Gratitude (Patreon)

Hi, and welcome to March.

Before we dive into the next month, I wanted to take a beat to talk about a couple things, including one which I'm sure has been many if not all your minds a lot as well.

First of all, I want to say thank you!  By many measures this month has been the most successful yet at the Patreon.  There was a surprisingly low number of exits before the billing cycle this time around, and a surprisingly high number of sign-ups over the same period.  (Welcome, new people!)  I'm glad to see the Patreon gaining steam again, and thank all of you for getting on board, both the new folks and the ones who have stuck with me through some not so great times over the last two years.

Which brings me to my next point.  We all are seeing the nightmarish events unfolding in Europe right now.  For me it's been made more personal through the double-edged sword that is social media.  I have probably mentioned before that I follow a few vintage/retro fashion accounts on Instagram-- which if you look at some of my character designs, probably does not surprise you.  

One of those bloggers lives in Ukraine, and until recently in the capital city of Kyiv.  As Instagram photos are often curated to show the person at their best, so too has she shown her city at its best.  Her photos are often in very lavish settings, with beautiful architecture.  Just the week before the invasion she was posting photos in a gorgeous old theatre.  It wasn't until a couple of days before the invasion began that she even acknowledged what was happening.

But come the back half of last week she went from fashion blogger to war correspondent literally overnight.  She and her fiancé were among those who left the city and headed towards the west end of the country.  She's chronicled her journey west and been passing along footage of her friends who remained behind as they huddled in the subway and recorded the gunfire and explosions in and around the city.  While she has received invitations to stay in Poland or another place out of the country, she's declined because her fiancé, like all men 18-60 years old, must remain in Ukraine to be available to fight, and she won't leave him.  Over the past week I've seen her watch her city be slowly torn apart, and it's heartbreaking.

The horrors of war is nothing new in this world--just a few months ago we were hearing about the chaos during the botched withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.  Is it terrible that many people in the US and Europe--including me-- were relatively indifferent to what was happening there but are now wrapped up in the tragedy--and heroism--that is unfolding in the Ukraine?  Of course.  In a perfect world we shouldn't need someone to look like us to care when they're in such dire circumstances.  

However, it doesn't change the fact that when I see this happening to people who look more like me, dress more like me, and who I've seen just weeks ago planning weddings and having brunch and generally enjoying life now watching that existence being utterly destroyed, my imagination has to do less work to see myself and my loved ones in their place.  It will always affect us more when a neighbor or co-worker dies than it does when we hear about a stranger's death at the other end of town, even though we feel sorrow about that as well. 

 It hasn't helped that the severe irreconcilable divisions happening here at home have had me worried that something like this could be in our future--or that the government responsible for the travesty in Ukraine is vowing to bring that fight anyone who intervenes.  I trade a lot in nostalgia with what I do--old comics, cartoons, retro outfits--but having the threat of nuclear war back is one thing I don't need.  None of us do.

Maybe now that I've had our eyes opened, I'll be more concerned when it's happening in less familiar parts of the world, and maybe some of you will find that too.  In the meantime we can only watch what's happening, hope (or pray if that's part of your belief system) for some return of sanity and safety for the people in Ukraine, and find some small way to help.  Protest, donate, or volunteer to help those within our reach.  Finally, we need to care about each other, and be grateful for each peaceful moment we have with those we care about for as long as we have them.

If you're still with me, thanks for reading though all of this.  I feel like this kind of thing can't be ignored.  Also, know that part of the pledge money collected over the last month and the current week will be donated to the UNHCR--the United Nations Refugee agency.  

Thanks again for your patience and support. Regular programming will resume tomorrow.