The responses to the question “If we all end up dying, what’s the purpose of living?” on Quora inspired me to write this comic. The consensus was that at the end, to the universe we’re no more important than a rock. We’re so tiny that trying to find a meaning for our lives seems even arrogant, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it. You eat a donut (or a cake, like Quora suggested), and enjoy it without worrying that you’ll finish it in a few bites.
What do you think?
Hi Elle. I just came across this and read your post. I really hope you are doing well and living a meaningful life. All the best for you and your life.
it’s been 4 years since your post. i don’t know you… i don’t know if you can still read this… but i hope you’re still around to be able to read this, even if technology doesn’t pass the message along to you.
there is always tomorrow, and there is always people who will care.
I have a disagreement with the phrases “…given the chance…” and “…allowed to exist…” which imply there is some*thing* we should be humbly grateful to for our existence, when in fact we continue to discover that reality (and most of this comic) show that we should simply appreciate our lives on this amazing planet and use our lives to make future generations better.
Hey, it’s been four years.
How you doing?
This is such a poetic analogy. Thank you for sharing this sentiment with the world.
National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1800 273-8255.
Awesome!
I hear this a lot from theists, but I’ve never heard anybody actually describe the meaning. It usually ends up with a vague “God has his reasons”. The idea of being created only to stroke the ego of a god is worse than no meaning at all.
Yes, please do this. The deeper you go into biology, the more you find out how terrible a design it would be. Why do our eyes have a blind spot? There are objectively better eyes in nature without this flaw. The laryngeal nerve takes unnecessarily long trips around the body. You’ll probably say something like “the reason is beyond my comprehension”, but that only highlights the fact that you presupposed the answer without evidence.
Yes, do look at the solar system where planets and starts constantly crash into each other and get destroyed. Being predictable does not indicate design. The fact that the universe is overwhelmingly hostile to life should be enough to tell you it wasn’t designed for life.
Aweeeeeeeeeeeeeeesoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
One of best comic, thank you for this.
I don’t know you either, and I care. jennabrownson@gmail.com. Anytime.
Even in Germany! We are all here to listen and to talk and to laugh and to enjoy life with you and others! If you ever feel sad again thinking about the worst things stay a night out. Somewhere on a mountain or at the sea. Stay there the whole night even alone and then feel the first sunlight in the morning. How it makes you warm how it makes everything visible around you (how it gives you hope). It´s just like life. Even the darkest, coldest night will come to an end and then life might see even brighter afterwards. Nothing to lose. If you want to kill yourself you can do this after sunset, if you still want to. Big huggs over the ocean.
Feel ya.
Want to buy as a poster. I need this on the wall for my kids to read.
Its an atheist view that life were created without reason and everything was random.. everything was a mess everything is not valuable meaningless.
Such a backward view of life produced by low quality of knowledge.. producing meaningless future.. having small knowledge and then claim the conclusion of life..
All kind of life and things have meaning, even what we think as negative is all good and has a reason to be created and to be there. We all are meaningfull.
Read, look, learn, think, say it see whats inside our body, the organ system, tiny cells, the living and dead materials, look outside us.. the plants, the life, the nature ecosystem. Those were designed systematically related to each other, dead plants gives life to the fertile lands and another living plants sprout comes and grow. Fruits, vegetables, flowers, foods chains..
Read, learn, study, see it through, think! Your digestive system, your mouth without limbs and without your intestines is meaningless, so how is it designed such perfectly like a designed manufacture/energy creating living machines? Which empower human to move and acts and think by consuming the foods?
Read, learn, Look and think further more into the sky, then look how the atmosphere, and sun and also moon , the sky and winds and the rain and most importantly the water! all have meaning and reason to the life development, gives life to plants, animals human, and give value to things seen and unseen. Chemistry, physical reaction
Read, learn, see, Look and think into the solar system, the sun, the moon, the galaxy, the stars and universe. All in calculated orbit period exactly computed.
All things were meaningful
life and dead, system of communities, communication, moral, spiritual, physical, material seen and unseen. Our ancestors death, our grandparents and soon our death will give a meaning.
Everything has a value and meaning, and even life after the death..beyond measure..
