Hello Trauma Warriors! This was my first history “comic book” that I made back in November of 2020. I had one nasty shame spiral at the time and, as someone who gets much spiritual nourishment out of history, I thought of my favorite person from history. I asked myself: If George Washington could pull a Lazarus, what sort of pep talk would he give me? What advice would he offer?
Several time jumps later and with help from others in history, I accidentally stumbled upon yet another means of using creativity for healing. It was like magic, how rapidly my mind was able to digest the wisdom I received. It began a quarterly tradition for me, creating history comics, where I have the opportunity to “have conversations with” great people in history, who have much wisdom for all of us, indeed.
Just one more thing: captions are provided under each picture that are verbatim to what’s said in each picture. This is because I know that memes are not translatable and I never want those in non-English speaking countries to feel left out. If English is not your first language, the captions are included for your benefit. <3
And then I shame spiraled…All because I was comparing my accomplishments from my past 90 days, to the 90 days before that. And in my head, I came up pathetically short.
Sigh…I feel like such a failure…
What’s troubling you, child? You created your own Mount Vernon. Wish I had pictures back in my day. It would have saved me the trouble of writing all those letters asking for more details of my home.
Daily Devotionals Brought to You by American History…(Next 4)
I am in over my head in this war but I cannot let my men see how stressed I am…
I will write another letter, asking for more details on Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon was my safe place: where I went in my mind when the pressure was too much. Today we know this as…
Guided Imagery: One of the major techniques for building one’s window of Tolerance.
I didn’t do much else, though. Not compared to my last 90 days.
If I recall, your plan was…Decorate the room: Check. Create Master Toolbox: Check. Then start working on your domain.
Everything took twice as long as planned. And attempt number one at the toolbox…?
Oh my god, it’s like I forgot everything I learned about minimalism! I ended up pulling a Madison.
Daily Devotionals Brought to You by American History…(Next 9)
How to pull a Madison: A Cautionary Tale
“I took ALL of government of ALL history ALL over the world. Then I made a spreadsheet of each type.”
“I’ll be the star of the Constitutional Convention!”
Alas! All his hard work was met by crickets…
As the Founders were unsure what to make of it.
“Where, exactly, was Madison going with all of that?”
“Not sure, myself. He was…um, thorough. God bless that logical madness of his. (Chuckle-chuckle) Now, back to the subject of womanizing.”
And historians laugh at Madison to this very day… “And meanwhile, Madison overwhelmed everyone with ALL government of ALL time…”
Less is more: Don’t pull a Madison.
My child, you not only admitted it, to the very group you are leading…But you also corrected your error.
I see you also found multiple uses for cognition sheets…
In so doing, you unlocked the mysteries to the Trap Door inside your head. Tell me, what did you discover was hiding beneath?
If I could just think outside my limitations, I would finally meet my expectations. Then I would be whole.
There was nothing beneath your trap door, child. You were chasing ghosts all those years.
I read a quote recently, “I’m more than my accomplishments and failures.” But I don’t know how to think that way.
You’ve always been smart enough. Your expectations were impossible.
But last time, I did everything on time: my Father’s Day confrontation rap; the trauma glossary; secured my domain.
So you’re sad because the last time, you experienced meeting deadlines. This time, your projects took longer than planned.
If a person survives an ordinary span of sixty years or more…
Who is he?
…there is every chance that his or her life as a shapely story has ended, and all that remains to be experienced is epilogue. Life is not over, but the story is.
Did he come after me? He looks like he came after me.
That was Kurt Vonnegut, 20th century writer. A lot of people came after you, you know.
289 years is not that old once you consider all who have come before me. Don’t be cheeky.
(Laughter)
It seems to me, that writer fellow was on to something…
But wouldn’t you say that all of our stories are comprised of multiple story arcs and that between each one is the epilogue that prepares us for the next?
Hello, George Washington. I’m Frederick Douglass, 19th century writer, orator and father of the civil rights movement. I’m her hero, too, second only to you, as a matter of fact.
Is that what you think my 90 days have been about? My epilogue period?
I’m just thinking out loud, Jaena. I know I have had many story arcs in my lifetime, as has George Washington.
My point is, you’ve had many story arcs, yourself. This is just your first time recording one.
Jaena identifies with my resourcefulness, endurance and deep thinking, Mr. President. She thinks my story of how I defeated soul death is the most empowering and inspiring of all.
I’m still her favorite?
Correct, but with all due respect, there’s no way you would have thought of reframing Vonnegut’s thoughts to fit her needs.
You do have a point. Thank you, Mr. Douglass.
In other words, my last story arc began in May and ended once I completed my room project. And then my Toolbox and trying to understand coding was my epilogue period.
