This Rabbit

And pleasant rabbit holes

Oct 20, 2023

In February of 2021 I wrote and illustrated a children's book “This Rabbit”. Early 2021 was a stressful time period for all of us due to covid and, in the US, an attempted insurrection.

I remembered the advice my adopted Dad, a psychiatrist, would tell me, “When feeling stressed: stop unconstructive, repetitive, negative thinking and deliberately switch to thinking about the things you enjoy.”

So, in that stressful January 2021, every day I drew a rabbit enjoying something. I wrote and illustrated lines like: “This rabbit likes to write. This rabbit likes a kite.” and so forth in rhyming couplets.

By late February 2021, I had created a 40 page illustrated book I titled “This Rabbit.” You can get a printed copy by clicking this link or you can download a free ebook version at the bottom of this newsletter.

Here's a look at some of the pages from “This Rabbit”.

My book “This Rabbit” also appeared in 2021 on the free children's ebook resource Storyberries.com where it has an audiobook version too! Click here for that.

This technique of deliberately focusing on enjoyable things doesn't mean a head-in-the-sand denial of hardships, instead, it's a way to remember that one's humanity is capable of being larger than the troubles. It's a way of reaching out and relating with other humans. It's also a way to find safety and comfort within ones own mind.

In my recent fine art exhibit “Figures Of Speech” at Caplan Art Designs, I created a 5-panel painting I titled “In The Rabbit Hole”. In case you have trouble seeing them in the bottom of this photo there are 5 rabbits, one enjoying music by playing a harmonica, one rabbit is reading a book aloud and 3 other rabbits are painting a mural together on their favorite topic of good vegetables to eat.

Basically, I've found that it's helpful to know what you like and to spend time indulging in that pleasure. So enjoying things is often a topic for my artwork.

At the bottom of this email is another absolutely free ebook from me because that feels good to me and I trust that when and if you're able you'll support me somehow. And I wholeheartedly thank you for your support!! (There are more of my ebooks at this link here… some ebooks are free and some behind paywalls for paying subscribers.)

Here below is the download button for the 40 page ebook “This Rabbit”. I hope you'll like it!