“My ‘Hope’ entry is meant to represent what I’ve become post-pandemic. It shows how screens, like my cellphone, have affected my life. It feels like I’m being sucked in and losing control; but a special person has been able to help me [keep] from losing all touch with reality. My hope is that I can learn to rely less on my phone and more on the people around me.”
“As a biracial female in a white-male-dominant environment, I find it very important to point out racist and sexist behavior when I see it. I was very excited to make an entry about my personal experience and how I’ve dealt with these unjust problems in the hope that others might be able to take some of the ideas and apply them to their own situations or simply be more understanding.”
“My submission is a watercolor and colored pencil mixed media painting depicting two friends on a couch with a cat. One friend comforts the other, showing my anchor, which is my friends and loved ones who will always be there to anchor you when the waters get rough. I decided to use a warmer color palette to show the warmth that your friends and loved ones can bring into your life when things seem cold and bleak.”
“My drawing is about how a person’s stress or anxiety can disappear with their anchor – in this case the anchor [of] music. With music, people can go into their own world and forget about their problems and stress. […] Music also helps me get away from the world and motivates me to get through a bad day.”
“An anchor to me is someone that provides stability in the tides of life. I chose my grandmother as my anchor because she motivated me to grow into the person I am today. […] I really want my grandma to be proud of me.”
“My piece is a representation of my anchor in life – my pets. Life can be stressful at times, but the simple presence of an animal is immediately calming; it’s why people have therapy pets and why dogs are brought to hospitals to cheer people up. When life gets hard, sometimes the best thing you can do is look into the eyes of something that’ll always support you [and] always love you, no matter what.”
“My submission shows one of the things that anchors me, which is skincare. Doing skincare is my self-care. I feel refreshed after I do skincare, and my mind is clearer. I tried to translate this feeling into my painting by having the reflection in the painting show my happiness. […] Skincare is a part of my routine, and I always know I’ll be able to do it, so it is the constant in my life that helps me stay hopeful.”
“My mother has always been someone I can rely on and brings me happiness. She is always available to offer me guidance and console me when I’m going through a hard time. My painting shows my mother acting as a guide, helping me go through my journey of life which is represented by a map of rough terrain. Her touch radiates warm yellow light, a symbol of comfort that repels negative emotions.”
My entry is titled, “Mental Health Matters.” My entry demonstrates that life can be extremely busy, and many things can be overwhelming. Many people don’t realize what may be going through a person’s mind everyday. A person’s mind can get so full that it turns into a bunch of negative thoughts, that are running through your mind. Deep down that someone can conquer what may be going on mentally by listening to their heart, and going to find someone trusted to talk to about what they are feeling inside.
I know that a lot of people experience mental health differently and the things holding people back from being happy can be one thing or many. People can’t just “be happy”, it takes more than that. The person in my drawing is holding a watering can and the flower on there is meant to represent someone’s mental health and the person allowing it to grow and flourish. Drawing this made me really happy and I think that a lot of people feel held back by certain things, but once people realize whatever it is that will make them happy they can grow