Creativity—the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work. Looking at this definition I can’t help but think that it’s amazing. How we invented a whole new word just to describe the ability to create. The mere fact that we even have the ability to think “creatively” amazes me. I have always wanted to be an artist, and being creative is just about the only requirement. Art, after all, is just a creative way of expressing yourself. Being creative is finding new ways to do things, it’s thinking outside of the box. Creativity is the ability to create something, and to create something new. Art is how I express myself creatively, it’s an outlet for all the emotions I don’t know how to express otherwise. However, art is not my only outlet for creativity, I also love music. When I’m able to find the perfect song, a song that when I hear it, makes me feel how I know the composer wanted me to feel, nothing makes me happier than when I’m learning to play it. Music is the very essence of being creative, it doesn’t matter if you're reading the music, because you are still making it your own. No matter who is playing the song, it’s going to be different than the original because no one can play the same, whether it be in volume, speed, or anything else everyone is different and everyone will create in their own way. Creativity is exactly how it’s defined, it’s using whatever inspires you to create something new, whether it be art, dance, music, or anything other. Being creative is being able to see the potential in something that you love to be made better, and to be made your own.

Bold Mental Health Awareness Scholarship “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way–things I had no words for.” (Georgia O’Keeffe). Art has proven time and time again to help people not just with their mental health but with their communicational skills as well. Through art many people have found a sort of sanctuary, art can help someone to take their mind off of the immediate present to find a state of calm. However, sometimes what someone needs is not to ignore their problems but to face them, and art can help with that too. Art can help someone to envision their problems, give a shape to them, and in that way deal with them. These are just a few reasons why art is becoming more and more popular as a form of treatment in therapy. Art is a relatively low costing form of therapy that anyone can partake in, and the variety of forms of art are endless. Painting, drawing, and sometimes even just looking at an art piece can help someone to feel a connection and to feel less alone. Communication is something that is essential to improving ones mental health, but when you have no one to talk to, or no one you want to talk to, art can be a helpful substitute. It is an outlet as well as an form of art.

These are just some pictures of my dog (Angel) and my cat (Mittens). They get me through the hard times I love them more than life so I hope you all like them too.

Joy is the spark of happiness that I feel when I finally forget to think, when I simply allow myself to be happy. Too many of us are so caught up in our thoughts that we forget to be happy, or forget how to be happy. For me it seems like too many people forget that happiness is like a skill that we all have to learn. However, though I can't say that I've mastered the skill of being happy, I can say that though it can be hard, happiness is something that we all need. It's something that we would simply be lost without. I find that in order for me to be happy I have to get rid of all the thoughts and feelings that are inhibiting my happy. I do this through my art and music, I paint and I draw and I play and I express all the feelings that have been weighing on me and I feel lighter, I feel light enough to try being happy. So I will do things that make me happy, I will talk with my friends and I will go out places that I like and I will even just walk and listen to music. I will do anything to sustain my happiness and each time that I do it, being happy gets just a little bit easier. So in the end, I seek out joy through being selfish. I do things purely for the intent of bringing myself happiness, however, selfish is such a negative word. When really everyone deserves to be at least a little bit selfish, everyone deserves to be happy.

Recently I have been looking back at my life and honestly, it's been hard to acknowledge much about myself other than my weaknesses and mistakes. However, I have also learned that I care about people. I want to make people happy even if it's rather hard for me to do so. I can't help but think that that trait is rather valuable in itself. Too many people, as of recent, seem to have forgotten how to care about others, how to at least try and see the world from someone else's perspective. But I want to help, I want to see the world from other people's perspectives and I want to think before I act. I want to think about why they are hurting other people, why they are hurting themselves before I make a judgment. I mean, what power do we have to make these judgements anyways? We are just as vulnerable to judgment as everyone else but none of us want to be judged, at least not prematurely. So why not just stop? Why not just wait and learn about and see a person before we put them into a category? That is my valuable trait, at least that's what I want it to be. I want to see people and not just see people, if that makes sense. Anyways, what I truly mean is that my valuable trait is thinking too much, I mean that's just about what this whole writing is, but that not always a bad thing. Right?

