A friend of mine, Smriti Ravindra, (who you’ve heard me talk about in my January Books blog post), had her book come out in the US and UK but is based in India and unable to fly to either of those places immediately.
My own book with author Catherine Barr, The Tiger’s Tale, comes out in the UK and unless something miraculous happens, I’m stuck in the US waiting on a visa application.
I recently spoke to my friend (artist and writer) Simina Popescu. She is days (!!) away from completing her debut graphic novel. Simina wrote and illustrated the book so once again, it is monumental for her to be so close to the finish line (300 pages written, penciled, inked, and coloured!). Simina and I talked about how, simply because of how isolated illustration (and writing?) is, milestones tend to pass quietly. She described attending a musical theatre performance that a friend of hers directed. At the end of the performance, the friend came out on stage and was received by a room full of people clapping and cheering.
While the idea of being on a stage in front of a crowd makes me want to vomit with anxiety, there’s something to be said for celebrating something loudly and in real life. Maybe this quietness is a remnant of the pandemic or maybe things have always been this way but I want to be able to celebrate milestones for my friends and peers in a way that goes further than a text or Instagram comment. I want the days their books come out to feel exciting, buzzy, and happy. I want us to build language and practices around the things that are important to us the way we know how to celebrate a traditional promotion, engagement, or birthday.
It’s obviously difficult with illustration being a career that takes many many shapes, to determine what those milestones might be. Furthermore, once you have something you’d like to celebrate, most non-illustration people in one’s life have to be given a little crash course on why said milestone is important (no one likes to have to explain why it’s cool they finished x number of pages or why this particular client is a huge deal or what the heck the society of illustrators is). Add to the mix that a lot of our milestones feel like they’re built on arbitrary standards and luck (because art is so subjective) and you have a whole bunch of people who’ll do brilliant, brilliant things and contain their excitement in the six-inch rectangle of a smartphone.
In a few weeks, I’ll be going to my friend Ishita’s book launch at Rizolli bookstore in NoMad. Ishita’s book, Searching for Sunshine is a nonfiction illustrated book about plants and the people who love them in NYC. She’s been working on it for years and to have it finally be out in the world like this is a HUGE deal! She messaged me saying she didn’t quite know what one really did at a book launch but I’m starting to believe that just gathering people in the same room for the purpose of commemoration is essential, whether or not the bells and whistles of an activity, signing or talk are attached.
It is tricky and can feel very icky to try to build these practices of celebration into our lives but I really want to. I’ve toyed with lots of ideas of how to be more purposeful about acknowledging when important milestones come and go. Most of them have been discarded because they involve Instagram or this newsletter and the whole point is to take this whole thing offline. I don’t know how to get the artist friends in my life to feel comfy enough to text me saying “I did this thing and I’m very proud of myself” but know that if you’re one of them and you do, know that we’re going out to celebrate.
I'm forgetting what I read but it went something like- we grow up in structures most of our youth- parents, school, college, job- milestones are set and applauded by Others. Whether it's getting a good grade or topping your class or getting a bonus, someone else is not only defining a milestone but someone else is also bestowing it upon you....so when we step away from these structures, we don't have the habit or the instinct for recognizing growth and rewarding ourselves for it. So yes, more pats on the back for our little victories and more sharing of the ups and the joys (and also the bumps :)))
Misi res April 13th?