My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness (3/5/20)

Something that is so charming about this author from a storytelling standpoint, is how real she is. The first page alone (aside from the one paneled first page) she briefly mentions not only a bald spot she was "trying to hide", but also self-inflicted marks. I personally have never read the manga of someone telling real, personal experiences. So reading something like "My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness" was an interesting read. On a more personal level, I feel as though many people can relate to her especially when it comes to trying to make your parents proud. Many kids from teenage years to adulthood, even way beyond that, are always looking for ways to make their parents proud. However sometimes when I'm feeling stuck on what I want to do when I'm older, I don't turn to my parents. Instead, I turn to my online best friends or my boyfriend. Having amazing friends that are around my age and going through similar things I am, is incredibly helpful. Of course, I'm grateful for everything my parents give me but sometimes, as I'm sure many others can relate to, everything seems professional. This is why turning to friends as a way for comfort, advice or even someone to just talk to is nice and helpful. I tend to live my life as a day to day basis for the most part. I have the now, and I have a distant future plan. However, there is a major empty space of mystery between these two-time frames. I try not to think about that empty time slot too much otherwise I go into panic mode, which of course is not a fun time. When I was younger I definitely struggled with trying to appease everyone. And although I still want to make my parents proud, I stopped doing things for them and started doing things for me. So the author's character arc (?) or change on wanting to do things for her really resonated with me.

Another thing that really resonated with me was when she posted her manga online for the first time. I've almost always posted my artwork on social media platforms like Instagram, Tumblr, and sometimes Twitter. I knew I wasn't 'bad' at art (especially since I go to Ringling) but the max amount of likes I receive on my art posts is 10-12 on average, and most are family/ friends. Of course, I don't mind, I know these social media numbers don't determine how well I can draw. However, it wasn't until I downloaded Tiktok and started posting my work on there, where I received a lot of attention. Similar to how this author wasn't believing the numbers she was receiving, I couldn't believe mine either. I know my posts aren't as large scale as hers, but how quickly I gained a following in one short month is truly insane to me. I appreciate all of the recognize and feedback I have and continue to receive on the platform. In fact, it's almost motivating to continue my posts and endlessly create better things. Overall, this manga short was an amazing read and I highly recommend it to anyone regardless of a situation they are in.