At break of another blessed day, No matter how you might feel, Bird song and bright light, I pray, You shall awake, your heart shall heal. My heart beats in gratitude fervently, For my soul is reminded it has you: You offer succour and love patiently, Remind me of many blessings anew. Even in abysmal depths of despair And indescribable moments of fear, Your voice knows how me to repair, How to soothe me, call me “dear”. Dawn brings the lightness of being, For soon, I know, I shall you be seeing.

As you float stranded in the middle of the ocean, no one else in sight. Locked away from the outside world, prohibited accesses to any face to face contact. Alone. Drowning in a body of water as reckless waves continue to push you further down in the darkness. We lived what felt like normal life onshore, in the sand, no water nearby. Going to school five days a week, partaking in sporting events and extracurriculars, working a 9-5 job on the weekends to make a little extra money. We lived our normal life. Until everyone was unexpectedly thrown into the ocean, the waves from the water were fun at first. We'd only be in the water for a short time, vacation at most, a break from reality. It would all be done soon enough and life would return to our normal. But, as countless days passed, we began to feel isolated in the middle of the ocean. Nowhere to go and no new surroundings to see. As we roll into week 17 of our so-called “vacation”, we are drowning. The water begins pulling us in deeper and deeper down, drowning in nothing but our own thoughts and emotions. Mental health issues strick an ultimate high with 45% more people now struggling with these issues because of this ocean. As we take our last breath of normal life, the water drags us down into a dark, unknown place. Depression, anxiety, substance abuse, comes crashing down on us like the waves of the ocean eliminating our ability to even grasp a breath of our passed normal life. The waves continue to pummel in, one after another, crashing down harder by the second. Unemployment, increase in COVID numbers, even the death of loved ones, all strike you further down into the water. You are now the farthest down in the dark you've even been. Experiencing thoughts like never before. Just you, alone, in the middle of the bottom of the ocean, no grasp of what it feels like to breathe normal air. Day by day new waves push you down more into the dark waters but you are not even affected anymore. You don't struggle, don't try to even attempt to not sink down. You go into the darkness making no effort to fight the pain of drowning. Some days you get pushed onto the shore, a little light in your life. Life feels so surreal, there is not a worldwide pandemic, but instead just you and your best friend. A taste of what normal life once felt like, a day outside with friends, funny jokes with your mom, finally finishing that show you binge-watched, but no matter how hard you try to stay in that moment forever. How hard you fight back to get your normal again the waves always will pull you back into the water. Bring you back down into that darkness of the ocean, alone, again. As you reach the surface of the water you can see the horizon, you can see normal life again. The life that we took for such guaranteed but would do anything to be able to breathe a single breath of that normal life just once. But the uncertainty strikes your eyes like fear. Having absolutely no idea when you will be able to reach that horizon? How far away it is? When will life every be so-called normal again? When will we be able to make it back to the horizon? But you have to continue to swim to try to make it there, day by day, because no matter the uncertainty, we will make it to that horizon. No matter how long it takes or what roadblocks come your way, eventually, you will. You will make it to that horizon. Be able to breathe than normal air, onshore, with no waves to pull you into that darkness that once overtook your mind. Eventually, we will be normal again, do not let the fear and uncertainty overcome the optimism.

