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Mental health matters to me, because it feels like it’s my lifeline – my connection to the rest of the world itself.  All my struggles – positive or negative – have meaning…like roots and branches of a tree.  They follow the same path; the growth, learning, and eventual acceptance of my ongoing journey.  
 
In my drawing/art, the tree represents my constant inward journey to mental health – the constancy being therapy. That’s been the strongest tool for me, without that I am not sure where I’d be now.  Medication helps very much, but the hardest work we do in therapy is what matters most in my own mental health. It shows me I am not alone in these struggles.

The roots are toward my heart and wrapped around it.  That’s where most of the negative struggles remain and what I work on as far as growth in general.  The feelings of sadness, fear, and overwhelming worthlessness live there. As you move up the tree, there is a place where I begin finding my own voice and that leads further upwards showing my strength and light (which I represent by being darker on the roots and as you travel up, it gets lighter until you get where the birds are free to fly…to thrive and live in the world).