Things were organized initially, and systematically for a developments and improvement, and with
-a reason-
The third to last panel says it all, “We were still allowed to exist”. Allowed by who? The fact that we can even think about this should tell you that human life is much more substantial than the life of a donut, or an ant. We have SO much more potential than to end up as a pile of dirt as human beings. Jesus Christ proved that there is life after death and there are countless signs and records proving that he did in fact overcome death. So to all who read this, go learn of Christ. Seek truth. Experience the joy of the doughnut AND understand why it is so delicious.
This really meant a lot to me! Suicide and donuts….
A year ago, I was in a dark depression over some of life’s circumstances. I was admitted to a mental hospital for a week. A few weeks after being discharged, I was at home with my parents. My parents were asking me if I wanted to go with them and get some donuts. That was a seemingly innocent enough request. However something in me snapped. I went into the bathroom and using sharp objects and a bathrobe tie, I was trying to find any way out of this life by committing suicide. My parents had to call an ambulance and again I was admitted to the hospital.
It is now a year later, and through therapy and people in my life, I am in a much better place. I feel happy and stronger. I still suffer from depression and always will. But in
reading this comic, it really touched me. It gave me a new perspective. It made me think about finding something to be my best at.
A while back, I went with my mom to that donut store. Now, we can laugh and see a brighter side to life. We now refer to the store as “Suicidal Donuts”
I too can be obsessed with donuts, but now in a good way. Enjoying my life…
hahaa..i think now you’re obsessed with donut(life).. <3
and that's a good thing i guess 🙂
still here. 🙂
<3
hey Elle…I know that this pic is old but just now I see. I’m brazilian, and my english is not so good but, if you need or just want to talk about something, please call me… I understand you problem becouse I feel the same… Wellington_lpr@hotmail.com
“If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.”
oh well in that case..you shud read this comic everyday..and then you won’t think about killing yourself everyday…and enjoy your donut life little longer. :’)
Hi Pablo,
I’ve recently come across you comics and I love them. I am moving into my own place in a couple of weeks and I am filling my walls with motivational comics and posters. Could you please turn this comic into a Poster so I can buy it from you, and hang it on my wall? 🙂
You can make things and people can enjoy them even if you are dead. For Example: I just read a book by Isaac Asimov and it was fun to read it. Thanks Dr. Asimov… and… I like your cartoons! are you dead or alive? How does it matter?
Great comic! Thanks!!
I’ll be your friend Elle..:-)
Elle, this may be an old post but, as others have said, you’re never truly alone. I’ve been there as well. Hang on in there. I hope things have gotten better for you in the last year and you have my best wishes for your future.
I know this is really late to the party.. but you ever see a unhappy clam? 😛
It’s a curse and a blessing, really.
Talk about living in the past. Atheists in the 21st Century who want to get up to speed with modern neuroscience should look into brain preservation as a strategy to turn death from a permanent off-state into a temporary and reversible off-state:
The Brain Preservation Foundation FAQ
http://www.brainpreservation.org/content/faq
The atheists and skeptics Michael Shermer and Susan Blackmore consider this idea scientifically defensible enough that they have volunteered to advise this Foundation.
I have been there, and sometimes go there. Wish I could buy you a donut! Hang in there girl, some great stuff happens right around the bend here, that makes you forget the shit for a while, I promise. Big Mike from Philly
<3, so much <3
It’s just beautiful! One minor quibble: instead of using the phrase “we were still allowed to exist”, how about something like “we each still came to exist” or something similiar? The phrase “allowed to” implies that there is someone or something doing the “allowing”.
I’ve been there too. Please don’t do it. If you do, things will never get better. Hang in there, and things will improve, someday. Really.
Charming, Pablo. Thank you!
I struggle every day with depression as well, Elle. Here is another someone you don’t know that cares. Take it a day at a time and try to find something you can be passionate about. There are great things in this world. Be happy that there is so much beauty to see and experience.
And here I thought “Life is like a box of chocolates…” ; )
Stay strong, girl! 😀 the world is a beautiful adventure when looking through a certain lens. Hope there are others around you to support you! Depression is unbelievably powerful, but there is always hope. Fuck depression! 🙂 hope you have a good day!
This is so beautifully put! Outstanding comics. Love your work.
Right, so basically life is just work and play with no real purpose other than what you give it. The author is fine writing off existence as an accident. Human intellect, the ability to question our existence, scientific discoveries, don’t mean anything. Sure, the universe is way older than me, and a lot bigger. I’m just a speck. Yet for someone to write all those innumerable galaxies, and everything in it, as an accident without actually seeing more than a speck of, what makes you think its right to tell any child it has no meaning? Before the universe existed what was it? Nothing? A vacuum? Or did it always exist? No real attempt made for real understanding, just speculation and conjecture.