We humans often forget about the purpose of life. Life is like a song; it has ups & downs but it does not stop. It goes on and on and after a certain period, it stops for good. So ultimately you have only one song in your entire life but the content of your song is being written by you. This is how we are unique from one another. Here I am about writing my own song. And the main watchword of my song is Hope. Every day I hope to see the new sun which shines brighter than the previous one. But as the day passes by, I get to realize that the day is as dull as before. I question myself so often what is the point of my life? When I was a kid, I could not talk properly. While I got nervous, I started to stammer and could not express what I wanted to. Once I was participating in a science festival where I was presenting my project. A visitor came and told me to explain it then and there, I instantly got nervous and could not say a word in front of him. What a shame! That day I questioned myself about my worth, my ability; I felt so low. I dreamt to become a motivational speaker whereas I could not say a word in front of the stranger. I thought of it as a consequence of humiliation. Ever since, I vowed to myself that I would make a turnabout in my life. I started to practise more and more until I stopped hesitating to talk in the presence of people. I constructed it as a challenge for myself and I successfully overcame it. It gives me the urge to overcome all the problems and helps me find the solutions to every situation. But there was a time when I was in constant pain. It was more like a wicked perception which changed the meaning of my life, on the contrary you may call it depression. People often fall ill with depression, they lose themselves in the battlefield of living where living is the only reward. Mostly people often keep themselves occupied with physical check-up, they often overlook maintaining the mental health. They disregard the fact that our physical condition relies on our mental condition. I never support giving up. Many things are battling inside of my mind but I never learn to give up. Like after every night, the sun rises and lighten our world; our sufferings will pass away when the good days will arrive. As a final year grad student, things are really hard to decide in which plan I should stick in. Enormous responsibilities are forthcoming. I would be introduced with a whole new world. This feeling breaks me each time whenever I think of it. What if I fail to locate a fine good job? What if I disappoint my parents for not being what they want me to be? I am torn apart whenever I think of it. I will blame the society for creating the storm inside of me. It seems like this society nourishes negativity to raise us. It makes me wonder how the flowers have stopped to bloom. This negative wave turns the flowers into depressed souls. But one thing I want to ask the society keenly, “Did you ever think of preaching love instead of hatred?” Our life would be quite simpler and easier then. We should stop following the shadow that guides us towards darkness. Because I believe in Light. Life is tragic. Nothing goes on as per our expectation but still life goes on. We must overcome the negativity to make the world a better place. I have valid reasons to feel miserable. But this is also me who comprehend the situation as fixable. For this, the first and foremost work is to change the notion of the society. Nothing but spreading love of positivity can defeat it. Once when I was in class four, I got terribly sick. I was so dedicated to my study, so I could not even miss going to school. That very day, my body temperature got extremely high and suddenly I puked in front of the whole class. The situation was quite embarrassing, I almost cried for what just happened. My teachers helped me get clean but that day something worse happened. After getting cleaned up when I started to continue my lecture, nobody sat with me; not even my best friend. She stopped talking to me from the very day. I still don't know what was my fault. In which parameter she judged me, I don't know. Actually I don't want to know anymore. From that day, I decided to be humble to everyone. If you are being judged for the blames that you aren't responsible for, stop caring about it. Because life is wonderful. Life never stops to amaze you whether it is for good experience or bad. But never give up. There is a saying that the deeper the dark, the closer the dawn. Wait for the dawn. The dawn will arrive and take all the dark shadows from you.

- Who are you when no one's looking? Find the answer and we'll come back to our conversation, - I was told long time ago. As we know, everything takes place for a reason. Let me take you to the journey of a mindset change. Initially I associated the term quarantine with fear, hesitancy and negativity. In case of following this path, it could lead to the lowest point of life. And as it happened to be true, quarantine became part of our life in a pretty unexpected way. Want it or not, but it makes an impact. In my case the impact was life-changing. Yet, don't rush with assumptions. After spending a while isolated, a quite unanticipated thought crossed my mind. It made me realize that there's a meeting I've been postponing for so long. This is the worst time to make it happen, so I'll go for it :) Despite the rules of staying at home during this dangerous period of quarantine I felt that it could no longer be on hold. The person I wanted to meet was the one who asked me the key question. Even though I didn't have the answer by that time, I knew I'd be welcomed anyway. Honestly, I wasn't ready mentally. The time was inappropriate. I didn't reach to the point when I could feel comfortable with that person. Is this feeling of insecurity familiar to you? When the person knows the REAL you. However, I dared to take my chance, cause especially this period turned the inner calmness into priority. We met. It was a long conversation filled with gloominess, uncertainty, frustration, patience, simplicity, joy, tranquility. Quarantine has this unique effect of forcing us to face our deepest fears, memories, thoughts. I mean the hidden ones. The ones we weren't able to notice before, because of our previous “busy” lifestyle. We all have multiple identities, simply said – versions of ourselves. Some are “proven” by society; therefore those are the ones we show to the rest of the world. Our family, friends, basically everyone recognizes us as THAT kind of person. Still there's one left. A real version remains undetected. The one we try to hide so determinedly. Probably, my initial assumption wasn't precise. Particularly when I claimed that the timing of this meeting wasn't the best one. Apparently, society's isolation set the true identity of mine free for a while. That was the moment when 2 puzzles combined. Eventually the fulfillment I felt afterwards made me realize that our inner peace and needed mental balance is held by facing The Person – the only version of ourselves shown only when no one is looking.

