This Book Is for You

This Book Is for You

A Note from the Author

When the good people at Ten Speed Press agreed to publish this book—a collection of my most popular drawings about thoughts, feelings, worry, and empathy framed by a hopeful narrative—I was thrilled. I'd always wanted to make a long-form project and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to make something that couldn't exist on the internet—something that only made sense as a book. I was excited to get drawing. 

But almost before I had time to register the excitement, I was overcome by another familiar emotion: worry. 

I've lived with worry my whole life. It has been both a constant companion and a source of complete creative paralysis. I knew that if I allowed myself to worry now, about this book, then this book would not get made. I knew that if I let it, worry would soon dominate the whole project and I could run the risk of jeopardizing not only the book, but my own mental health as well. 

And so I decided, for the first time in my life, that I was not going to let anxiety take control of my project that meant so much to me. The irony of having my own anxiety get in the way of a book about anxiety was not lost on me (or my therapist) so I made the decision that worry was not invited to participate in the making of this book. 

Now, actually putting that decision into practice was of course a real challenge. Did I succeed? Well, reader, let's find out. 

—Worry Lines