An e.g. of why human intellect cannot simply be written off as an accident. You can create a computer out of nothing and write all sorts of programs into it. Does the computer ever question its existence? No, but does anyone think a computer came into existence by accident?
Hi Elle
Just wanted to know if you feel alright. Big Hug
Thanks … been on search for quite sometime now for answers… ever since life overwhelmed me…
Guess this will be the start for more answers!
You’ve had a lot of people say a lot of things here, so I’m not going to add to the noise. I just noticed that no one had mentioned the suicide hotline, so I wanted to give you the number: 1-800-273-8255 (it spells out APE-TALK, if that helps you remember). You can call them 24/7/365.
Good luck, Elle. I’m pulling for you.
This is inexplicably beautiful. Thank you.
I refuse to think that life has absolutely no meaning though. Instead of the universe giving us a meaning, I think it is up to us to find meaning ourselves
Where I came from, there’s a lot of focus to do well in studies to be successful in life. This comic shows that u don’t have to be doctors, scientists or whatever to save a life. You just need to be someone who cares for pple.. Thanks Stanley for the wonderful comic and Elle for sharing your story.
I like this.
Elle, I know this post is from a year ago, but I just came across it. How are you doing now? I hope you’re feeling better.
Elle, I do not know if you have tried medication, but Zoloft, and other similar medications can work wonders. Most people think that depression is some mysterious phenomenon of the brain, and maybe it is sometimes, but sometimes it’s just a lack of serotonin. If you had low iron, you would probably be open to taking an iron pill. You really need to look into this if you do not already know about it. You will be amazed. Please, check with a doc. 🙂
Wow Elle, you have so many friends now 🙂 🙂 Life seems pretty good now doesn’t it 🙂
I agree with you, except with the last part. I don’t think you should help others because you may need them later. I believe in helping others because is the logical think to do, because is the right thing to do, because is our duty as member of a society and network. And I totally agree that you can look for your happiness and personal goals at the same time you are working for others.
The issue here is changing the consesual understanding. Stop thinking what I need and how to get it, and think what we need and if what I want is the best for everyone or help somebody else. And that is a moral issue. You may call it sacrifice, and why not? I’m not talking to live in missery, but to re-arrenge our priorities. Leve the world better than we found it and that my friend, may take a toll on our personal goals.
I think the cartoon is considering this. “Be caring and understading”, “Be a good student and then become a teacher”. We may not have the power to make massive changes, but we can influence on our scale. In every act we can be good and socially responsably.
Hi,
Do I have your permission to translate this comic into Serbian and to put it in YOUTH centre in my town? I believe its gonna be very inspirational for a yang people
Recently I’ve also contemplated suicide as well..After seeing this, I think I’ll agree to finish my donut until the end instead of abandoning it halfway. No matter the bad experiences or good experiences, my donut is a wheel of great tasting cinnamon with the painfully bland dough to be appreciated as a whole. Without the boring, painful dough, I wouldnt appreciate the cinnamon at the top as much as I do now. I’m taking this metaphor to the end of life. Thanks Pablo
This is absolutely simple to understand and makes lots of sense! Thank you
The problem is, there will always be more donuts.
Hi Elle, a few years ago i think very seriously in a suicide and is hard when saw in our side and have nothing try fix this, but one of things I started to try to change this was travel, every year I must travel to escape from these same people. Travel, alone or not, is wonderful, start talk with other people and, why not, listen something new or watch a movie without indication. Like Pablo Stanley Answered you, everyone is important, everything matters, so we lie in a giant world with a lot of instresting people would like to know you. By the way, I’m Héctor nice to meet you and I hope keep talk with you.
Elle, hold on.
Many years from now you’ll probably look back at this time as a milestone in your life. CS Lewis once said that suffering is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world. So perhaps this is a call to you to change something in your life that is causing you distress.
Please don’t feel alone. In case you need someone to talk to, am here. Peace and light to you…
PS: LOVE THE PIECE, PABLO! It brought me so much solace 🙂
I loved it. 🙂
Please don’t tell me what to do…I want my life to be miserable and sad and stuff. =)
one of my friend shared this comic with me at the time when i was having the same question,’why love something when its about to end someday?’ in my head. but after reading the comic, i feel i can love even better.. thanks to my friend and Pablo..