TOP COMMENT: Always Happy Welcome to the world kid. It's goin to chew you up, and spit you out kurzs This is a video about a sweet drink Always Happy @kurzs soon enough the kid won't have anything to drink kurzs @Always Happy ...fair Always Happy @kurzs nothing is fair. in this world, the only thing we are promised is certain death. kurzs @Always Happy duuuude i was agreeing with you, that was an excellent point to end this interaction but you whipped out even more Edge and now I'm back here again to ask "Why are your commenting habits like this?"?? Not to make things too weird up in here, but is there a reason you think it's really useful to remind people of the harsh realities of the world all the time? kurzs @Always Happy Also, I apologize if this has come off as too aggressive or rude. I'm just baffled. Always Happy @kurzs I think it's nice to be reminded that oblivion is creeping closer every second. Always Happy @kurzs but after your personal attack on me, I am now more depressed that ever. Maybe you are right. Maybe life just isn't worth living anymore and I should just end it. kurzs @Always Happy I mean, yes, obviously the threat of death is ever-present but some people know this and are actively trying to maximize their existence to the best of their ability... And it just looks like "life", outwardly. That's not everyone, sure. But we're here. We know. And we still go on. As for you killing yourself - I hope you won't. Death may be inevitable, but so is change. If you are capable of any minuscule, pitiable amount of good, your life can change for the better. To think otherwise is just spitting hubris in the face of Father Time. One mortal existence is probably all we have - might as well hang in there if it means one more milkshake, or cute video, or amusingly weird internet spat. From our perspectives, all of these good things will end and be done with forever. Why not cherish each as though it might be the last? I apologize for springing unwanted criticism upon you (entirely out of nowhere). I did not mean to trouble you. Always Happy @kurzs that's actually a good outlook. Thank you. kurzs @Always Happy glad I could help?? have a nice rest of your day

Stop what you're doing. Please. Whatever it is, I need you to stop for a moment, and focus. Pause your music, put your food to the side, and just stop. It may sound like an odd request, but I need you to focus on your surroundings. To feel the texture of your clothes against your skin. Is the fabric soft? Rough? Pay attention to the air as it brushes against your lips and rushes into your mouth and lungs; feel your chest collapse when you breathe out seconds later. I need you to look up and pay attention to the details of the room you're in. Is it light? Dark? Colorful or dull or some combination of the two? Are you cold, or are you melting in the summer heat? Can you smell rain? I need you to feel your pulse. Can you feel your heartbeat? Good. I need you to hold your hand for a few seconds and feel the warmth of your skin—let your thumb drag against the top of your knuckles. What is that like? Had you forgotten what the feeling of your own flesh felt like? No? Okay, you can continue as you were. Resume your music, take another bite of your snack. I'm done asking you to actively participate. ...You're curious as to why I asked you to do these things, aren't you. Well, once upon a time, when I was very much a young child, I read a book where it was revealed that a minor character had been trapped in a book for fifty years. At the time, I hadn't paid much attention to it—the characters never lingered on that fact, not even the boy in question, so there was no reason for me to give it any mind. It certainly didn't help that the character was a villain in the story, one who did terrible, awful things, whom I was not supposed to sympathize with. It was never made into a big deal, so I forgot it. It was only when I reread that book for what was probably the sixth or seventh time that I actually thought through the implications of such a thing. Fifty years. What that it be like? To be stuck in a book for so long? I couldn't help but think it might be comparable to a box. A small, tiny box, with no light. Worse yet, you can't touch anything, can't feel anything. A normal box, at least, would allow you to feel the walls around you. You might hear the sounds made by anything outside the box, but this isn't a normal box. This box is magic, remember, which means you can't see anything, you can't feel anything. I might go as far as saying that even something as simple and normal as breathing might be impossible. The complete and utter lack of anything would be more than enough to drive one mad after only spending a week in such a box. But fifty years? As someone who hasn't lived to be half of that yet, this is entirely beyond my realm of comprehension. It's a lesson in gratitude, though it might not look like it at first. It's why I began to put myself through that little exercise I asked you to do earlier. If you were to go fifty years without so much as a single breath, with nothing but your own thoughts for company...well, I don't think either of us want to know what that looks like. We rely on our sight, our hearing, our touch, everything, so much so I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to go without them. One or two, yes, but to lose all of them? To be stuck not only blind and deaf, but to be so lost there is absolutely nothing that will let you orient yourself? To be stuck in darkness without the pulse of your own heartbeat there to steady you? Truly, sensory deprivation is one of the worst tortures humanity could devise for itself. But...as awful as it is, that's what makes me grateful—the fact that I still have this. That I can take any moment out of the day and look around myself, hold onto the seconds as they slip by and comfort myself with the fact that I can still feel my sweater as it slides against my skin. I can still smell the laundry detergent that lingers in the threads of the fabric. I can hear my roommates bickering in the kitchen about who does the dishes and who picks the music. I can admire the way the light refracts through my window and pours tiny rainbows across the walls. It's odd, how much this tiny thought about a random character actually ended up changing my life so much. I've picked up another language —one that I can speak with my hands— and in doing so I've learned so much about people who live without their hearing. I've done enough research on the use of solitary confinement in prison systems and the negative effects it has on a person that I should probably just write my next essay on that. I wake up just about every day thrilled with that I still have as much as I do, and it encourages me to do my best. So, I was hoping that this lesson —as dark and terrifying as it might be at first glance— might help you, too. The world is a beautiful, beautiful, place, and I find it and all of its many gifts to be just so amazing. I think it's important we appreciate every little detail, no matter how small, for as long as we can.

