New Yorker Rejects #10

I was comforted by one of my favorite podcasts recently when I heard about a philosopher who believes that failure makes you moral. Apparently, Slavoj Žižek thinks striking out is the best way to realize your limitations, which is the only way to grow as a person.

Or at least that's what I took away from it, because I have now had 100 at bats for The New Yorker cartoons, and all it seems I've done is push some air around with a Louisville Slugger.

Which– if anything–is reassuring, because it means I actually do care about cartoons. I can rationalize it, I can justify it, I can create elaborate narratives about how and why and what it is I'm even doing drawing cartoons that nobody's buying. But even if it's all conflicting and confusing, at the end of the day I just keep doing it–and that, for some reason, is comforting!

I'll say this–it's nice to think of failure as comforting. Because at other times, when I feel down, when cartoons or other things that I normally like just don't seem to cut it anymore, I've had this bizarre experience where the only reliable way to boost my mood in those moments by buying something.

I didn't realize this was a known phenomenon, "retail therapy" affecting millions of entitled people all over the world. On the surface, it makes absolutely no sense, and although I've tried to sabotage my shopping trips before, somehow I still get a little sense of comfort when I successfully purchase something.

Now, how on Earth did a kid only interested in animals ever get that message?

Well... fine. So we're saturated in materialism. Then it makes it even more important to have our own creative outputs, even if they go nowhere. But–if we really want to escape the system– could we all get really good at these creative pursuits, and earn a guilt-free living as a... whatever... person with enjoyable skills?

Shoot, that's also tough. Especially after becoming a parent.

Okay, maybe pure creativity isn't in the best interest of the family. But still, could I earn a living? Maybe there's a niche for me?

There is a lot of money in the corporate world. Talk about ethical dilemmas, though...

At this point, I don't even know what to expect. It doesn't seem implausible that civilization is going to crash at any moment. How do you plan for that?

This must be the source of my (and the entire planet's) anxiety. Who knows?! Maybe we'll get over our petty egos and all simultaneously realize we're powerful enough as a species to permanently end all exploitation and create paradise on Earth?

Can't we figure all this stuff out? Isn't every problem just a technicality?

Maybe.

I don't know, I'm not sure more effort and progress and control is what we need. Maybe we should relax. That might help quite a bit, actually. Maybe animals have it right, especially cats.

And yeah–it's fine to use some tools for that.

So... none of these cartoons made it into The New Yorker, but so what?! I can always proudly boast about all my other achievements!

Thanks for reading,

—Greg