We all belong here.

Family , cousins, friends.
Seems like your social interactions , will never , end .
When you leave school, to stay in touch is no , rule .
Days spent , trying to distract, from the sadness of no friends to interact with .
Some people are , only using social media to connect , catching up face -to face , is something real they , need to accept .
Too , much on for people , too much for people to do .
The , loneliness therefore , affects you .

Imagine you’ve been living at home with parents your whole life. Everyday when you come home, your family members are present and embrace you with their warmth and energy. A meal is already prepared, and all your dirty clothes have been magically cleaned, tidied and placed in your wardrobe. Then, one day, you return home but there is no one there. You don’t know what to eat for dinner, and everything is exactly where you left it this morning. There is no chatter, movements or just any sounds of human activity. Just you, remembering about the past and how you wish you could go back to a simpler time.

i cannot let it go.

i cannot.

i hoard the scraps of my childhood diaries and the marbles i won in the fifth grade.

i can’t remember it, but it was there.

i was there.

i lived in that house,
and with those people,
and somehow i could still step outside and greet the sky and the ants that lined the pavement.

i’d awake to morning birds chirping and feel as though i belonged there,

on the plastic chairs in the backyard,
in the back room,
at the dining table.

and yet now i don’t.

when did it all change??

when did the six seats turn into five??
when was the last time i set out the cutlery??
when did i stop giving my mother my favourite fork, the one with etched flowers??

i don’t know,

i don’t know anything.

and yet i clutch at the strands of what remains.

i so desperately severed my ties to that place-
sawing off the last piece of evidence that i was even there at all.

i cannot let go of it.

i collect the strings off of the grass and tuck them neatly away.

they sit with the scraps of my girlhood in the back of my closet.

my marbles,
my diaries,
and now the frayed tethers of my childhood home.

Solitude by the Shore- this is the name of the photo I took of my friend.
This photograph is more than just a portrait for me, it’s a reflection of the quiet struggles that often go unnoticed in life. My friend sits on a rock, still and beautiful, yet there’s a weight in her expression, a sadness in her eyes that echoes the vast, endless ocean behind her. The ocean becomes a metaphor for the mind—deep, unpredictable, sometimes calm, sometimes turbulent. I  see mental health like this scene: moments of stillness on the surface while emotions move like unseen currents beneath. The solitude in this image is both peaceful and isolating, a reminder that even in the most breathtaking settings, someone can still feel lost. Through this photo, I want to highlight the quiet strength in vulnerability, and the importance of acknowledging the depths within ourselves and others.

This artwork represents interconnectedness through the organic lines and shapes. When we are connected we see each other. To see.