August 2024 Slug Club

Dear Sluggies,

It is August, the garden is pumping out marigolds, tomatillos and cucumbers. The peppers are starting to turn and mountains of Basil have been blended into pesto. I have driven many miles to see friends, spent hours with my nieces, made new friends, missed and made deadlines, vacuumed vacation rentals, and walked the dog in the dark. I feel full and spread thin all at once, familiar summer feelings.

I turned 36 in mid August and share a birthday month with my favorite illustrator Tove Jansson. Tove is a Finnish artist and writer who created the beloved Moomin comics. I am inspired by her story because she was a lifelong artist whose art did not get recognized until her 30s, and she produced work of all kinds until her death in 2001. She made art for both children and adults full of humor and wisdom that is simple and relatable.

The Moomins are illustrated characters that first appeared in print in a Finnish anti fascist publication in 1930. They are a family of trolls  that eat pancakes, grow hollyhocks and live simply on the Baltic seaside. They are deeply frustrated by extended family that overstays, and anything that disrupts their peace and quiet. They become existentially distressed and treat their worries with furious cleaning and gardening. They become weepy and need to spend a night alone outside or staring into the sea.

In these end of summer moments I find myself feeling a bit disoriented, out of touch with my direction and overwhelmed by the task of “getting back on track.” I stress about “running out of time,” not being able to “catch up” and being “too late to start.”

Tove and the Moomins inspire me because they stick aggressively to their own timeline and motivate me to keep doing things my own way, to trust myself. They remind me to keep things simple, and that I have the answers I need, if I just slow down and listen.

I found this drawing I made in 2016, of a small person in the flowers with the text “late bloomers are going to rule the world.” I remember making it in response to feeling perpetually “behind.” Funny that 8 years later I am still needing this same pep talk, even though I can see that I have made so much progress towards making work that I am excited to share and goals that I have made for myself.

Late August feels like the perfect time to remind ourselves to keep an eye out for the late bloomers, because they always show up right on time.

If you have not already, I recommend reading Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book

“Loneliness is a sign that you are in desperate need of yourself”

-Rupi Kaur