Emily McDowell is an artist who is famous in certain circles because she provides witty and funny cards for all occasions. She tends to have quotations and other funny little asides as the themes of cards. However, what you might know about her if you followed a recent work is that she is also the creator of Empathy Cards. The artist is a cancer survivor herself and so knows that going through a severe illness can be very difficult for the sufferer and the ones they love. She has created empathy cards in order to release some of the pressure that people feel when they are going through a difficult illness.
“The most difficult part of my illness wasn’t losing my hair, or being erroneously called ‘sir’ by Starbucks baristas, or sickness from chemo,” McDowell writes on her blog. “It was the loneliness and isolation I felt when many of my close friends and family members disappeared because they didn’t know what to say, or said the absolute wrong thing without realizing it.” Hopefully, these warm, funny and beautiful cards will help you avoid that same mistake! emilymcdowell.com | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter (h/t: modernmet)
“I created these empathy cards for serious illness because we need some better, more authentic ways to communicate about sickness and suffering”
“As a cancer survivor, I have a very personal stake in this game. I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 24″
“A ‘f**k cancer’ card is a nice sentiment, but when I had cancer, it never really made me feel better”
“Sympathy cards can make people feel like you think they’re already dead”
“I never personally connected with jokes about being bald or getting a free boob job, which is what most ‘cancer cards’ focus on”
“As a result of my own experiences, I’ve wanted to create this collection for a long time”
“After 9 months of chemo, I went into remission and have been incredibly fortunate to be cancer-free since”