Geneva Horton Creativity Creativity—the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work. Looking at this definition I can’t help but think that it’s amazing. How we had to invent a whole new word just to describe the ability to create. The mere fact that we even have the ability to think “creatively” amazes me. That’s part of the reason why I want to be an artist—I mean, what better job could there be than a job that requires you to express yourself? Ever since I was little I have wanted to be an artist, and being creative is just about the only requirement to do what I want to do. Art, after all, is just a creative way of expressing yourself. What I mean to say is that being creative is finding new ways to do things, it’s thinking outside of the box, but it’s not just that. Creativity is the ability to create something, and not just that but to create something new. Art is how I express myself creatively, it’s an outlet for all the emotions I don’t know how to express otherwise. However, art is not my only outlet for creativity, I also love music. Mainly, I love to play the piano. When I’m able to find the perfect song, a song that, when I hear it, makes me feel how I know the composer wanted me to feel, nothing makes me happier than when I’m learning to play it. Music is the very essence of being creative, it doesn’t matter if you're reading the music because you are still making it your own—it’s inevitable. No matter who is playing the song, it’s going to be different than the original because no one can play the same, whether it be in volume, speed, or anything else everyone is different and everyone will play in their own way, everyone will create in their own way. Creativity is exactly how it’s defined, it’s using whatever inspires you to create something new, whether it be art, dance, music, or anything other. Being creative is being able to see the potential in something that you love to be made better, and to be made your own.

My favorite book is actually a book series, “The Lunar Chronicles” written by Marissa Meyer. I have always loved books that talk about different worlds, societies, and timelines but I had always found them to have a lack of realisticness to them, as silly as that might sound. However, when I found this series, a dystopian work, I had finally found what I was looking for. This series takes place in a futuristic world of which we had technologically advanced enough to collenate the moon, as well as create working prosthetics. However, even with all of this new technology we had become more biased than ever before. As the book talks of the repulsion that people hold towards the people that make use of the prosthetics, cyborgs, and the citizens of Luna, Lunars. Though I wont get too much into the plot, I will say that reading this book really forced me to see things from every perspective of every character from every aspect of this world, and I loved it. Though this book did have bias, it showed you the circumstances of every character and the reasons they each acted the way that they did. But at the same time, they didn’t overload you with information. The author was able to keep the reader engaged even while teaching them about the world that she created. I feel like not a lot of books these days are able to accomplish that, but she did. That’s one of the many reasons I have for loving her books, I’ve read almost all of them after all, and I have never been disappointed.

When looked up you’ll find that generosity is the quality of being kind and generous to the people around you, and overall that is true. To me however, generosity is much more than what can be described in words, generosity is one of the few qualities that every human being has, but not everyone uses. We all have the ability to care or have empathy towards others, just as we all have the ability to help or be generous. But these days it seems that the majority of us have become all too good at ignoring empathy, sympathy, or any sort of care that we would have for the less fortunate. We have become all too good at assuming the worst, assuming that they don't deserve our generosity. It’s discouraging to see how normal this has become. But I have faith that it's not too late. We can become generous again, because not everyone thinks this way. Some people believe in and live by the golden rule. I know, it sounds childish right? I mean, this was something that we all learned in kindergarten, when we were still learning how to read and write. But what’s so childish about treating others the way that you want to be treated? It’s basic compassion. Taking an extra second to think about what you’re going to say next, what affect your words or actions are going to have on the people around you, it’s not so hard. We all have the ability to be generous, we all have the ability to plan out our actions, and we all have the ability to be better than we were yesterday. These facts are what give me hope that we will learn from our yesterday, and be better for our tomorrow.

The world is in a bad place right now, I think that we can all agree on that. However, what gives me hope for the future is that even in this apocalyptic time, there are still people out there doing good deeds. People that don't even have to think about what they're doing, because to them doing good is just natural. Though, from what people see on the news, that might be pretty hard to believe. However, I know for a fact know that these good people are out there because I’ve had good people like them help me and my family when we were in need. About four years ago my family and I got into a accident while entering the highway, two people in large trucks were racing and they hit us, totalling our car. My mother and father were hurt, not seriously, but pretty bad. But more importantly, when we were stranded on the side of the road it was the people around us that made sure that we were all ok and called 911. I am still grateful to this day for the kindness that was shown to us by those people, and it’s people like them who give me hope for the future, that maybe this is just a faze that we have to get through before we can reach the other side. There are many good samaritans out there in the world however, I also like to think about the people whose jobs contribute to the greater good. I'm referring to the people that enter the workforce as police, firefighters, doctors, or veterans. From people working to build affordable housing to people that work every day to save lives. All these people are just doing their jobs, but they're also doing so much more, they’re saving people and giving them hope for the future. People like them are the ones who tended to my mother when she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer last year. My mother is the strongest person that I know, but this was something that nearly broke her. That is why I'm so grateful to the people working at the hospital, they were always so kind and we were able to put our trust in them to help get her through this. After a year she's finally completed the heavy chemotherapy and radiation and she's now treating it to make sure that it doesn’t come back. While I would go with my mother to her chemo appointments I would always see the other cancer patients, but to my surprise many of them were kind and almost cheerful. I mean, you would think they would be depressed, but I’ve never met such strong and kind people. I just can’t help but think that part of that credit should be given to the doctors and nurses that talk to them every day and try to make each day a little easier. They give them hope for the future.