Love this. . Makes you think
Hi Elle 🙂
You have a friend more.
This comic and this post and these responses left tears in my eyes. We may not know but we certainly are important to many people. I once lost someone I loved deeply, and I now understand how many lives are related to a single life. At times everything around will be blue but all we have to do is stick around for some light.
I really hope you are doing good now 🙂
All the best for your life ahead and keep smiling
If ever u need to talk to someone do let me know, as sometimes its strangers who you can rely on cometely with your story
I bumped into this by accident. To all the people who cared to extend support to those in pain, thank you. Your act of compassion, even to people I don’t know, has restored some hope in my day.
我终于理解“存在纯属偶然，人生全无意义”，感动的要哭
I’ve been there, too, Elle. Sometimes I still go through it. Life hurts. And that’s why we create such beauty as art, music, poetry, words, love, compassion, dance… so that life heals as well. )
*seeking revenge
yes it’s relative. we are all “lucky” that we were born humans instead of mollusks.
Certainly, there IS meaning to our lives… the meaning that WE give it. For me, the purpose of life was well-expressed by W. Clement Stone many years ago. He called it: R2A2 (as an out-take on Star Wars’s “R2D2”), or Recognize, Relate, Assimilate and Apply. We are “learning, growing machines.” We need by keep our eyes and ears open. Recognize when something we’re exposed to seems valuable. Relate it to ourselves, or our projects, or ideas. Thoroughly learn, or Assimilate, it. Then, Apply it to our body of knowledge/wisdom. Consider also what I have identified as the
“Paradox of Growth”
I can’t BE
more than I AM,
or DO
more than I DO
RIGHT NOW –
in this moment.
– – – – * – – – – (pause to reflect)
Who I AM
is actualized by
what I DO,
which is determined by
what I LEARN,
which, in turn, results from
how I THINK
about that which
I PERCEIVE.
– – – – * – – – –
I AM
available to
PERCEIVE,
THINK,
LEARN and
DO,
– * – to BECOME – * –
because
I’m UNITED in SELF-ACCEPTANCE,
NOT
distracted by self-judgment.
– – – – * – – – –
Who I AM BECOMING
relies on
my ACCEPTANCE of
who I AM
and
what I’m DOING
MOMENT BY MOMENT.
Who I AM BECOMING
is
WHO I AM
RIGHT NOW!
– D. Fisher 10/88
I loved this! Really amazing! You capture my exact words! so if people ever ask me what the meaning of life is, I will show them this… Thank you for making it! 🙂
Simply Wow…:) thank you for this comic strip
Dat feels!
You got me thinking about the fact that my parents are getting older. It’ll be so hard to bear when they’ll die :”(((
This is a really great comic and as I read the story I also start to wonder for myself and I may have a different opinion( Mine is to take care of the home we call earth and to teach the next generation how to take care of it so we can make a better world for the present and the future) from you but I have to say this opened my eyes and I really hope to see more of these comics. 🙂
You say “if I eat a doughnut, there is no doughnut for you,” but this is irrational. Here is the root of our disagreement. It is exactly the sort of primitive thinking that needs to be eliminated rather than mistaken for reason. The modern world is not a zero-sum contest in the least! We are not riding through the wilderness, each hurling hand-crafted spears at wild doughnuts, fearful that the man whose throw misses will starve. Those things come from a bakery. They are produced in quantities based on predicted demand, out of materials which are produced as fast as cost-efficiency allows.
In short, doughnuts, like most other comforts, are the result of a collaboration in which you are a participant. And this is a system you can exert influence on, and perhaps refine.
So, let’s put it this way: If you really like doughnuts, there are two things you could do.
1) Work hard to obtain doughnuts for yourself.
2) Work hard with others to make the system of producing, distributing, and retaining doughnuts better for everyone.
And now the kicker: You can engage in both 1 and 2 at the same time! There’s no reason you can’t look out for yourself, and participate in systems that help everyone (which is probably the only way certain goals can be accomplished, right?) And while you can’t TASTE the benefits of a system that provides everyone with affordable doughnuts, as a rational person, you can appreciate that it means that no one will have any reason to take YOUR doughnuts from you. Not to mention, it would also provide you with doughnuts if you should run out!
Justice is just socially approved vengeance. I don’t care if what I do is socially approved or not. Of course, I will listen to WHY others think it’s not, but the reasons are rarely able to be more than just superficial and generic BS.
