When creating this animation project ‘The Anxious Guide’, I wanted to show other ways to approach thinking about anxiety. It is difficult for me to discuss anxiety as it is a major factor in my life and still is at the completion of this project. The inspiration of gaining a better understanding of my own anxiety and sharing what I found to others drew me towards this idea of creating a guide to better understand anxiety for others.

I had a few goals to address these ideas, the first was to find a way to avoid viewer engagement being discouraged by large amounts of writing. A second goal was to have a visually softer way to approach this usually adverse topic. This approach was influenced, in large part, by self-help zine work which exemplified the simplistic yet informative style. I shaped this project through my own experiences and through it, my project helped me realize things I have not thought of myself. Things such as self compassion, how miss-balanced my negative and positive emotions are, and how to better think of anxiety. In the end I hope that, though with brief coverage of the subject, this guide may help people better understand and co-exist with their anxiety.