Pages Feature | “Gudetama: Mindfulness for the Lazy” by Wook-Jin Clark eARC

“Live in the now. The past is the past. Tomorrow isn’t here yet.”

Mindfulness takes a lot of mental energy to wrap your brain around. Gudetama is here to help you become a better person…sort of.

Empathizing with others, understanding your feelings, learning to be selfless. These all sound like really hard things to do! Well fear not, come along with Gudetama who’ll guide your way to learning things and more. Living selflessly is something many struggle with. Don’t worry, Gudetama does too, and wants to join you on your journey in finding the wonders of mindfulness.

Gudetama was created by 26-year-old Sanrio designer AMY, real name Nagashima Emi (Japanese: 永嶋瑛美). The creation of Gudetama was inspired by an egg she was preparing for dinner after a long day at work. To her, the yolk seemed cute because of its droopy demeanor. She felt that the yolk looked quite like today’s young people – feeling tired about life. Therefore, she designed an egg character and built its personality to attract millennials. (Source: Wikipedia)

I included some background info on Gudetama above, but seriously–who hasn’t yet seen this cute and sleepy little egg yolk? Gudetama has always been a favorite because of his lazy moods and perpetual tiredness with life, the universe, and everything. Inspired by this iconic Sanrio character, “Gudetama: Mindfulness for the Lazy” by Wook-Jin Clark was created to be a fun guide in learning about mindfulness. Big thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy.

In a world full of noise, it is so much more challenging to be mindful and to live in the present. This comic may have started a bit silly and almost childish for me but I found a number of really useful advice and reminders of things that should have been basic but I tend to forget a lot.

I can easily see this as a big help to young people that are just starting to explore the world and meet new acquaintances. It can be pretty overwhelming to be online 24/7 and to have all this information, all these possible connections to anyone in the world. It’s a constant feed of ever-changing moods and memes. It is very easy to get sucked into a hive mind–which oftentimes can be more dangerous than beneficial. The act of mindfulness will save us from this struggle.

I do wish the book could have focused and expounded more about sympathy and empathy. But I guess we will need a whole new book for that. It also has some simple but helpful tips on handling anxiety by being mindful, which is my biggest takeaway from the book. I can definitely say that this is not just a book for young people but for all ages. I’m sure you’ll be able to learn at least a thing or two, and Gudetama’s philosophy and antics will bring on a whole lot of smiles.

I don’t have much else to say, so I’ll let Gudetama and his friend Nisetama teach you their ways. Here are some of my favorite panels. Enjoy!

About the Author

Wook-Jin Clark was born in South Korea and raised in South Carolina. He loves coffee, doodling, walking around, and COFFEE!! Look for his work in Image Comic’s Flavor, Boom’s Bee and Puppycat, Regular Show, Adventure Time, and Bravest Warriors comics.

Book Details

Gudetama: Mindfulness for the Lazy by Wook-Jin Clark
Hardcover, 48 pages
Expected publication: April 6th 2021 by Oni Press
ISBN1620108917 (ISBN13: 9781620108918)
Genres: Graphic Novels | Nonfiction | Comics | Self Help | Humor

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7 thoughts on “Pages Feature | “Gudetama: Mindfulness for the Lazy” by Wook-Jin Clark eARC”

his lazy moods and perpetual tiredness with life — I can relate to that. I prefer just quiet reading, but life has so much other essential activities that keep me busy and tired. LOL.

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