Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson for August 13, 2024

That’s the first step. Next, you must tell yourself why you’re wrong.

There is a Bob Newhart sketch where he keeps saying “Stop It” to a psychiatric patient.

Aw, that’s sweet!

Marigold is a good friend.

Don’t pick on yourself Phoebe, that’s Dakota’s job.

That’s definitely a foreign concept to Marigold.

When I was about Phoebe’s age, I spent summers with my favorite aunt after my mom went back to work. Whenever I would echo my mom’s criticisms of me (I was lazy, selfish, careless, etc.), she would sternly tell me “Don’t talk like that about someone I love!” That did wonderful things for my self-esteem. And I paid it forward by saying the same thing to my niece whenever she would echo her mom.

There was an episode of “The Wonderful World of Disney” entitled “Man Is His Own Worse Enemy” which showed some classic cartoons of characters – human or humanised animals – defeating themselves. The cartoons included the 1943 cartoon Chicken Little in which Chicken Little, Turkey Lurkey and other birds ended up “sheltering from the falling sky” in a fox’s den and being eaten by the fox. They were greater enemies to themselves than the fox was.

In his 1989 autobiography Chuck Amuck, the animator Chuck Jones makes a similar point. “Who is the Coyote’s enemy? The Coyote. Not the Roadrunner who has never harmed him nor even antagonised him beyond startling him with the occasional Beep! Beep!”

Well said!

Start thinking positive thoughts about yourself before I lose control and KILL YOU!!!

It doesn’t work by yourself, or the people you grew up with, but when a new Special Friend says it, it finally sinks in that you’re not so bad as you think you are.

Being one’s own worst enemy more often describes actions than thoughts, such as drinking and driving, or staying up too late, or borrowing, or talking too much.

Especially like panel 4!

Go Marigold!