Sketchbook, Dealing With Stressful Situations, Illustrated Advice and More
August 28, 2022
In This Issue:
From My Sketchbook
Dealing With Stressful Things
Illustrated Wisdom
Top Cartoons
From My Sketchbook
I happened upon this drawing in an old sketchbook:
This poor chap. All jazzed and happy, unaware that his balloon wants to murder him.
I was trying to picture the scene when he bought the balloon. I expect it went something like this:
“But then what?” I thought. Does the balloon actually “eliminate” its owner? That’s pretty messed up.
So I tried to think of a happy ending.
Here’s what I finally came up with: The guy gives the balloon to his nephew...
I know, I know, this seems like it’s getting worse.
But then the nephew lets it go. And that’s all the balloon ever wanted – to be free.
No one got murdered! Everyone is happy! Well, almost everyone.
I'm glad we could resolve this doodle. Thank you for coming on that journey with me!
Stressful Situation Made Fun(ish)
My daughter Kate is starting her second year of college, so I helped her move into an apartment this month.
As we all know, moving can be stressful—all the more so when you have to build IKEA furniture, which was the case for us. But Kate was so happy and excited, and she kept talking about how fun the move-in weekend was going to be.
So, going into the weekend, I had two goals that were completely at odds:
Have fun
Build IKEA furniture
I was struggling to reconcile these two competing forces, and I finally landed on this:
Expect the absolute worst from the IKEA situation and fully accept it.
I know this sounds like a negative attitude, but I saw it as accepting reality and planning accordingly.
Fast-forward to move-in day. I started building the furniture while Kate unloaded the car unpacked.
And guess what: I messed something up almost immediately. Soon after that, I messed something else up. I was trying my best to follow the directions, but let me tell you: there are MANY ways to screw up.
I realize some people are great at building IKEA furniture. I'm not one of them.
To fix my various mistakes, I ended up having to go to Home Depot for solutions. Not once. Not twice. Three times.
Was I angry? No, because this is what I had pictured ahead of time. Things were actually going according to my demented plan.
I definitely got privately frustrated several times, but I was expecting that too. I just pressed on and eventually, to my slight astonishment, I finished the furniture.
Did I do a great job building the stuff? No. Will the bed and/or dresser eventually collapse under the weight of my mistakes? Maybe.
But the bed is low to the ground and the dresser is only three drawers, so any collateral damage will be minimal.
By the end of the weekend, Kate said, “We had a good time!”
“Yes!” I agreed. Then I admitted, “But we did have a couple of issues.”
And Kate said, “Nothing that couldn’t be solved with a good attitude and some trips to Home Depot!”
I loved that summary. I had really tried to maintain a good attitude around Kate, even as I silently cursed the IKEA furniture and shook my fist at it several times.
Bottom line: I had expected nothing but annoyance from the IKEA situation, and it delivered. But I was mentally prepared for that reality, so I was able to accept it without getting all angry.
It's all about expectations, right? So if you have something stressful coming up, try creating a mental bingo card that captures all the things that could annoy you about that situation. Then when those things happen you can triumphantly think, “Ah ha! I can fill in another square!”
One other thing: Sometimes there’s a point at which things get so ridiculous it tips into being funny. Look for that tipping point. Embrace it. As you've likely noticed, frustrating experiences are a cornerstone of my cartoons.
Picture yourself in one of my cartoons and then picture a bunch of people seeing that cartoon and thinking, “YES! I know exactly how you feel!”
Hopefully some of this helps you deal with your own frustrating or stressful situations. For what it’s worth, here’s the cartoon I kept picturing while I was wrestling with IKEA's directions.
Helpful Illustrations
I'm following two accounts on Instagram that do a great job of illustrating life advice and insight. They are:
Roberto Ferraro
and
Liz and Mollie
I encourage you to check them out! They both do a great job of creatively capturing life issues we all face.
The Liz and Mollie account also has a book out called "Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay." I haven't read it, but it looks good! Find it at your favorite book retailer.
In Case You Missed It...
In last month's newsletter I included some art for anyone who wants to use my cartoons on Pop Sockets. (See that issue if you missed it.) Here's a look at how some of the Pop Sockets look!
Thank you to my nephew Zach and to Kylla Verelli for these photos!
Also, remember you can follow along with the Hedger Corp employees on the Hedger Corp Instagram Page. I also recap their antics on my website. Here's a look at what went on this month.
And finally, the Bowl Game is back! New stories every Friday!
As always, I'll be picking words out of three bowls, then drawing what it says. Here's the story from this week.
Top Cartoons
And now, let's take a look at the most popular cartoons since the last newsletter.
First, some nutrition advice.
Then a look at what it's like when you don't automatically know right from left. Maybe some of you can relate?
And finally, from the archives, a story about a road trip gone awry.
See, if I had been following my advice above, I would have EXPECTED Claire to forget her shoes. I'm not sure how that would have helped, but at least I wouldn't have been surprised. I would have been like, "Oh yes, this was on my mental bingo card of things that would happen on this trip!"
Life isn't perfect, but hopefully we can find some wry humor in the things that go wrong.
OK, that's it for this time. Let's all gather again here in September!
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