How do you stay balanced

I have always struggled with mental health. I am quite an anxious person and also suffer from bouts of depression. In recent years I have found techniques that helped me stay balanced. 風は吹けども山は動ぜず - “Though the wind blows, the mountain does not move”. With inner strength, outside influences will not shake you.

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During my first intense depressive episode a few years ago, I was clutching at everything and everyone who might give me some relief from the pain I was feeling. During that time I discovered mindfulness and meditation. Through a mix of CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and mindfulness, I found that repeating a positive mantra to myself, was helping me from slipping into a downward spiral. Telling myself that I was strong and I could get through this, was keeping me grounded. This might sound like I am saying “just tell yourself it will be ok” but that is by no means what I am saying. It takes constant effort and training not to let go and let negative thoughts drag you down.

The idea of strength

At times when I felt low, I was ruminating on the idea that I didn’t have inherent inner strength. “Maybe if I was born with it…” (maybe it’s Maybelline). But strength isn’t inherent. Just like any creative talent, strength can be acquired, it can be built and nurtured. Some of us have a stronger foundation but we all have to work on our inner strength. During this self-reflection I came across an old Japanese proverb 風は吹けども山は動ぜず, meaning “though the wind blows, the mountain does not move”, which roughly translates to “with inner strength, outside influences will not shake you”. Although it sounds like you should “be” the mountain in order to be strong, I took it as “see the mountain as inspiration”, you can become as strong as the mountain with practice, until the wind doesn’t blow you over any more. Basically, fake it ’til you make it.

Kaze Wa Fuke GIF 4x5 — _{Illustration & Animation by Sonja Geracsek}

New challenges, same rules

During this year’s global pandemic, depression started knocking on my door again. I was having trouble focusing on my creative work and a hard time finding joy in everyday life. Having practiced mindfulness for a few years now, it was slightly easier (although it’s never easy!) than back then, to stay balanced. I remembered that Japanese saying, which still means a lot to me. I decided to share my personal struggle and bring the proverb to life in the form of a line art animation. It serves as a reminder that I can be the mountain. You can find the strength within you, you don’t need to be born with it.

Creating the illustration as well as animating it, felt like I was reconnecting with the meaning and was bringing it to life. I tried to incorporate the mindset of developing inner strength to withstand the turmoil of your environment. Personally I find, that the simplicity of the visuals as well as the calm of the animation carries the feeling of the proverb. It serves as a visual reminder what it stands for. When I look at it, I feel the same calm that I felt when I used to repeat the saying to myself.

I hope that, sharing my journey about overcoming my struggles helps you tackle yours. If you are suffering from mental health problems, I encourage you to seek help. Don’t climb that mountain by yourself! And if you need someone to talk to, send me a message.

You are not alone!

– Sonja

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Great explained tips that every motion designer should know. Thank you :)

Great teaching style; very clear and thorough. Some very high level best practice advice in here too. Looking forward to the other two lessons in this series and the other classes by Sonja.

Great tips which can shorten the path for beginners to become faster animators.

Learned loads of helpful tips and tricks to make my workflow much more efficient - thank you!

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Great contents and value in your channel ! ;) I have to recover the old streams on the motion side !

Love your stuff! I would love to see some short-form video content from you in the vein of tutorials or showcasing your workflow.

I love what you do.

Really enjoying these live streams!

Really cool to be learning new things watching you Sonja. Keep it up!

Thanks for sharing! It's so great to see other people's workflows, and that tip about the multiple passes to get the hand-drawn effect is really helpful!

Thanks for the Stream. Good work, as always. It is a lot of work just for the setup of the animation.

That was a nice process to watch! Thanks for sharing.

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