This piece is what I created for project 2, “Different, Not Less Than”.  For this assignment we were instructed to read a book by Oliver Sacks.  I chose the book “Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain”.  This book is full of many incredible stories of how music has impacted people who live with different conditions.  Originally, before choosing the book, my idea was to focus on living with anxiety, which is what I have done. But after reading the book I was inspired further to add music to the piece. Both music and art have always been a huge part of my life and are very important to me.  They are both my outlet as well as my comfort.  For most of my life I have suffered from anxiety and depression. The two kind of go hand in hand.  When you suffer from anxiety, it can be frustrating and overwhelming and can cause you to feel depressed at times. I never had the courage to speak so freely of it like I do now.  Anxiety can be caused by many things, such as stress or a traumatic experience.  However, some people are born with a hereditary gene that causes them to suffer from it.  Sometimes medication is prescribed, sometimes therapy, or both.  Meditation is also a helpful thing for some people. I wanted to create a visual representation of what living with anxiety feels like.  This female figure represents me, and all the things that make up myself as an individual; how I feel on the inside.  My true self.  I’ve included symbols of music, art, writing, interest in astronomy, the ocean, my cats, meditation and my personal spirituality.  They are all the things that are my light inside.  However….this person I am inside is often trapped.  There is a shell surrounding the physical body that keeps the light hidden.  Often times people can only see what’s on the outside.  Originally I was going to use paper mache to create this shell.  I wanted something hard and durable and tough to break.  But then I thought of an eggshell.  Eggs are easy to break, but not always.  It depends how you attempt to break them.  If you use one hand to squeeze a raw egg as hard as you can, it’s nearly impossible to break. It doesn’t seem like it would be, but it is.  The shell is tougher than one would think.  I wanted to use the cracked eggshell pieces surrounding the body to symbolize there is a way out, and also a way in.  Music for me has always been a great comfort. On the outside, the rest of the area is covered with a fabric.  The fabric represents a blanket, like when a small child carries a security blanket. It’s the symbol of comfort.  Glued onto the blanket are CDs with titles of some of my favorite songs.  These are songs that I find uplifting and soothing.  Music has helped people in extraordinary ways.  For me it has done wonders and it’s something that is always there when you need it.  Also the act of creating this piece was my other source of comfort;  my artwork.  I’ve decided to title this piece “Breakthrough”.