“I have struggled with self-esteem and body image throughout the past few years. I have felt a huge amount of pressure from unrealistic standards that society has set. These standards distort the perception of beauty and cause people to be afraid of expressing themselves.”
“My entry is about practicing self-care by allowing your inner child to run wild. If they wish to dance, then you dance. If they want to finger paint, then you finger paint. Reconnecting to your inner child lets you enjoy the simple things in life and gives you a way to relax and have fun.”
I wrote this poem after the murder of George Floyd and the rise in the Black Lives Matter movements across the US. I decided to write a poem because it is a very expressive form of literal arts. When writing essays, we are always taught to be formal and objective, but in this poem I was able to write about the frustration and anger I felt, but also the admiration and hope I have for the Black Lives Matter movement without any repression of my words.
When I made this work, I learned and realized a few things. One of the things that I learned is that people can be afraid of asking “Why do I feel like this?” They could be scared to address their mental health. They could also be scared of reaching out or trying to understand what they’re feeling. I realized that I relate to this because I sometimes avoid or ignore my mental health problems even though I shouldn’t. I wanted this project to feel relatable and to make a viewer realize that they could be ignoring their problems and then try to start addressing them.
“The green ribbon is a symbol for mental health and in my piece represents living or something alive. This is meant as a reminder that you’re not alone, that if you turn around to look in all directions, you’ll see that there are people like you who feel isolated and sad.”
“My piece is inspired by the overwhelming pollution in the ocean that affects the life of sea animals. In my artwork you can see a mermaid looking solemnly into what has become of her ocean now filled with pollution and trash.”
When I first heard about the monthly prompt, it first reminded me of how we use social media or texting. Nowadays, a lot of people use hashtags (#) in their social media to share their thoughts about things like Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate protests. So, I thought that it would be great to use the hashtag #takeaction4MH to help others who need help with mental health problems.
Rescue dog Tito also rescued us. Tito is a best friend with unconditional love
I like this film because it’s a good way on how to tell people how to raise your happiness. We love making films.
One character is insecure about their body, one wants to be better at drawing, and another character wants to be good at video games, and they get hope and each of them keeps going and practicing. We are hopeful of becoming a better version of ourselves in this film. Our film is about how people don’t have to be afraid of what they choose and shouldn’t change themselves for someone else and that they should have hope that everything will get better.