Every situation is to be judged by itself. You giving me that example doesn’t impress nor sway me in any way, sorry.
There is no incentive for me to value the world except for my pleasure.
Ghelas might say that there is not so great a separation between “you” and “the world” as you imagine. You are neurologically equipped to gain pleasure when you benefit others. The impulses you feel to look out for yourself first come from more primitive and brutal times. They are woefully outdated.
“The world” is not an entity that somehow excludes you, so to say that your needs and the needs of the world are at odds is illogical. Can you try to explain why you feel the need to prioritize one over the other?
What does that have to do with altruism and egoism?
I spelled it out for you. If you do nothing nothing will change. If you want the world to be better, then get out and better the world. That’s what both the quotes are both about.
While it’s true that nobody can save the world single handedly, if nobody bothers it’s DEFINATLY not going to happen.
And you’re trying to say that I’m saying “go out and do whatever you want”. which is not the point at all.
I’m seriously wondering if you are trolling me right now.
If that’s how you want to interpret Keller’s quote, then how is it relevant to the discussion we were having?
For that matter, how is Ghandi’s? Being the change I wish to see in the world means being self interested and not feeling obliged to charity.
Hey Elle, I have gone through the same myself (and in a way still going through). I can’t add any more to what already the others above, especially what Pablo said (and the cute panda whose image I nabbed for myself too) since I’m afraid I’m not intelligent enough.
Just again, you matter.
You’re not asking quite the right question. It’s completely legal to have multiple goals in this game.
There isn’t any real separation between the two sides we’re presenting here. You are James Earl Adams The Individual, AND James Earl Adams The Network Cell. Your inherent goals are to advance your own desires AND to be part of an able social network, which views you as a valuable member (and is therefore willing to help advance your desires.)
There are numerous benefits gained from defaulting to help others when you can’t directly advance your own goals. You gain social worth with those who are aware of your actions. You strengthen your social network, directly as you help someone who may be more willing to help you in turn, and indirectly as others may act similarly to you in order to also gain social worth. Last but not least, your sense of empathy allows you to feel good about helping others.
Fortunately for all of us, being good is pretty efficient, and there’s no need to abandon personal goals for the sake of it!
Apparently you did just miss the point.
The point was simply if you do nothing nothing will change. Period. Whining about how evil and unfair the world is, or saying that it’s not wirth doing anything because you might do evil things is just excuses. And the world will NEVER get better if that’s how you operate.
How about another quote.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Ghandi.
I think you’ve missed the point in my feigning to have missed the point
You don’t do what you can do. You do what you can do only when it’s in your interest — otherwise you find yourself doing useless, evil or stupid things.
Taking “100%” literally, no, I’ve never encountered such an ultimatum as: A) certain death or B) charity. However, I don’t think you need to have faced such a superlative to make an informed decision. I would rather suffer catastrophically up to (but not including) death than face a world where we are slaves to one another.
That doesn’t make it desirable though, because I could say the same for self-amputation.
I agree that I am a constituent of society and I completely advocate that we meet our goals as a group, but there is a cart-horse problem here. I collaborate with the group to make my goals more accessible; benefit to the group is incidental. You, on the other hand, have taken a means to an end and make it the end itself. To you, the group’s benefit is not merely incidental, it’s the entire game. My question is “why?”
The point. You have missed it completley.
Granted this was probably delibrately. But still.
That’s one way to get yourself arrested over the weekend, I suppose.
Tried to post a reply, seems like it didn’t go through, so I will try again.
No offense was meant by what I posted — I’m not trying to suggest that your life is free of hardships. However, we can make a few deductions from your post that speak of your current level of safety and comfort.
1) You’re educated.
2) We’re conversing in English.
3) We’re conversing online.
4) The conversation itself is in regards to a webcomic.
A few further deductions, too simple to be incorrect, can be made from the above (for example, you either own or are allowed to use to some valuable device that allows you online access.) A great deal could be wrong in your life. You could be dying of some painful illness for all I know…
But you are making these posts from a place of relative safety and comfort. Furthermore, your current state of health allows you to partake in such a discussion, and speak reasonably. You’re not out scavenging because you would otherwise risk starvation, you’re not incoherent because of some terrible inner conflict, you’re not so poor as to have no idea what the internet is, your body is not so ravaged by age as to be unable to muster the effort this conversation required. You have the opportunity and the means to converse with your fellow man, online. So it’s possible that you simply haven’t encountered a situation where help is 100% necessary, and it’s even possible that you never will, even if your life seems painful and uncomfortable to you.
