What a Comical Life

Comics and sketches about being 20-something, lost in the world, and totally determined but generally a little confused.

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New Jess Travel Things series!

Jess Travel Things #1

Introducing a new "Jess Travel Things" series! Finally getting to that creative pursuit. :) And true story, my little sister produced higher quality and a higher volume of artwork within 5 days of me being home …

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The question of the hour.

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Living in NYC

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There are many words for happiness in Chinese, but 开心, literally having an open heart, is the best visual. When you are happy, your heart is open to new experiences and you welcome people in. Similarly, you open up and share more of your thoughts and experiences with others. Whichever way the exchange goes, happiness opens us up and brings us closer together.

Examples:

"There's a snow day today, all the kids are very 开心!"

"She looks more 开心 than usual, did something good happen?"

"Come home more often, we're always 开心 to see you"

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Limitations

What is the line between excuses and limitations? It’s hard to say. It’s unrealistic to think that anyone can do anything, anytime - but so often we shut ourselves down with reminders of what we are not, without even giving it a shot.

By nature, there are certain things we’re good at, and certain things we’re not. But just because we’re not good at them doesn’t mean that they’re impossible. Venture out and push your limits, who knows what you might find?

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When throwing caution to the wind, you should probably figure out which way the wind is blowing first. 

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Not sure why I bother to check the weather when I get all of 15 minutes to be outside.

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The Email Struggle

It’s just so difficult to convey the accurate tone in an email...but also terrified to call.

And yes, I have spent 3 hours drafting an email before.

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必 (bì) - Must

必 is a powerful word that consists of the character for heart, 心, with a stroke going through it. Literally “cross my heart (hope to die, stick a needle in my eye).”

When you MUST do something, it's as if your heart is being held captive. Until you take action, you're preoccupied and unable to proceed any further. This is the image that I visualize every time I write 必.

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不怕一万，就怕万一 (bù pà yī wàn, jiù pà wàn yī) 

not afraid of ten thousand, only afraid of one in ten thousand

Building on the meaning of 万一: If you’re prepared, you can tackle an obstacle any number of times without breaking a sweat. However, if you’re not expecting it, the same obstacle may just topple you to your feet.

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万一  (wàn yī) - In case

When something may only happen one out of ten thousand times, it’s fairly unlikely. However, just in case you do end up with the scream emoji instead of what you expected, it’s best to have a backup plan!

Example usage: 

“This is a great plan to rob the bank and all, but what do we do 万一 the police come?”

“万一 I get hit by a car on the way to work, my will specifies that everything goes to my cat.”

“万一 the groom doesn’t come, we still get to have cake, right?”

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万 wàn - Ten thousand

In Chinese, large numbers are counted in ten thousands (10,000 = 万 wàn, 100,000,000 = 亿 yì) instead of thousands (1,000 = thousand, 1,000,000 = million, 1,000,000,000 = billion). This means that converting numbers is an exercise in counting zeros, and if you’re not careful, you may be off by a couple of orders of magnitude!

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There’s a classic story about the word 万: Back in ancient China, there was once a pauper who struck it big and became wealthy. He himself could not read, but he wanted his son to be literate, so he hired a teacher for him. The teacher started with numbers:

One stroke is one: 一 

Two strokes is two: 二

Three strokes is three: 三

‘This is easy,’ thought the son, so he told his father that he had learned how to write, and the teacher was not invited back again.

Some time later, a friend of the father’s, whose surname was 万, came to town to visit. The father thought it would be an excellent opportunity for his son to show off his writing with a welcoming poster for his friend, so he asked his son to make a poster with the word 万.

The son sat down to write, and was still hard at work a few hours later. Curious as to how a single word could take so long, the father went to check on his son. 

To the father’s surprise, the son had filled up multiple sheets of paper with single strokes. The son turned and wailed to his father, “I’ve only managed to write 300 strokes! Why does your friend have to have the surname 万??”

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Fun(ish?) fact: I timed myself to see how many strokes I could write in 1 minute, and ended up with 141. At that constant speed, it would only take 1 hour and 11 minutes to write a full 万 of strokes. So even though the son was completely wrong, it still would have been a doable task (and he was rather slow at it, really).

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The Growth Mindset

When given the chance, always choose to grow.

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Hole in the Wall

It’s not enough to be lucky, you have to be prepared too! And it may be scary when changes and opportunities come at you fast, but relax. 

It’s just a game. :)

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“Kids from 1 to 92″

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

...Except for you, Agatha. Not you.

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“Last Christmas...”

I love Christmas songs, but I think a couple of lyrics can be improved...

What do you think?

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Who are you jealous of?

Not sure what you want to do or who you want to be? This is a great question to kick off some inner soul-searching. Whatever or whoever you’re jealous of gives you an idea of what’s important to you and what you really want. 

Jealousy isn’t bad if it spurs action!