What to Do with Sorrow

a little character goes a long way...

When artist and author Sara Barkat found herself facing an uphill battle with sorrow, she felt paralyzed. What to do with sorrow? Especially the kind that feels like it might never go away?

Because Sara has developed a lifetime habit of drawing when the going gets rough, she picked up a pen and… drew. Here are three of the art pieces from that difficult encounter with sorrow:

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As Sara tells it in her new book The Sadbook Collections, this little character immediately called to her with a life that begged for exploration. There was something more going on—something beyond this present moment with sorrow and struggle—and she committed to draw it (mostly) daily for readers and comic strip lovers here on Substack.

Because Sara aspires to do “great art” and has had a dream since childhood to someday have her work in a museum, this was a bold step into casualness. Would it waylay her from the dream? She didn’t know. She found she didn’t care. Because, the little “Sadbook stick figure human” was calling, asking for a place on the page. She decided to answer, come what may.

Over 250 drawings later, Sara is still drawing (mostly) daily for her Substack readership. One avid follower said this today, after seeing Sara’s Panopticon comic strip…

Sara, your ability to come up with something new, fresh, and unexpected every single day is nothing short of prodigious. You have my deepest admiration!

—Portia

If you’ve followed Sara for a while, you might be familiar with her philosophy of art—that anyone can draw, if only they are freed.

She has long held this philosophy and tenderly tried it out with her beloved grandmother (who really couldn’t draw, or so it seemed).

Together, they tried drawing a cursive tree, and the method was a surprising success.

In drawing a (mostly) daily stick figure, Sara is reaching out to the heart of the ordinary person who might find that sorrow can be expressed with a little character—and that this sorrow can also become a surprising path to joy.

That’s what little Sadbook has become. A character who is very human. Ups, downs, unders, overs. The endearing stick figure embodies one of Sara’s favorite lines from a childhood book…

We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.
Oh no!
We've got to go through it!

—from We’re Going on a Bear Hunt

For anyone who’s going through it, The Sadbook Collections can be by your side offline—up, down, over, under, wherever you may struggle or play. And for anyone who just wants to peek into the life of an inspiring character that Sara believes even your grandmother could draw, well, Sadbook is for you, too. To bring a smile to your day.