Photo taken by contributor Samantha Pugsley, a conceptual fine art photographer in her twenties from Charlotte, North Carolina. She first picked up a camera during her junior year of college. This was right around the time when she was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Things that were once easy became impossible for her. Getting dressed in the morning, shopping at the grocery store, driving her car…just living, was a panic attack waiting to happen. Photography helped her heal. With her camera she could start a conversation about what was going on in her head. She could say things with her images that she didn’t know how to say out loud.

About this photo: “I am anxious about death. This can make even common everyday things like driving a car or walking across a parking lot an anxiety-inducing nightmare. Sometimes it helps me to picture death conceptually. I try to think of it as energy returning to the earth, and becoming one with nature.”

Find more from Samantha at flickr.

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