I made this comic about 5 years ago, when I was in the midst of a personal crisis and struggling with anxiety. I was very lucky to be in therapy at the time with an amazing therapist who helped me survive the worst moments of my life. From some of those sessions, I learned about the anxiety that I had more or less “managed” all my life. The feeling of being tied down to a needy, obnoxious, relentless albeit ineffective little monster clarified in my mind so clearly, I had to draw it. And this comic came out exactly how I pictured it.
I was having coffee with a friend recently and I remembered this comic in our conversation. I love this comic. I love it because it was made with simple pen and markers and sticky notes, and I love that’s all it took for me to visualize something I struggled so hard to reconcile. This comic feels so freshly relevant to me now, even 5 years later, when my artwork has changed but my anxiety really hasn’t– and it won’t, it’s part of me, but I don’t have to struggle against it and me so much anymore.
My anxiety is still very much with me, still screaming and demanding potato chips.
