Everything I draw ends up wearing a bow-tie

Anonymous asked: uncle mod this might be kinda personal but, how? how do you stay so motivated. you have EDS just like I do but you don't seem to slow down at all and you don't let it dent your love of things, you don't hide the fact that you have it and when you've talked about it you don't sugar coat but- how? I'm so tired, of being so tired, how do you still be so... cartoonish? about life?

gonna get a little long so

aw shucks anon, I hear you I really do, and gosh there are definitely days when I do slow down and do feel like the whole thing is set up against me; even though I’ve taught myself to be ambidextrous there’s been days where I haven’t been able to use either of my hands, and even though I try to do regular exercise to help my muscles hold my joints together there are days when I’m simply too tired, too sick or in too much pain to do anything. Heck, this week it’s been so hot I haven’t been able to do more than breathe! There are going to be bad and worse times ahead, and it’s likely those will become more frequent, but I can’t let that make me grind to a halt or destroy who I am. If all I think of is what I can’t do, then I won’t even try to do what I can. That doesn’t mean pushing myself beyond what I’m physically capable of; I have to make the best use of myself as I am at any one time, and that includes respecting my limits, but the future isn’t something I can easily plan for. I don’t know how fast or how much I’m going to change so I have to live by the seat of my pants, and you know what? That’s what I’ve always been best at; living in the moment. 

Nothing is forever, but one constant I have available to me is love. I sink myself into what I love and let those things push and pull me along. I know I have good people out there that I can talk to if I need to, and understanding followers who will wait if I need to rest. This’ll sound schmaltzy but honestly I owe all of you who are reading this more than I can ever properly describe, because you’re the reason that I can be, as you put it, ‘so cartoonish’. You’re the reason I can be ‘me’! I can love what I love and do what I do because of you, because of the fact that I see how much happiness and excitement my silly drawings brings both to you folks, and to me- and that might sound selfish but it’s part of what staying alive is, and I’ve had to accept that. Laughter really is the best medicine, and I want to inspire, and be inspired by, as much of it as possible. 

Feel bad when you need to, feel sad when you need to; that is a part of you and it’s important to let yourself have those feelings to validate your experience, but don’t let it change who you are- or rather, don’t let it change what ‘you’ means. I jokingly describe EDS as chronic rubber-hose syndrome, but honestly I’ve found that the best way to deal with it… is to be rubbery. Take changes in your stride, bounce off the walls when you hit them, bend through those jailhouse bars and just keep on keep on doing that wonderful thing that you do that is being you.