Art, especially painting and drawing, has helped me in many ways to cope throughout the years.

Growing up I was the shy, quiet kid who didn’t express herself and pushed my feelings aside to help others when they needed someone to be there. I battled severe anxiety to tell people how I felt, so I started expressing it through my drawings and paintings.

That self-expression through art helped my confidence grow dramatically as I expressed myself in my own way I didn’t have to use my drawings and paintings anymore. The more I wanted to show people my personality, the more I had fun with friends and let go of everything and didn’t care about what people thought of me in the moment.

I didn’t have it easy as a kid, but my grandparents were always there to help me enjoy life more. At a young age, my mom introduced my sister and I to painting and drawing. We constantly painted when we were at her house.

I grew a passion for both painting and drawing, but I only carried on painting until about third grade. That’s when I no longer had time and struggled to decide between painting/drawing and softball.

I got back into painting to help with my anxiety. But when it worsened as I got anxiety attacks along with panic attacks, I picked up drawing again.

Drawing started to help a lot and let me get my mind off of things. But when I did that, I was just focused on my anxiety and not my depression, so my mental health deteriorated again.

From trauma coming back up from the past, I started actively pursuing alternatives and realized painting successfully calmed me down.
I randomly discovered that painting my thighs was therapeutic and was a healthy alternative to cutting. I always had paint in my room along with brushes at the time, so one night I just painted my legs for fun and I realized it was another way that allowed me to improve my mental health.

My mental health is better, and I give most of the credit to my passion for art.