Back to our main point.
“You’ve implied that this belief of yours is based on the idea of reciprocity (you should help them, because they help you). This doesn’t account for contingencies where charity is not sought, accepted or received — even by those who need it. Furthermore, if my pleasure isn’t an end in itself, then what’s my motivation for maintaining
interdependence?”
I think a lot of society’s failings are due to the fact that individuality is overvalued. But you are EQUALLY valuable as an individual and a cog in society, and there’s no shame in either function! You are connected to a tremendous network of people. You effectively produce electricity, food, running water and so forth, in automatic cooperation with a tremendous number of other human beings.
We all share the common, biologically hard-wired goal of avoiding unnecessary pain and certain types of discomfort. This is far from a meaning of life thing, this is a fundamental thing that dictates much of human behavior.
So, if we approach the meeting of other comfort goals as a group, for efficiency’s sake… Can you give me a reasonable argument for why the above should be any different?
That is vengance not necessairly justice.
I mean, it is “Justice” IN Uganda that a “Kill the gays” law is very likely to be passed. But is that justice really or vengance for people who “sin?”
“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”
Helen Keller
Two someones who don’t even know you care.
I’ve been where you are and I am lucky to have come out of the other side. If you need anyone to talk too please don’t hesatate to contact me.
I just can say THANK YOU 🙂
Were I a man to be upset at slights, I might take offense at your depreciation of things of which you know nothing, because my life is enormously more dysfunctional and impoverished than your naive appraisal would suggest. But that is beside the point.
I want to know why you think we’re obliged to help one another. You implied that it has something to do with reciprocity (you should help them, because they help you). This doesn’t account for contingencies where charity is not sought, accepted or received. Furthermore, if my pleasure isn’t an end in itself, then what’s my motivation for maintaining interdependence? The only reason that I could care if they help me is if I care about “having a blast and enjoying [my] temporary donut,” but you don’t seem to think that that’s the first cause.
What do I think? I think this is a simple and effective means by which to explain life. Brilliant and poignant and awesome.
You’re making the very common mistake of assuming that your experiences are typical. “I don’t ask for the sweets of those who are better off” is the anthem of the man who is, relatively speaking, pretty well off.
The simple fact that you’re here probably means that you’ve had a decent meal sometime today. You most likely own an electronic device that enables you to view this site, or at the very least, you have access to a community that allows you to use such a device. This represents some modicum of wealth and opportunity. Maybe you work hard, or maybe not at all, I don’t know you so I can’t say… But one thing is for sure: you are LUCKY. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have the means to present your counter-point.
If you’ve never been sick enough, hungry enough, abused enough, or simply old enough to have to ask for help: that’s great. I am genuinely happy for you. But if that day should come when you have no choice but to ask, do you want to be faced with a world that retorts; “why is this man my responsibility? I’ve never asked him for a single thing!”
“And it is your duty as a co-donut-eater to help those people as much as you possibly can,”
Why is that my duty?
Elle. I know probably everyone has said this to you, but suicide isn’t the answer. When things are at their lowest and things look like they will never, ever get better, a ray of sunshine will break through the gray clouds and give you some hope to keep going. I may not know who you are, or who what you’re going through, but remember, I care. Imagine the impact on people you don’t even know if they discover you committed suicide. If you EVER need to talk, email me at sleepypandagirls@gmail.com. I’ll be happy to talk to you. But remember, i’m an awkward human. I won’t know the right things to say, so i’ll just speak from my heart.
I hope this picture of LilBubz makes you smile. c; Email me at anytime.
Hey Elle,
I don’t know you, but I too care about you. If you’d like a text friend or a penpal, a shoulder to cry on, whatever you need, just let me know. I’d be happy to be your friend. 🙂 My e-mail is sdrouant at gmail dot com.
As a logical person going through a 20-some-odd year rough patch in life, I would like to point out that the donut analogy is woefully inadequate. We’re not just sad because things are finite. Life is full of difficult and painful experiences. If you can imagine a donut that has randomly had a lot of things you would never willingly eat baked into it, now you have something a bit more accurately depicting life!
Having the “right” mindset about the donut is only an incredibly small part of the recipe for happiness. If you ask me, the main ingredient in that recipe is luck: being born in the wrong place or to the wrong parents, a drunk driver, a colony of microscopic organisms or a bout of particularly bad weather all have the power to ensure that most of your donut tastes pretty awful.
