Writing inspired by the following SWC prompts:

What makes you feel more than you?
What lifts you out of yourself? Music? Prayer? The view from a mountaintop?

What Makes You More Than You?

by Natasa Pap

Every person on this planet has something special about them. A certain skill or a talent that is a very important part of everyone’s personality. People find themselves in the world of music, science, art, sport, academics, spiritualism, etc.

I made my very first drawing when I was three years old. It was nothing special, but I loved it with all my heart.

The action of dragging a pencil across a piece of paper filled me with wonder and fascination. It was amazing to make all those different lines intertwine and connect all over the paper and in the end, they would always create some kind of a shape, realistic, abstract or otherwise.

Constructing a drawing was like putting together a puzzle that I had complete control over. I didn’t have to think about where each piece was supposed to go or would it fit. On paper every line would fit perfectly wherever I decided to draw it, there was no right, no wrong, no rules, just freedom. 

As I grew older my skill with the pencil grew, developed and matured with me. I grew up learning the traditional drawing techniques and to this day, I prefer them over the digital ones. However, I also recognize the benefits of the digital medium, so I found a way to combine the two methods and produce an art form that is commonly known as “Comic”. Not just any comic though, this special comic form, that is so dear to my heart, is called “Manga.”

Manga is a Japanese comic book that is drawn, written and read from right to left. It’s like reading a book backwards. The very word “manga” means comic book in Japanese. What separates a Manga from a typical western comic book is the art style, reading direction, paneling and technique.

Most western comics are drawn digitally and in full color, while a manga, 98% of time, is done by traditional, hand drawn techniques. A manga is always done in black and white style with only the cover page being in full color.

Whenever I sit down to draw a new story or create some new characters, I lose all sense of time. It feels like my mind is somewhere far away while my body sits in my room, at my desk and my hands are producing the pictures on the paper. As if I am in some kind of a transparent box where time stands still and all the sounds from the real world are just weak white noise to me that I can barely hear, and my brain doesn’t even register them.

Drawing is my form of meditation, my safe space, my happiness, my escape, my sanctuary.

If you are one of those people who think there is nothing special about themselves, just remember that we are all like rice balls. Each rice ball has a different flavor put in it, be that avocado, mango, salmon, tuna or shrimp. Each rice ball is unique, different and special and so are you.