It seems you are both on the right track. Now if you will please excuse me, I’ve got another generation to inspire.
Epilogues can be refreshing. They are both the end and the beginning…How your next story arc goes depends on how you handle your epilogue.
We all must live with the consequences of our actions: the bad and the good. Learn from your mistakes, make amends where you’re able and above all, recover from them.
Nurture your successes. Take pride in what you’ve accomplished. This is how you prepare yourself for your next story arc.
Daily Devotionals Brought to You by American History…(Next 12)
Before the Revolution, the colonists would order most of their goods from Great Britain. What they couldn’t pay for in crops, they used credit to float the rest.
And then one day, Great Britain introduced the colonists to a new concept: Compound Interest.
(Left:) The Hero: George Washington (Right:) The Cautionary Tales: Thomas Jefferson & James Madison
“My debt is how much?? OMG! (oh my god!) I’m going bankrupt!” Catastrophizing: The False Prophet Syndrome
“This is an obvious British Conspiracy!!!”
“I’m going to write multiple letters expressing my fears!”
“It’s too complicated to figure out. That’s how you know it’s a British Conspiracy!”
“Now that I’ve calmed down, I’m going to learn how compound interest works.”
“We won’t waste our time learning because this is all just one big British Conspiracy!”
“I need to control my spending and lower my debt. It’s a lot of money, but I can handle it.”
Epilogue: Both men died bankrupt.
Epilogue: George Washington died with enough wealth to be divided among 23 relatives.
I remembered that story. It helped me calm down so that I could learn how to code.
Remember, child, it’s okay to express your fears. It helps you work through it in order to calm down.
I was blinded, almost crippled by the fear. It was an effort just to approach the next step.
If you think my surviving letters are something, you should have seen me in person.
So getting it all off your chest helped you clear the head space in order to learn compound interest.
Thanks for that, G.W. You inspire me every day.
I’m honored, my child. I’m proud of you every day.
I guess I’m still confused on when and how to plan my way out of catastrophizing and when to destroy it with spontaneity.
General-ize (generalize) your plans. It will leave more room for alternate options in your head.
I see what you did there. Panic planning is another form of pulling a Madison.
And as for developing your impulses, I had strong fight. Believe me, it came with its own problems.
I mastered self-containment and restraint. I had to learn to control my impulses.
I need to understand my own controls. You know, just last week, I learned about two parts of the brain that feed the Timekeeper.
They function like a control panel.
21st century lingo, no doubt. Yet a control panel sounds like a great tool.
You should add that as one of your main modules in this new journal as you diligently explore it, no doubt.
But that’s part of this 90 day discovery.
90 days…Bah! My child, for someone who is unlocking the secrets behind her Timekeeper…
You’re certainly falling back into the trap of rigidity.
But 90 days are all about seeing your goals on the horizon. The experts say…
You shouldn’t take anyone’s advise and use it to limit yourself, like you’re doing now.
Your shame spiral started by funneling all your attention on 90 days.
Don’t be afraid to broaden your horizons…
Think of it like this. What dates do the historians consider my time period?
1688-1815: The Age of Enlightenment.
Correct, because my time followed a theme…
In order to understand your direction, you must see clearly where you have been.
See where I’ve been, so I can sail a sure and steady course. Wow! Thank you. I don’t know where I would be today, had I not gotten to know you three years ago.
I will always be here for you, child, as long as you live and grow.
Afterward: or, in this case, should I say, epilogue? I didn’t initially go into this project thinking I was going to end up reparenting myself. Truth be told, I simply thought of Kurt Vonnegut’s quote and wondered if there was some way I could use it to get out of my shame spiral. I imagined George Washington talking to me about story arcs and epilogues when I stopped myself. I remembered that while he was wise, he wasn’t quite on that level of deep thinking. However, my second favorite, Frederick Douglass, was most certainly a deep thinker, and more than capable of reframing Kurt Vonnegut’s thoughts for George Washington. And it took off from there.
The most pleasant surprise for me was the experience of being corrected without shame or ridicule. Notice when George Washington said “You should never take anyone’s advise and use it to limit yourself” and then proceeded to call me on how I had caused my own shame spiral. The very moment I imagined him saying that to me and proceeded to type out our script, (step one of my comic book process) it went straight to my core and promptly integrated. How many of us have been guilty of taking other people’s advise or knowledge, even from the so-called “experts” and used it to limit ourselves instead of growing?
