Look fear in the eye

It's just a big, fat liar.

A panel from This is Ruby:: Facing Fear by Jeanne Demers.

Today’s illustrations are by Jeanne Demers, who published her cartoon “This is Ruby: Facing Fear” on Facebook as I was about to scrap this essay because fear was whispering “It stinks!” in my ear. I commented on her post, and she replied with a quote from writer Mark Matousek, which I use below. Then I invited her to share her cartoon here. Thank you, Jeanne!

You know when you’re fine. “Really, I’m FINE.” But you’re not?

“What’s going on with your root chakra?” my energy worker asked last week when I lay down on her warm table with a bolster beneath my knees. Her hand moved under my back.

The root chakra, or first chakra, is at the base of the spine. It’s where our instincts for survival, stability and security live. It can generate fear.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a question on social media: “What’s your role as an artist in this fast-changing society?” I asked because I was feeling afraid. The world is changing so fast, and I don’t like the direction it’s going in. But I wasn’t so aware of the fear at the time.

Bruce Herman sent a quote from writer Deborah Eisenberg: “Art, itself, is inherently subversive. It’s destabilizing. It undermines, rather than reinforces, what you already know and what you already think. It is the opposite of propaganda.”