I had been meaning to write this for a while and was prompted by the recent 'What advice would you give your younger self' forum post.

I had been aware of UMD for years but only singed up in late 2023, I have always found socializing and putting myself out there difficult, being different to most others as a child, being an outsider in education and diagnosed late as an adult with Asperger's.

My mental health gradually declined in the years leading up to covid and lockdown made it worse, I have been on a process of recovery since 2022 when I participated in a Spiritual detox and Natural medicine treatment retreat abroad which I have done on and off since

An important thing I have come to realize in recent times is the ignoring suppressing and forgetting of your inner-child adds and leads to negative mental and physical issues because although you grow and change part of you is still who you were then and at any other time of life

Being a visual person and when I was starting to notice Ai image generators in late 2023 I just messed around with a basic one 'Perchance' I think it was called with not good results, then I saw early Bing results and gave it a try and as I did it more it became more than just messing around, it was a visual cathartic release and expression of my mental health struggles, looking back now I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't come across it.

One thing I have always struggled with is being proud of myself and my work, I have been wanting to share more on here for over a year, I resist because it sometimes feels like giving part of myself away, bare with me because I am getting there.

Thank you

Mess is such a strong sensory experience: its smell, sound (slurpy noises and the pounding of your own excited heart), wetness and stickiness against your skin, taste, and of course how it looks. Ai gives you 1/5th of that experience (looks). Nothing beats the real thing, and its power two heal your mental health from my experience.

Embrace the mess rather than the just the thought of it, you won't regret it. Dreaming and never doing may lead to regrets. Be well, be safe, and live your best life. x

Thanks for sharing something so personal, and glad to hear A.I. helped you with artistic expression. Your pictures have such a fun aesthetic to them!

I recently looked through my childhood art and schoolwork my folks had saved and I must say, I found a way to shoehorn WAM into many a school assignment. (One such assignment was to write a horror story, and of course my protagonist had to fall into a slimy, flooded basement during her fight to escape the haunted house.) So yeah, I appreciate how A.I. can be an extension of that youthful joy.