ALT A black and white comic. Mirk walks a dark road alone. Text: At this time last year, I was feeling very bad. Wildly, unreasonably bad about my body, about myself. / She is reading a book, surrounded by thoughts that say "Help! How do girls just know how to be girls? It's a mystery." Text: In my 20s, I felt good in my body, but I've always felt a bit like a failure as a woman. "How does everyone just know this stuff? Like is there a class I missed? Youtube?" / She is sitting on a melted smiley face, surrounded by distorted smiles. Text: But the feeling turned really sad and sour in my thirties. I hated seeing photos of myself. "I used to love my body, right? So why does it feel so wrong?" / Mirk dressed as a ghost, covered in a sheet. Someone asks, "How are you?" She says, "How am I?! I'm literally a ghost of my former self! I'm bad! Can't you see that??" Text: I felt like I was wearing a heavy, invisible blanket.

ALT Mirk drawn as a cute ghost, looking down at the sheet she wears. Text: My depression started to life when I began to think of myself as nonbinary. "What's even under here?" / She takes off the sheet. Text: It's so weird because nothing visibly changed. But suddenly I felt a lot less pressure. "Oh! It was a just a human body. That's a relief." / The sheet is in a trash can with other garbage thoughts about body image. Text: Removing that blanket removed a lot of expectations I didn't even know were there. / Mirk doing yoga. Text: I joined a yoga studio and actually started going to classes. I liked the body I saw in the studio mirrors. "I look strong." / Mirk reading a book that's a guide to humans. Text: My gender is all in my head. I didn't expect that picking a new work for myself would change so much. "I don't think I even need this book anymore. I can write my own story." / Mirk dancing in a black ink blob. Text: I don't look any different but I think people can see how good I feel