Favorite Athletes, Group Work and Optimism: Recent Teen Creative and Personal Writing

This artwork attempts to show that good memories are more important than bad ones. This is because a seesaw does not show a consequence but a reminder that the sun is lighter than the sun. It is a sign that the more meaningful a memory is to you, the happier it is.

-- Sylvie in China

This image conveys to me the idea of focusing on the positive aspects of life and putting more energy into them than the negative. This image, which is similar to the "glass half full" mentality, promotes optimism and a positive outlook on life. It also encourages us to give more importance to the positive moments in our lives, as represented by the image with the sun.

-- Audrey, Los Angeles

This image seems to communicate how we should think, I believe. My experience shows that most people, including me, have a negative reaction to events in their lives. This image depicts negative emotions and thoughts using the storm cloud. The sun is on the opposite side of the scale. It weighs it down. This represents positive thoughts, feelings, and thoughts. Instead of allowing the storm cloud to weigh down our thoughts and make us feel negative, it is better to let the sun control everything. Positive thoughts will make the storm cloud of negativity lighter. Our first reaction to negative situations will be to focus more on the positive, and we will begin to feel optimistic instead of pessimism.

This image could be taken literally to mean that the Sun weighs less than a cloud. That is why the scale tilts toward the Sun. This image shows how emotions can be distorted, but not in the way one might imagine. The Sun is a symbol of joy and the cloud is a symbol of sadness. It would be easy to believe that sadness would make you feel miserable and cause you to lose your energy. Sometimes, being upbeat can exhaust you and make you feel miserable. A smile can do a lot for a person's mental health, especially if they are constantly around other people. This picture is a reminder of how emotions can weigh us down. Happiness is weight. It is our right to feel what we really feel in any moment, without worrying about how others might react.

This image is a good example of how negative things can outweigh positive. You might find yourself focusing on the negative and not on the positive. For instance, someone could say 10 good things but only 1 bad thing. People are prone to allow things to ruin their day, or worse yet, their mental health.

Clare, Hoggard High school

According to them, the sun is brighter than the clouds and optimism outweighs pessimism. It doesn't. The clouds block sunlight, casting shadows onto the ground. Pessimism can block optimism and cast dark shadows onto someone's life. Clouds have a negative connotation. They are associated with sadness, darkness, storms and bring down the spirits. They bring life, protection from the sun's blazing rays, and rain. Even though clouds have all their negatives, they are essential for life. Without rain, darkness, or bleakness, the sun will make us shine. The sun is said to bring life and warmth. The sun can also bring droughts and heat that can lead to death. But too much sun can be very harmful, as can too little. Too many sunny days can lead to too much sun, so it is important to balance the two. We need both the sun and its positivity, as well as the clouds and their pessimism, in order for the world and us to survive.