When happiness whispers don't be afraid to beckon its call. Run with your heart facing outwards, You will go on, you have the soul. Take the wild ways not the right ways. You should heed the advice you dream of in between twilight and sleep. Hear your heart assuredly tell you that all will be more than fine, You will be wonderful. Sing yourself a song using only the good notes And in the intricate episodes, when you smile inwardly to your beautiful self, Shake off the guilt like a dandelion shakes its seeds And realise happiness is your heritage as much as Spring bequeaths unto summer. In the windmills of your mind you see mocha hearts, sepia tainted memories of children's shoes and strawberry fields, Laughter shading the soft hum of the midday heat. Heed the women before you and listen to the brag of your own heart; You are, you forever will be, let your mind mend, It is all all right, it is not the end. The only weight you need to feel is the one being lifted off your shoulders, and replaced with another body next to yours. There are no lucky ones. Only the undulating optimism of love, of hope. Contentment arrives at the doors of the humble, the vulnerable, The ones whose hearts plead more at the perishing of others Than the affliction in their own. Affection lacks originality so don't dwell on your verbal incompetence, But instead take pleasure in the blessing that whatever you say will be yours, As words belong to you

It is truly a miraculous thing to consider when you sit down and think of the way in which your brain works. You wouldn't be able to process as a living human being without it, although sometimes, it seems as if it's the antagonist of your life, or the opposition. It's truly fascinating that our brains can reward us sometimes, but also confuse us, or cause us to give into our fears or doubts. In particular, with the brain of a child, whilst developing as a living organism, their brains also physically grow, but are also mentally "malleable." Their experiences in the environment of the real world shape them as they learn to face a variety of predicaments, attempt to gain valuable assets and skill-sets, etc. However, along this journey, they will also face failure. It's not something to be apprehensive of, but rather a learning experience. Failure throughout life is inevitable, as success is not attainable at all times. But, that doesn't mean that it hits us any less harder as humans. In fact, failure is scary. It sets you off into a world of self-doubt, causing you to believe worst-case scenarios or that nothing will ever go right. In fact, I myself struggle with thoughts such as these on a daily basis. As a perfectionist, I always strive for the best I can achieve, and when it doesn't work out, I'm disappointed in myself. A crushing feeling forms within me, and I feel like I don't know what to do. These emotions, this overwhelming feeling of fear and sadness, is in fact an effect of our brain. Such a villainous thing, isn't it? But then, when you come to terms with this one instance of "failure," everything changes. When you instead see this occasion as an opportunity to learn from your past so that you may impact and improve your future, your outlook changes. For me, for instance, if I were to put all of my efforts into a sketch that I was doing, and in the end, I wasn't proud of it, I'd be upset, of course! But, after taking a few minutes to reflect, I'd get up, take another sheet of paper, pick up my pencil, and begin another piece. This time in fact, I'd be determined to sketch even better, taking into account what I had previously done well, and what I'd like to do differently. Now with this newfound sense of perseverance and confidence, I feel like I can do anything! Hmmm... that's funny... Where does this feeling come from? The very same brain that had seemed to turn on you not too long ago! Fundamentally, your brain isn't "out to get you," but rather trying to prepare you for the rest of life, and experiencing all sorts of situations and emotions. Just as much as you may feel fear or worry, you can also feel joy or confidence. It's simply all a matter of your brain helping you explore different kinds of reactions, and finding what works best for you and your well-being. Obviously, over-worrying isn't beneficial to our personal health, and so, if in situations we learn to notice that we might have faced a tough time in the way that we responded to the notion of struggle, we can determine how to best deal with these emotions in the future. I guess you could say it's our brain's method of trial and error; our brain is allowing us to acknowledge our inner conflicts so that we can have a chance to handle a similar predicament in the future in a better way. As someone who personally faces some trouble with anxiety, it is certainly easier said than done to overcome our fears in this world. Trust me, I know. However, once you learn to establish a support system for yourself, figure out what works best for you, and perhaps try to look at your situation with a different perspective, you'll see that error isn't the "worst thing ever." So, the next time you face a rough dilemma and consider your brain as your foe, remind yourself that it is in fact your friend, and that you can indeed move past the overbearing sense of defeat over time; it will just take a long time to accept your missteps and embrace your imperfections. Just know that there are other people too, who you can reach out to in an instance of fear. Whether it be your family, friends, pets, or others, just try to find at least one reason to look on the bright side; try to adopt an optimistic outlook and know that, although failure may be a scary thing to endure, it's a part of life, and merely an opportunity to learn from our faults. Once you accept that, as I've been trying to do more and more recently, you will perhaps see that life is an extraordinary thing, one that shouldn't be wasted by a constant sense of fear, but rather curiosity, excitement, and inquisitiveness.

