I did this when I was having a very crappy week. I didn't care about anything and had no energy or motivation to make myself happy. Basically, my mood was just very down. I did have some drive to draw this. Its a hard subject to talk about or even make it into a visual image. But I did get the idea from eating a lot of junk that week and sugar crashing a lot because of it. So I tried to incorporate that into this image.



Lets say that your CARES ( your sense of compassion for others, your motivation to go and be a happy person, your intake of emotional energy from others and the world around you, your respect for yourself ) are in the form of cookie treats. On the box, it says "ONE A DAY TREATS". One cookie fills you with a good and balanced amount of happiness, motivation, and a sense of the world around you. They are your "happy treats".

Sometimes, its hard to care about anything. You feel like one cookie is not enough. So you take two or three instead. Sometimes that doesn't work. You don't feel like you care about anything after taking your treats, like your body is rejecting them. So you take more. Much like being on a sugar high very quickly, you start to care too much about everyone and everything around you. You don't take one moment to think about yourself and just focus on others and their needs. Very soon, you start to crash. Your emotions fall and your cares about anything slowly start to fade. You are left emotionally drained and mentally exhausted. There are no more treats left. You ate them all too quickly. You are left without any cares about anything, especially yourself. Depression creeps up onto you. Your motivation and drive to do anything are barely there. All you can do for the time being is sulk and become isolated. On top of that, you feel sick from ingesting too many treats too quickly.



I remember when I was very open when I was younger. I had an open ear to everyone that spoke to me. I heard about their problems, past, issues, troubles and so forth. I cared too much about their happiness and have people be happy with me. I inhaled their negative energy and gave them my positive energy in return so they could be happy. I used that negative energy to fuel my artwork. But there were times when I just didn't care anymore. I lost motivation to listen to people's problems and life issues. I took in too much negative energy that I became depressed and isolated. I wanted to care, but nothing was there, just an "empty box".

It is never wrong to care too much about people you love and trust. But there are times when it can become dangerous. When you care about others and the world around you, you sometimes forget to care about yourself and how you feel. You constantly give your compassionate and positive energy around without saving any for yourself. You have to think about yourself once in a while. You have to CARE about yourself just as much as you care about others. By doing so, your mood and emotions will remain stable and your motivation to care about anything and anyone, including yourself, will be there.


artwork © 2014 Alex Cockburn