I'm Back

Hello all, I’m back!

I’m sorry I left without any warning a few months ago. As we all know life can get pretty hectic, and with a full time job and other commitments I was drained of creative energy. I had to take a break otherwise I was going to burn out. Since then, I’ve been improving myself and honing my skills as a writer and artist. I’m still trying to figure out my path in life, but I know without a doubt that creating will always be one of my top priorities.

Anyways, let me take you back a few months to when I was posting regularly. Everything was going really well with the comics themselves; the ideas were flowing, and the stories were growing. However, it was becoming more and more difficult to maintain my focus for long periods of time. I was beginning to dread working on my comics, because the creation process was becoming painful. I’ve always wrestled with this strange burnout cycle over the years, even when I was a child. Everything seemed so much harder than it needed to be. I loved creating, but the energy cost was so high, and I’d feel so drained after working on simple projects.

It took a while of stubbornly marching on like this until I realized I was being stupid. Something was wrong, and I couldn’t fix it on my own. I decided to get professional help to try and address these issues. Thank goodness I did, because through this process I found out I have Inattentive ADHD.

*Fireworks shoot into the sky, the banner at the nero-divergent reveal party unfurls and says: “You have ADHD! Huzzah!”*

I cannot express to you all how much of a burden was lifted off my shoulders once I learned this. It explained so much, especially why it always felt like nails were scratching the surface of my brain whenever I forced myself to focus. And don’t get me wrong, I could force myself to focus, but it came at a high price of constant burnout and isolation. I lived this reality all the way through high school and college. I was always working on homework throughout the week and weekend, and didn’t have the energy to pursue a social life or other interests. The approach of gritting one’s teeth and “just do[ing] it!” was not sustainable for my brain, and now I know why.

With that all out of the way, I’m excited to say that I’ve started working on my Writing Whoas comic again! Woo! I’m really excited to share more of this silly world with you guys, along with some other projects I’ve got up my sleeve. Now that I have more awareness of how my brain works, I’ve been getting treatment and building different tactics to help me with the creation process. Timers are a huge tool I use, and instead of beating myself up for working in short bursts, I pat myself on the back and encourage myself for engaging with my content at all.

While I was on this break, I also looked back through the lovely comments you all left on my work, and I was overwhelmed with your support. It’s weird, but back then I feel like I had tunnel vision and couldn’t fully absorb just how many people enjoyed my work. I think a combination of my anxiety and ADHD were factors in that. So, from the bottom of my heart, I wanted to thank you all so much <3

Anyways, where this will lead to now, who knows. But I’m ready to go! I hope that my story resonates with others who might be going through similar circumstances. Life is difficult, even if you don’t have ADHD. But taking the time to rest, recover, and seek help outside of yourself, is so powerful. Take care of yourselves, and be kind to yourselves.

More to follow soon! (hopefully)

p.s. This ADHD discovery might lead to the creation of a new character in the Writing Whoas world…