Being a student is not easy. I found this out the hard way, starting in elementary school when I started getting deadlines and had to start taking notes. As I got older, the academics became more and more difficult. I had to quickly learn what a thesis was and how to write one because my first big essay for a grade was right around the corner. I learned that teachers could be ruthless, but also infinitely more merciful than they had been made out to be in middle school. I began the route to becoming an IB student in freshman year. I was told to take physics and ICAP English, Spanish 2, and all sorts of other classes. I was told this would put me on track to be in the IB program when I was a junior and senior. I had been raised under the pretense that harder was more impressive and important for some far away deadline of college applications, but at the time I thought it would be important for me. I pushed myself and beat myself over the head with bad grades. The bad grades came - well in my eyes they were bad - and I had no way of telling myself that I was doing my best and still doing a good job because of my current situation. Starting high school was a shock because I had never been in such a big school before. If we look ahead into my junior year, suddenly the IB Program was here, with the European spellings and confusing paragraph structures. The IB Program was throwing new acronyms, new assignments, and new teachers in my direction. I was juggling new classes and insanely low amounts of sleep. I began to wonder if it was worth it. I still wonder sometimes if it's worth it, but then I see how much I'm learning and how much I love all my teachers. When I walk into some of my favorite classes I am able to see that I am in a room of scholars and we are led by a teacher who loves their job and loves teaching students like us. The skills I've developed on the road to the IB Program have prepared me well for it, but I am still stressed a lot of the time. New stressors come into play. My friends are concerned about college, about boyfriends or girlfriends, and grades. We are all scrambling to understand this messy chapter of life we are in. I know that we all want to help each other, but it's almost impossible to help someone else when you can't help yourself. I know I have struggled with managing my grades and keeping my chin up. It's not easy to balance both school and social life. Some nights I don't get more than six hours of sleep and other nights I jolt awake at midnight wondering if I submitted a big paper, only to realize that I did. School is not easy and I don't think it ever will, but it is what I love doing. At the end of the day, I love to learn and I love being in a room with other people like me - people who want to learn. I want to continue devouring books I don't always understand with literary features and techniques I had never even realized were possible. I want to continue talking with people who understand more than I do, I love being with other people and learning together. It is such a valuable experience and I know that I want to continue on this path. Despite the stress I feel a lot of the time, I am hopeful. I am optimistic that I will be able to work through the stress, find the cause, and fix it. I will be able to make it through the difficulties presented by school even though some days I am so stressed I want to curl up and hide. In conclusion, I am stressed, but that is okay. It's not ideal to be stressed and I do not want to glorify it, but I know that if I weren't stressed I probably wouldn't care about what I do. Stress is not healthy and to be this worried is not healthy either, but I think that despite it all, some stress is good. Being concerned for your work makes you work harder, pushes you to get up in the morning, and helps you feel the rush of relief and adrenaline when you do well and see your hard work pay off. Learning in a community has helped me to realized how important it is to care for what you do. So many times within a group I work in, I see that students are lost and need help from others and every time it is refreshing to see how eager other students are to help each other. We understand each other and despite the difficulties and severity of the stress, it builds a community that I think helps with the stress.