I get torn between keeping things to myself and being vulnerable. For most of us, our natural state is wanting to be unique and have singular experiences that are unique to our own specific circumstance. We want to be special. Oftentimes, that leads to internalizing and thinking, “these experiences have affected me so greatly that they wouldn’t understand how it’s affected me.” Admittedly, in the past this has led me to keep secret my conundrums and anxieties. Anxiety especially had made me feel as if I was struggling in a world where everyone was thriving. 

​

Though, through the years, I have realized that healing can be found in collective experiences. I began to open up more publicly about my anxieties and received messages from people who have experienced the same. Because we all feel this need to internalize, we feel as if not many people are facing the same issues, but perhaps we just have to start the conversation to see. It is never easy being the first one to openly admit your weakness, but facing your anxious battles in your lonesome can isolate you. Healing began as soon as I realized that, as Bo Burnham said quite well, “I am not unique, and I am not alone.” Setting aside all the ideas of wanting to be unique and special that we were raised upon, I found solace in knowing that I am just like everyone else. Obviously, this should not mean that every single person on Earth stands on equal grounds. It just means that there is a large enough group of people out there who feel just like me. I wanted to show that while you can obviously still be unique as a person, there are so many beautiful things to love after you accept that so many people in the world share your heart.