Most of you readers know I have many conversations with the anteater. He came into my life in 2009 with his wisdom (!) and never left. Here’s a recent conversation:
“I used to believe in I think, therefore I am“,
“Maybe I can give some autonomy to my body…”
“Huh. And we all know how that turned out!“
“I’m very tempted by Eckhart Tolle and the absence of thought…”
“Ulp!”
This video and the earlier one are how my day-to-day journal drawing takes place. I sit down with my book and try to draw what’s on my mind. Sometimes I start by drawing what’s in front of me – which is why there are so many drawings of Orin eating! At other times I draw the day, how things went, what I listened to, or read. Sometimes my mind is blank and quite often the fear of the empty page threatens to take over.
But the important thing is to show up, and get over that fear, the fear of not being good enough, the fear of not living up to your own expectations. And after some time, I find the flow, I start to commune with myself, and joy takes over.
Title from Joy Harjo, via Pome by Matthew Ogle
Looking back, some favorites from the last decade: Doing what you love (2013); Channeling the girls (2013); Life with Picasso, Art (2013)
Last year I didn’t read as much as I usually do, what with one thing and another, but I ended up with some good ones. Here are the highlights.
Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman: Recommended by pacificleo, it was one of my best books of the year.
Voices of Dissent by Romila Thapar: This essay puts today’s responses to resistance in perspective, by charting out the history and evolution of dissent from the vedic times. A worthwhile read, even though the language was quite academic. (If you buy from Seagull, you can choose your version of the cover, designed by the brilliant sunandinibee.)
Among graphic novels, I read some beauties: Japanese Notebooks: A Journey to the Empire of Signs by Igort, The Winter of the Cartoonists by Paco Roca, Hostage by Guy Delisle, Leonard Cohen: On a Wire by Pilippe Girard and some more that I shared in Graphic novels by women.
Last year I also updated my perspective on feminism with We should all be Feminists by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie and Against White Feminism by Rafia Zakaria.
Some other books that I enjoyed were Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency by Olivia Laing, Daybook by Anne Pruitt and The Pursuit of Art by Martin Gayford.
In fiction The Startup Wife by Tahmina Anam was enjoyable and different, as was Crudo by Olivia Laing and No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood.
Our best pastime was drawing with Making Comics by Lynda Barry that Guto and I used throughout the year.
I thought I hadn’t read much, but now I’m getting tired just looking at this list. Oh well, life is short, and my eyes won’t last.
“I should probably tell you there’s never a happy ending in your life.”
“Just go quietly when it’s time to die.”
This was drawn some years ago…in the early confusion of a new role. It’s quite common when you’re in a situation like that, to not know what to do – the challenges are new and how should you be in the role is also unclear.
It’s ok to ask mentors and advisors but ultimately it’s you yourself who has to identify the goals, figure out the next steps and take decisions. Of course I know all this now…
Good thing I had the anteater to keep me grounded.
And in the end it’s nobody but you…
The other day someone gave me a box of jalebis.
By now everyone knows that the anteater is my imaginary friend.
With a friend like him, do I even need a shrink?
inktales 
