Art was not just a choice but a transformative necessity in my journey. It became my voice as a child, empowering me to navigate my emotions. For instance, when I was feeling overwhelmed, I would draw or write, and it would help me process my feelings. I found my artistic therapists in illustration, creative writing, videography, and photography. These mediums provided a safe space to confide my feelings and share my stories. I aim to use my art to ensure that people like me are seen and heard and to demonstrate that mental health and our experiences with it, regardless of age, are valid and not a strange, otherworldly concept. I desire to create an impact by sharing my art on social media and starting a YouTube channel. I want to make a YouTube channel to showcase my creative writing, editing, photography, and videography skills. I started a YouTube channel at ten; it was the most fun I'd ever had. Although, I deleted it in middle school out of pure fear. However, in my many years as a viewer and my very few as a creator, I've seen how content on YouTube can impact a viewer and make them feel seen. I want to bring that joy to someone. I want people to hear and see me, to feel heard and seen. Specifically, I aim to create an impact that promotes mental health awareness and encourages creative expression. I want to validate mental health through my art. I aim to share my illustrations and photography on platforms like X and Instagram, showcasing my unique perspective on the world and sharing my personal stories through art. I want my art to validate people, making them feel understood and accepted. I want to inspire others to share their artwork online. This connection with my audience is not just a part but the heart of my artistic journey, and I deeply value everyone who supports me. I want to share my art on social media and have a YouTube channel to bring my audience joy, inspiration, and a fresh perspective. I aim to eventually write novels about characters I've created, sharing the stories that have brought me joy for years. I also want to delve into children's literature to develop media that normalizes mental health from a young age. By sharing my personal experiences with mental health through my art, I hope to destigmatize these issues. By sharing my own mental health experiences, I can inspire others to do the same. My chosen path is risky and doesn't guarantee financial stability. However, I am determined to pursue my passion and create. It takes immense courage to follow one's dreams, and I want to inspire others to do the same. I want my audience to feel encouraged and determined to follow their dreams, no matter the challenges. After all, trying does not harm; the journey is a source of inspiration and empowerment, and I want my art to catalyze this empowerment.

Freedom of creative expression is important because it helps me express my emotions and tell my stories in art. In my art, I've always prioritized having a facet of myself in my work. As someone who was always left alone as a child, I've found art to be my emotional outlet and source of self-expression. Despite all the mediums I'm passionate about, photography is where I feel most confident. My camera is where I capture and express my identity, emotions, and stories. My DSLR camera has been instrumental in capturing every aspect of my identity. In the photo below, you can see a part of me I cherish the most: my deep emotional attachment to objects. This image is a piece of my soul and a testament to the power of photography in expressing the most intimate parts of myself. The stuffed bunny toy has been a necessity during my most vulnerable moments, including anxiety attacks. The ribbons on the bunny's ears symbolize my enduring childlike attachment to it. The Converse is me, finding the bunny when I felt lost. The lack of colors in the photo represents my anxiety, and the color in the leaves symbolizes my hope after seeing the bunny. This photo is a visual representation of my anxiety and how my attachment to particular objects helps me manage it. This photo also represents my love for photography. I was about to quit, feeling utterly useless. While editing this photo, I realized the power of my creativity. I discovered I could use my camera to channel my imagination and express my emotions and stories in anything I shoot. This photo was a turning point, showing me that photography can be a guiding light even in the darkest creative moments, encouraging me to continue my artistic journey.

Creativity is not just about fun or an unstoppable force; it's also deeply emotional. It's an experience of ideas that envelops my mind when I create art. It's like being surrounded by a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts. I love many art forms, including illustration, creative writing, videography, and photography. These mediums help me express my creativity in one way or another, but photography is the medium I mentioned that my creativity shines the most. The joy of creating, a constant companion in my artistic journey, is a source of inspiration and upliftment, and I hope it inspires you, too. Photography is a potent force of creativity and a profoundly personal one. It's a medium that allows me to capture and share the world as I see it, and I believe many of you can relate to this personal connection. From snapping pictures on my DSLR camera to editing the shots numerous times on Lightroom Classic, I feel most in control of my artistic vision. Sharing my perspective keeps me engaged and connected to the world around me. My comfort in photography is very evident in the photos I submitted. Each image represents a different perspective on how I would define creativity visually. The first image depicts the challenges of running out of ideas and feeling withdrawn from any source of creativity. The second image displays when an idea has finally struck. Finally, the third image shows how your creativity flows with power and ease when you have ideas. The first image shows a figure surrounded by its reflection. The hole in the figure's head symbolizes the lack of ideas artists can encounter during a creativity drought. The darker, less saturated colors represent the frustration when you have no idea what to create. The figure's reflections represent how, during an art block, artists can only see themselves in the reflections of their creativity. This photo visually represents the challenges of running out of ideas and feeling withdrawn from any source of creativity. The second image displays mirrors rotating and flashing bright colors. The figure from the first image is not present; instead, this picture is from the perspective of what is happening in the figure's brain. The rotating mirrors are supposed to represent a change in the mind when an artist gets an idea for a piece. The bright colors starkly contrast the coloring in the first photo. They represent happiness in finally having an idea and feeling confident in our creative senses. After a while of not creating pieces, a fresh and colorful idea helps us feel more creative, as represented in this picture. The third and final image depicts a figure spinning around, surrounded by colorful reflections of itself. The figure from the first image returns, as we are back in the original perspective of the first photo. The figure and its reflections spinning around represent how when artists get an idea, their creativity can spin it in several different ways. The hole on the figure's head in the first picture is now gone, which shows how the figure has so many ideas; their creativity fills the hole in their head. The bright colors from the second image reappear to show the happiness and confidence in the artist's creativity. This photo colorfully represents and defines how creativity can feel for an artist and how I would define creativity. In conclusion, creativity is not just about fun or an unstoppable force; it's also deeply emotional. When I create art, ideas envelop my mind. It's like being surrounded by a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts.

