“Dear teenage self, it was #worldmentalhealthday yesterday so I wrote a little letter because it is such a strange time. Sometimes the world might feel too big and you’ll feel too small. Breathing gets harder and your heart will race. The more you think, the more thoughts plague your mind. It doesn’t stop. Your head will become so full that you can’t speak. It is so tempting to settle with your invisibility, to be okay with not being seen, not being heard, not being noticed, but don’t.

Don’t settle with the invisibility even if it becomes comfortable. I’m learning that now and it is terrifying sometimes, but always worth it. You’ll see that the world is so big, and that is a good thing. That means you will find your place, no matter how out of place you feel now. And you will find peace in all the chaos that goes about your mind and around you. It is not going to be perfect, and that’s the beauty of it.

Accepting that things change rather than holding on to what you can’t control, that’s growing too. You can still be a child at heart, and look at life with the kind of wonder and excitement as you did when you were little. Because you don’t magically figure out life once you turn 21. It’s just a number, and take your time to figure out who you are. It doesn’t matter what you haven’t done or didn’t get to do before, look to what you can do, and what you have already done.

I know saying “it will get better” won’t make a difference, but I can’t find any other words to say it and I know you won’t believe me. It does get better, and you’ll have to stick around to see it. Just like sadness, happiness doesn’t last forever either. But that just means you’ll appreciate happiness more when it comes. And it will.” (By #Amrita Soon – singer songwriter)

Have a listen to her rendition of “Breathe” – mesmerising!!!

And check out her current album Familiar Strangers here: https://open.spotify.com/album/0CQIE73g3bRZ84Q5VxvsyZ?si=JWysCOwjRM-ZF4kGGB8tZw

Photo credit: Ai Sin

Amrita Soon performing at Malaysia’s Rice Bowl Startup Awards