The other day I was trying to cut a few flowers for the table when I accidentally lopped my head off.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*D-HbzewOa2B5CLfF0CTPYg.jpeg)
I called my doctor, but the “call-valuing” automated system said there were no available appointments for fourteen months and that my insurance doesn’t cover this kind of thing anyway.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*6qc-rrKS03_Js1bxvHUqZQ.jpeg)
The whole thing got me down, so I threw on a mask and went for a cheer-me-up walk.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*a50HP2OzTo0mOH0Em6rnQQ.jpeg)
I even met a friend but the relentless tide of hopelessness was already over my head.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*UfwJVTlfrO8BW7J7lAY2yA.jpeg)
Luckily, I’ve never tolerated impending doom well so I had already prepared a few bits of hope to cling onto in turbulent seas like these.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*FEU54Uh9XgzqECb02lnvlA.jpeg)
I realize there is a preposterously teensy chance of humanity becoming culturally and politically sane enough to address its catastrophic problems before it’s too late. I do. Still, that’s not nothing.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*UWbKMPwy8ypIvz4zHShNKw.jpeg)
Plus, it’s a teensy-weensy chance based on who we really are as naturally selected cooperators who have an evolutionarily adapted concern for others.
There’s got to be at least a sliver of hope that the qualities that got us everything we have will continue to guide us, even now that we’re eight billion large.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*-xHQPjTzF_YuI4ERxOMnJQ.jpeg)
Sometimes this sliver doesn’t feel like much to cling to in these rough seas, but surprisingly, it has kept my head above water. Most of the time, anyway.
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*9zmqVmmjX62gexGFwzDu7A.jpeg)
Read more of David’s comics and comic essays at www.OneComicAtATime.com.