Do you know you’re still an animal? How do you care for your animal? Listen and settle into sensation, instinct, quiet observation. Your body knows how to be animal, just listen, and draw it out.

This one’s gonna hurt. And that’s okay, pain is part of life. We all feel it, so let’s give it the grace of our attention.

Zareen is relatively new to the comics scene, but her clear ambitions and community-building projects are a beacon for artists living with chronic health and disability experiences. As a person with chronic pain and disabilities myself, I was so excited to connect with Zareen, and you’ll hear me reaching with my words toward things I haven’t yet imagined, because our shared experiences allow me to try.

I’d been told I need unwinding for my drawing parts, after years of habits and strain have wound me tight. What it means may be different for each of us, and this practice is a method to find out for yourself. Unwinding, for a long and happy life in drawing ✨

Today’s guest is MK Czerwiec, one of the stewards of the Graphic Medicine International Collective (GMIC) and co-host of the Graphic Medicine Podcast that I was a guest on this month. Podcast swap!

It turns out Maureen and I are very similar, which was an absolute delight for us - and I hope it will be for you too! 

We talk about Maureen’s new book, Sleepless Planet, the health term “exposome,” colonial-capitalist inventions of health and disease, perimenopause mistakes, neglected powers of breathing, birthing, and sleeping, and MORE. 

What movements do you do every day? What shapes and motions do you NEVER make?

What about when you're drawing?

This practice is a gentle space to observe your movement habits in drawing, to not judge them, and to play with other possibilities of motion and feeling.

Yumi is a comics artist, meditator, creativity leader, and lovely human being. On my first ever podcast interview, she kept asking ME questions! Such is her curiosity and supportive nature.

Our conversation roams between our (villain) origin stories, meditation, activism, personal and collective healing, and the many forms of creativity that happen in every day life.

DHPOD Episode 2: Listening Now (body awareness practice and guided meditation)

If you’re just starting to listen to your body, it’s gonna hurt.

Why? Because your body has been trying to get your attention, crying out in pain or numbing out in helplessness. The first thing you’ll hear, when you start listening, might be aaaaaaaallll that pain at once…

Our very last episode of The Terrible Anvil (Season One) was recorded this week! With Tom and Jess together in the same room!

We tried to tie a bow around the business of comics by offering ideas on HOW TO KEEP GOING (FOREVER), AKA making your own sustainable comics practice amidst inner/outer turmoil and also remembering to wash the dishes.

A big takeaway from this episode: CELEBRATE SMALL WINS!

This week we recorded the penultimate episode of THE TERRIBLE ANVIL, this time discussing scripts, dialogue, and writing for comics!

The words we use and how they are arranged on the page can guide readers' understanding of our comics and influence how they feel about a story and its characters. But how do you pick the right words? How much is too much dialogue? How can you make sure readers understand your text the way you intend?

This week on the Terrible Anvil we talked about CRITICISM!

Criticism and rejection are inevitable parts of the creative process—so how can we make them more bearable?

This week we talked all about creative collaboration!

Comics can often be a solitary endeavor, but you'll find lots of ways to collaborate with other people—be it editors, writers, artists, colorists, copy editors, designers, publishers or co-creators!

Collaboration in any art form can be a great way to breathe new life into the creative process. They can be scary or uncomfortable if you're used to having total control over your creative projects, or this shared control might feel liberating.

Either way, there's lots to gain from working with others on a shared project, from morale boosts and accountability systems, to practical knowledge sharing and the creative alchemy of multiple minds coming together.

But how do collaborations happen? How do you make them successful? How can you maximize fun and minimize pain in the process?

There's lots of advice in this episode, but the core of it is to establish clear communication and boundaries and to have a shared goal with your collaborators.