In Pursuit of Hope

If you could make a 20-page comic book on your first attempt, wouldn’t you think it was like a miracle? I think so, and that’s what happened to me. 

Yes, I created “The Pigeons of Los Angeles” but how was it possible?

I am eternally grateful to my comic teachers for giving me the opportunity and guidance and everything else that aligned for me to do this. But I know for sure I couldn’t have done it if that was all. After thinking about it, this is what I’ve realized.

The reason I could do everything, which was all new to me — creating a 6-page comic in class, then completing 14 more pages after the course, learning an art program to digitize the comic, learning to publish on Amazon, etc. (with help of a few amazing people) — was because I was in pursuit of hope.

Just before starting the comic course I came back from Japan with a broken heart. The course turned out to be a good distraction for me. I had to create comics for the assignment. I thought of pigeons as my characters. (See blog post: Me and My Mourning Doves) When I googled about them, instead of fun facts or uplifting stories, I got articles of pigeons as annoying pests and our cruel treatment of them. 

My heart ached. I understood the issues they create (flocking, pooping, etc.) but couldn’t we be more humane toward animals, I thought. Then I found this interesting article of pigeons in the early 1900’s in Los Angeles. It was an epic for sure and I pondered what exactly happened to the pigeons.

This is when the miracle happened. A story started to emerge in my mind, and by the time I knew the ending my view of pigeons completely flipped and I felt hope instead of heartache. Then I realized there was a story in me that was complete and full of potential. It almost felt like I got pregnant with a story!

So I knew what I had to do — I had to put the story out from my head onto paper. I wanted to do that for the pigeons.

It took me, interestingly, 9 months to give birth to this comic! Then it took a few more months to publish.

By now I realized how this period of time helped me heal my broken heart. When Chief talked, I listened. When the pigeons proudly declared that they have created their lives in Los Angeles, I was saying it with them. I was the very first reader.

So this is how the miracle happened and this is why I am sharing this story of hope with you.