that if I’m going to have the fortitude to fight the good fight, I’m going to need to hold onto hope.
Creative Challenge:
Create something around the theme of hope. The world needs that as much as anything right now.
About the Comic:
The original last line of the comic was "would close around rage”, but I wanted something more visceral. So I found a way to work in fists.
The backgrounds for each panel were made by me using watercolor brush pens and digital magic.
The flying man in the first panel is from an old lithograph in the Library of Congress collection known as Humorous Portrayal of a Man Who Flies with Wings Attached to His Tunic.
I created the flower in the second panel by chopping up an Ernst Haekel illustration of a sea anemone and sticking it together in the shape of a flower. I borrowed the hand from Caravaggio’s The Entombment of Christ.
The fists in the last panel are from a propaganda poster created by the Hungarian Communist Party in 1919.
Thanks for reading!
Be the hope you want to see in the world!
Cheers,
Jason
Holding onto hope
I share your sentiments! You should sell a T-shirt or Poster of that comic. I for one would buy it.
I’m sorry to hear about the news regarding your wife. I feel the same way sometimes, Jason. I’ve taken one or two breaks from writing my newsletter for different reasons. I’ve realized that I’m much happier when I carve out a little time to write my stories. Honestly, these days, I only write 2-3 times weekly. But it’s enough to keep me going.
Keep creating, my friend!