#37 Meet yourself where you're at

Creativity, resistance, and so much softness

One challenge I’m pretty sure I’ll never stop facing is resistance.

Resistance in and to the creative process.

Here’s my resistance embodied:

Can you feel that crankiness? Side note: cats, though. What a gift.

The hardest part, at least for me, is the meta. The resistance to the resistance. Can’t I just push thru?

But I know how that goes.

How it’s okay…until it’s not.

Then sometimes we’re left with more shame—because #FAIL.

What I imagine the inside of my brain looks like sometimes:

But we’re human. Failure is part of the creative process. Heck, failure is most of life.

A soft thing is meeting yourself where you’re at. And meeting other people where they are at—if they’ll be vulnerable enough to let you. With the softness of meeting myself where I’m at, I can find some gentleness.

How do I jiggle myself into this space of softness?

I get curious about my resistance. Think: a very gentle tender research-nerd brain asking: What do I need? What does the resistance need?

I try to hold myself in this space. A gentle giant Future-Me holding Me-Now who is resistant and struggling. Can you picture them?

I wrote a book and yet…the struggle continues.

I guess it’s a mirror of life. After watching a video of Christine Sun Kim talk about her project about echos in her exhibit All Day All Night at the Whitney, I keep think about how in some ways, we’re confronted with the same things again and again, in perpetuity, just in different forms, essentially—echos.

Maybe it’s just about finding a bit more compassion every time.

If you’re comics-curious—and want to join me in practicing welcoming your resistance— I’m offering a couple of workshops this summer. Let’s practice the continual challenge of meeting ourselves where we’re at and trusting the process together with softness. No drawing experience needed!

Here’s a video explanation of the workshops:

More info: https://www.caragormally.com/comicsclass

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/5vmHptrctkS1Lg367

If cost is an issue, please reach out, I have a few sliding scale spots open for class.

Former students—ask about a discount—I’d love to draw together again.

Bring a friend & get $10 off each!

Thanks for reading Soft Things: comics about science, research, and being human. I create narrative comics that intertwine research and storytelling to make science relatable. My comics have been featured in the Washington Post and Mutha Magazine, among other outlets. My graphic memoir, Everything is Fine, I’ll Just Work Harder—terrible life advice that I do not co-sign!—is available from your local bookstore and elsewhere. If you’re new here, welcome! You might wonder why I’m curious about shame, why this newsletter is called Soft Things, and who the heck I am, anyway. For more comics, check out my Instagram @cara_gormally and website.