Things I Love: A Softer World
The joys and griefs of existence
I’ve been convinced of two things from a very young age:
The world is a beautiful place, despite all the terrible things that happen every day.
It’s an open question whether I’m worthy to exist on it.
Some people call it depression. Churchill called it his “black dog,” which is a term I love, as it makes not wanting to get out of bed in the morning because nothing matters sound whimsical. Call it what you like, I’ve grappled with despair for as long as I can remember.
Part of getting older and figuring out ways to be a functional human being has been finding things that make it possible to keep going. As a religious man, prayer is a big one. Healthy relationships are another. Hobbies that feel useful also help; I’ve recently rediscovered my love for homemade food, and the moments of quiet solace as I create a simple meal and brew a cup of coffee help me re-ground myself. (No pun intended.)
I’ve come to terms with the fact that this is something I’ll probably live with the rest of my life; any time I don’t keep up the structures that keep me … well … up, that silent self-hatred is there waiting. But there are small things that act like a shot in the arm.
One of those is A Softer World.
A Softer World is hard to describe; it’s a webcomic, yes, but it doesn’t have an overarching narrative like Gunnerkrigg Court or a general theme like XKCD. Most webcomics have some sort of form to them. ASW is hard to pin down.
If I were to describe it in one phrase, it would be “a comic about what it is to be human.”
I don’t know anything about Emily Horne or Joey Comeau, the creators. But these little strips speak to me in a way few other pieces of media do, and I feel like maybe we might have that black dog in common. Because one day you’ll see a comic like this:
Which is just a perfect little vignette on love. Then you see this:
And you’re not sure whether the message is hopeful or haunting.
And then you see this:
And the absurdity of the contrast strikes you right in the funny bone.
You never know quite what you’re going to get with ASW. Some of the comics are profound reflections on life, love and loss. Others sound a bit like middle school kids teasing each other. Not all of them hit, but all of them have that same sense of life — joy, heartbreak, anger, absurdity, humor, and all the other little pieces that make up our journey here on earth.
I think that’s what inspires me the most about ASW. Because even on my very worst day, I could log on and see something that reminded me what it is to be human. That each day there was this little piece of life, both the beautiful and the sad. And each upload day someone was collating this little piece of creativity that sprang from their life and their experience and putting it out into the world.
And some days, that little piece of humanity was all it took to give me a bit of a lift to get through the day. Because if they could look at the world around and see it and chronicle it honestly and still keep going, maybe I could too. Even if I didn’t quite believe it.
As Terry Pratchett once wrote, “You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?”