My 25 Funny Comics About My Life With A Dog

I've been drawing for as long as I can remember. I'm very anxious and introverted, so it has helped me to communicate.

Initially, I started drawing to make my friends laugh at school. Sharing my work online was normal to me, it allowed me to reach more people. I have very low self-esteem, so I have to admit that social media's reactions to my drawings are a dopamine boost!

The most challenging part of the creative process for me is that I can't spend a lot of time on one comic or illustration. I discovered it was ADHD as I was recently diagnosed. I've always had to adapt my style to find one that allows me to make comics in a way that doesn't take me too much time. And only now do I realize why, and that it's not because I'm lazy. I would sometimes love to work on longer stories, but after some time my brain is sick of it and I think of millions of things more interesting to do, and it becomes torture, so I give up.

I usually draw my comics on my iPad in the evening, while Sully and I are on my couch, and I love this chill moment.

Sully has changed my life a lot! I got him immediately after a family rejection after I came out as transgender when I got my first apartment. I never imagined myself surviving alone because of my neurological and mental issues, so I got him, convinced it would help me and give me a reason to wake up in the morning. He did this and way more! The adaptation was very hard, as he forced me to get out of my comfort zone, a thing that I struggle a lot to do.

I started my transition and was starting to face and discover transphobia, and having this companion who doesn't care or judge was precious. I can be myself and don't think about gender at all with him.

I now have a healthier routine (that's really important for me as I have ADHD and anxiety disorder), he forces me to get up, and I go out a lot more. I live in a beautiful region in France; it was a shame to never enjoy it. I also met plenty of amazing new people, made new friends, and even found jobs by talking to people I met with him.

I don't have as many dark thoughts as I did before. Now, I have to survive because he'd be too sad. He really is my therapy dog. He's the best!

Some years ago, I shared comics about my mental issues because I felt very lonely and broken and needed to share thoughts I didn't dare share with anyone. I would say it slowly evolved thanks to people's feedback, and now I also want to let people know they are not alone and make them smile.

I will definitely continue to draw about Sully; he's brought a lot of positivity into my life, and that's a great way to never forget that. I will also draw on my ADHD, the diagnosis is recent, so I feel like I'm kind of trying to discover who I am again. Lots of things I thought were personality traits were symptoms of it, so I'm kind of lost.

Besides that, I am trying to work on a long comic book about my life, trying to talk about my twenties, when I was lost, unemployed after being refused admission to art school, and trying to discover who I was. It would feature some of my mental health comics as my life gets darker, and also talk about my trans identity, ADHD, and how my dog helps me to deal with all that. I feel like I really need to do this, so when I have time, I will work on it!