I’ve been applying more outside the box thinking ever since I created this one. After all, even experts are human and just as capable of making mistakes as the rest of us. It’s also worth noting that while I admired George Washington before, this project caused me to think of him as my Spirit Dad and I, his Spirit Child. Why, you may ask, am I such a super-fan of George Washington? I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until Issue number 3 to find out. But trust me, you will come away agreeing with me that I have several good reasons, indeed!
To those of you who have read this far, thank you! Here is your reward: bonus epilogue!
Hi, this is me 8 months after I created this. Remember when I mentioned learning how to code?
I crammed on this book, all because I thought that in order to blog, I had to know how to code. Last month, I learned I don’t have to code, after all.
So I guess the moral of the story is, NOT asking questions, even if the answers seem obvious, is yet another form of pulling a Madison.
You’ve been a little unfair to Madison. He grew from his error when he wrote my first inaugural address.
I don’t care if he spared you from that 55 page speech the other guy wrote you. Madison was in cahoots with TJ when he backstabbed you!
So because he helped Thomas Jefferson betray me, nothing Madison ever accomplished is meaningful to you?
Correct!
Subscribe to be alerted when the next graphic novel is released. Issue 2: Guided Wisdom with Frederick Douglass!
“How many of us have been guilty of taking other people’s advise or knowledge, even from the so-called “experts” and used it to limit ourselves instead of growing?”
Well shit! I can count one. Me! Oof, this was great. I don’t know why it resonates so much. But it really does.
Thank you! You know what I think? It’s due to our low confidence and self-esteem that makes us trust ourselves less and therefore place an over-reliance on other people’s advice. However, in due credit, I think even those who were NOT affected by child developmental trauma are just as vulnerable to taking advice from experts too. Leave it to an 18th century man, who knows nothing about what the experts are saying today, to call attention to that. It may be a good practice for us all to develop, traumatized or not, to consider that fundamental: Will taking this advice help me grow, or will it limit me? I’m so glad you got something out of this! My comic books are like an opportunity for me to not only share my love of history, which has been instrumental in my healing, but also a chance for me to dare being vulnerable with others. Kind of show that, though I love to educate, I too have ongoing problems and I use my love of creativity to try and work through them. <3
Thank you so much! This was my first (official) history comic. I had created it originally for myself with no thoughts of ever sharing it with the world. (Boy, did that quickly change! LOL!) I also published my “prequel” to this one. (It’s included in the history comics directory.) The prequel was the story of what had happened 90 days prior to this history comic, when I experienced my greatest growth spurt. While being proud of our accomplishments is something we should all practice, I used everything that happened in that prequel to raise the bar on my personal expectations. Since life doesn’t usually work that way, I was setting myself up (unfairly) for a major disappointment. That’s why I shame spiraled, because I was comparing the next 90 days to what had happened the 90 days prior. I must say, the creation of my first history comic (this one) sure helped me get my head on straight and realize how unfair I was being with myself. Ah! The healing powers of creativity and imagination!
“How many of us have been guilty of taking other people’s advise or knowledge, even from the so-called “experts” and used it to limit ourselves instead of growing?”
Well shit! I can count one. Me! Oof, this was great. I don’t know why it resonates so much. But it really does.
Thank you! You know what I think? It’s due to our low confidence and self-esteem that makes us trust ourselves less and therefore place an over-reliance on other people’s advice. However, in due credit, I think even those who were NOT affected by child developmental trauma are just as vulnerable to taking advice from experts too. Leave it to an 18th century man, who knows nothing about what the experts are saying today, to call attention to that. It may be a good practice for us all to develop, traumatized or not, to consider that fundamental: Will taking this advice help me grow, or will it limit me? I’m so glad you got something out of this! My comic books are like an opportunity for me to not only share my love of history, which has been instrumental in my healing, but also a chance for me to dare being vulnerable with others. Kind of show that, though I love to educate, I too have ongoing problems and I use my love of creativity to try and work through them. <3
Jaena, this is beautiful, complicated, very very deep. I need to reread pronto!! And I will. Much love, Mimi
Thank you so much! This was my first (official) history comic. I had created it originally for myself with no thoughts of ever sharing it with the world. (Boy, did that quickly change! LOL!) I also published my “prequel” to this one. (It’s included in the history comics directory.) The prequel was the story of what had happened 90 days prior to this history comic, when I experienced my greatest growth spurt. While being proud of our accomplishments is something we should all practice, I used everything that happened in that prequel to raise the bar on my personal expectations. Since life doesn’t usually work that way, I was setting myself up (unfairly) for a major disappointment. That’s why I shame spiraled, because I was comparing the next 90 days to what had happened the 90 days prior. I must say, the creation of my first history comic (this one) sure helped me get my head on straight and realize how unfair I was being with myself. Ah! The healing powers of creativity and imagination!