Brat by Charli Xcx has not only taken the world by storm but also my headphones. As brat summer remains a dominant force in pop culture, I can't help but feel inferior. My brat summer is not much of me bumping that to club classics or being a 365 party girl. My brat summer is rotting inside my house, or more specifically, decaying in my bed in pure jealousy of everyone who is having a better time than I am, while listening to Sympathy is a knife. I love the song Sympathy is a Knife from Brat because it perfectly describes the feeling of pure inferiority and jealousy compared to people who are so much more successful than you will ever be. I love that Charli Xcx shares her feelings about this other woman because it validates our jealousy. Charlie reminds us that it's valid for us to be jealous of other women and that we don't have to be friends with everyone we encounter. Looking at others jealously and feeling inferior in the distance is normal. Ever since I was a young girl, I have felt pure jealousy for my peers and girls my age. Whenever I would try to do something, it felt like there was always some girl who was prettier and more talented than me. Growing up as a fat girl, it felt like I ever did was less worthy when compared to the conventionally attractive thin girls. So when the lyrics, "I don't wanna share this space. I don't wanna force a smile. This one girl taps my insecurities. Don't know if it's real or if I'm spiraling." I relate so profoundly to what Charli is saying. I don't want to share a space where I feel so insecure for just simply existing, and I feel crazy for even thinking the way I am. "'Cause I couldn't even be her if I tried. I'm opposite, I'm on the other side. I feel all these feelings I can't control." I've never felt so heard when Charli sings these lyrics. My emotional eating would, unfortunately, continue until the second half of my senior year of high school. I was incredibly overweight, and I was frequently reminded of that by other people. I would always think I could never be any of these pretty thin girls; I'm the opposite; I'm the hideous emotional mess. But then, something changed. I turned eighteen and reached a weight I never thought I would. I didn't think I'd ever reach two things; I never thought I would live to eighteen or reach 250 pounds. I knew I had to change. When January 2024 came, I completely changed my way of living. I decided I was worthy of self-care and love no matter how I looked. I decided for the sake of my health. I would change how I ate and not rot my body with junk. I deserve to eat appropriately and live healthier. Now, as of August 2024, I have lost 50 pounds. I'm halfway through my journey, but despite all my work, I still feel envy and jealousy deeply through my bones. So when Charli mentions she feels a "Wild voice tearing me apart. I'm so apprehensive now." I understand these lyrics so well in my current state of life. I hear a voice saying that I could do so much better. I need to do more like the girls I see every day. I'm still not as pretty as I could be, and I am so worried I never will be attractive enough.

Chappell Roan and her music has impacted me in an abundance of ways. As a lesbian, the music made about sapphic women, a term often used to refer to women who are attracted to other women, is usually incredibly depressing. Have you listened to Boygenius' entire discography? It's a fantastic discography but also a very depressing one. And the individual band members' discographies are even more terrific and soul-crushing. As much as I enjoy sad, sapphic woman music, I am a dance-pop girl in my soul. However, most pop-girl music is about a heterosexual experience. I never truly felt at home in the music world. Then I listened to the first track of The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Femininomenon. It was like finding a kindred spirit in a crowded room. Then I listened to her entire debut album. Best decision I've ever made. Chappell's music is not just a soundtrack to my life; it's a part of my identity and a mirror reflecting my journey of self-acceptance. Discovering Chappell Roan's music just before her meteoric rise into mainstream pop stardom was a moment of profound relief. Witnessing an openly lesbian individual rise to popularity was a beacon of hope, inspiring me to be more open about my own identity. As a young girl, I was always afraid to express myself. My desire to be with girls was something I could only explore in the stories I wrote. My mind felt like a criminal for simply having crushes on other girls my age. I tried to hide myself by forcing myself to like boys, and I would often cry myself to sleep at night, trying to pray the gay away. But nothing worked. It felt like a part of my girlhood was torn away by trying to hide my true self. Chappell's music brought back the pink and sparkles of my girlhood; I am incredibly grateful for that. My love for Chappell Roan's music grew even more when she released her single 'Good Luck Babe. 'This song addresses the issue of compulsory heterosexuality, a phenomenon that makes gay women feel the need to reject their identities and force themselves to be attracted to men. In 'Good Luck Babe,' Chappell wishes her partner luck, who is rejecting their fate. This song resonates deeply with me, as I was once the partner who could not accept who I was. I forced myself to pay attention to random men and try to squeeze some romantic feelings for them out of my system. I am so grateful this song exists and that my experience as a young lesbian in this generation is validated. Chappell's music provides an understanding and acknowledgment that is so important for the LGBTQ+ community. Chappell Roan's career is a cause I wholeheartedly support. She's not just sharing her lesbian experiences in her pop anthems; she's also shattering lesbian stereotypes. Her unique, sparkly, and colorful aesthetic is a powerful tool in this mission. It challenges the stereotype that all lesbians are masculine and cannot be feminine due to their romantic interest in women. Most lesbian portrayals in media are of short-haired, baggy clothes and athletic interests, and they're almost always white. These stereotypes don't leave much room for a majority of the lesbian and the sapphic community overall. Chappell's campy aesthetic breaks these stereotypes right in half. As a femme lesbian, her representation in pop culture makes me feel so much more seen. It's personal, so I'm a big cheerleader for Chappell Roan's music career. Her representation is empowering and makes us feel more represented in the mainstream media.