I Drew Cartoons Inspired By My Experience Dealing With Emotions And Stress Issues

I am a 20-year-old student from Hong Kong. Motivated by a close friend to share my drawing ideas online, I started to find inspiration from my experience dealing with emotions and mental issues while growing up. When I was struggling with stress and emotions, I was really confused and hopeless as if no one would ever understand. It took a few years for me to walk out of the darkness and start to recover. I learned to express my feelings instead of hiding them. I learned to fight for my own well-being and mental health. I learned to accept myself for losing sometimes and stay hopeful. While recovering, I also became aware of a lot of people around me facing similar struggles. I realized that sometimes just knowing that someone else feels the same can keep us secure and give us encouragement to keep fighting. Therefore, I decided to turn my feelings and lessons from a painful experience into colorful drawings and motivational phrases to let people know that they are never alone, to make them feel understood, to encourage them to keep fighting. I post my cute cartoons on the Facebook page and Instagram account "BigHeads" since last October and hope that this will bring some inspiration to those who are fighting battles for themselves.

More info: Instagram

"It's no big deal! It's just the same for everyone."
This may come from a good intention but was one of the worst words I heard facing emotional problems because it just shows how much people don't understand. No, it's not the same. We may be going through similar situations, but you cannot compare how we feel. Don't deny the struggles we are facing and stop judging us. We are dealing with something you can't see.

Some days we just don't feel right. We try very hard to shine and stay bright, but it just doesn't work. And there's nothing wrong with that - just like the sun on one of those days. You don't have to blame yourself for feeling down. Accept that you need some space sometimes but always remember to shine again.

On my road to recovery, most days I could keep myself peaceful and stable, but there are times that things get out of control. It is very depressing and feels like all my hard work was in vain. But it's not true. Sometimes we make a failure, but it cannot take away all the victory we've made.

It's not a good way to find security by fitting in everywhere. It may make you feel safe for the time being, but, eventually, you would lose yourself, and your smile. Happiness comes when you learn to accept yourself and be comfortable with who you are.

Knowing that someone else is fighting the same battle, somewhere, may not solve our problems for now, but can give us a lot of encouragement. It makes us feel less lonely. It makes us feel like we are fighting in an army. It makes us feel strong enough to conquer our demons.

We spend way too much time trying to fix all problems, trying to be perfect and finding solution for everything. But sometimes things are just not in our control. All we could do is to take a nap, and get over it.

Change may be confusing sometimes. When you feel doubtful about life, give a little bit time and patience. Believe that everything will make sense.

It is impossible for us to be a fighter every single day. It's ok to fall apart sometimes. Don't be so hard on yourself.

It's so easy to let ourselves drown in the overwhelming darkness. But remind yourself that you have the choice and strength to swim, and float over all the waves.

Every challenge is a test. Think about all those worst days you thought you could never make through, yet you are still here. Give credits for your strength that you don't realize.

Eventually, we will realize that it's up to us to be in charge of what we feel. We have the choice to be happy. We have the choice over our lives.