So, I would like to make a bold statement (and who cares if only a few dozen people will read it?) It’s NOT okay to just live in the moment, do your best at what you love, and all of that other stuff that most people believe produces happiness. It’s NOT enough! Because while you are having a blast and enjoying your temporary donut, somebody else out there is having to gnaw through the stalest, most foul-tasting part of it. And it is your duty as a co-donut-eater to help those people as much as you possibly can, and to ensure that future donut-eaters have as little of that stuff to deal with as possible. Because sooner or later, you are likely to run into a bad patch of donut yourself. And then, you will wish that the people enjoying their share were simply AWARE of you, and maybe willing to help… just a little.
The function of life is to enhance life.
There, I said it.
I get it now
I guess I forget that there are good people in the world. Perfect strangers have made me smile and cry and feel like I’m not alone in this struggle.
Thank you.
Thank you thank you thank you.
I now have the red panda set as my phone wallpaper and about 100 times a day I can stop and see that someone (and even someone who doesn’t know me) cares.
It’s scary to get caught up in your own sadness and you feel like you can’t escape. So few people around me understand depression and the vacuum it causes. It’s nice to not feel alone in this.
My donut has been full of maggots. Do I have to eat it?
This was an awesome comic. Could you do some more on morality, humanism, etc.. This was probably the first atheist item I’ve ever shared on facebook because it is very positive message about nature, without being critical of religion at all.
This is just amazing – as always! But this one is just extremly beautiful!
I’m glad to see you are a online (comic?) artist who actually cares about his followers! I found you about a month because of Anna and Toby (Which I LOVE) and I am still loving your posts!
All I gotta say is thanks for not becoming corrupt and snooty (yet!)
Agreed to some extent. Certain things must be punished. And justice is just like the meaning of life: there is none unless you make it.
Guess for today, I’m not going to think about killing myself. Thank you.
=’)
very expressable, I Love It, Jen
=”)
Elle, I don’t know you. All I know is that you’re a human being. That’s enough for me to know you have worth.
My best friend killed himself four years ago. He thought no one cared enough to make it worth sticking around. It devastated me and so many others.
If you ever need someone to talk to, day or night, email me at poeticeducator@gmail.com. If I’m awake, I’ll email you back my phone number. Don’t make a permanent decision without talking to someone. There’s always, somehow, hope.
impresionante, muy apropiado para los que esperan mucho y no contemplan nada
I love it!
I love this….. <3 My day just got better 🙂
I would like to nominate you for Lifetime Achievement award for Awesomeness kind sire..
Hey Elle,
I’m really happy to know my comic helped a bit.
If you allow me to add this… please know that you’re not alone in this, you matter… seriously, you do. Maybe not to the universe, like the comic says, but you’re still important to others. Also… you’re not crazy; what you’re going through is real and tough but there’s always hope 🙂
If I could I would give you a big, big hug but I can’t, so please accept this red panda hug pic instead: http://on.vh1.com/19zO9P6
If shit gets more real and you feel like you can’t keept it anymore and have no one to talk to, please, please send me an email. I’ll be happy to talk to you: pablostanley1 @ gmail .com (with no spaces).
Take care, Elle!
Hey Julian,
I was trying to say that he shouldn’t forget about his father… but apparently ‘pop’ is a bit confusing and for some people it might mean ‘grandpa’… so, I changed it to ‘Dad’.
Thanks for noting that 🙂
http://www.cracked.com/article_15658_the-ten-minute-suicide-guide.html
Love it
Been seriously contemplating suicide for a few months now. This made me cry and was a bit of a ray of hope. Thank you.
“Dont forget about Pop” what do you mean? the music?
jajajaja genial!!!
“Forgiveness” Is overrated. It’s a good way to shut down people seeking justice. And “forgiveness is a gift you give yourself” is utter b.s.
Una filosófica y profunda obra de arte. Siempre es un gusto disfrutar de tus comics.
Thank you for sharing your donut!!! ^_^
Gracias por este comic, lo nombro “Mi Favorito”
That is both sweet and profound. Thanks for creating it.
Siempre me encanta leer tus historias, ¡felicidades por tu excelente trabajo!
This is fantastic. No mere words shall be uttered due to the greatness of this comic. I salute you, Sir Stanley!