The Beauty of Life

Temwa Chunda Gr12Y

English Fourth Genre Storyboard
 Table of Contents:
Introduction: Page 1
Scene I: Page 2
Scene II: Page 3
Scene III: Page 4
Scene IV: Page 5
Scene V: Page 6-7
Scene VI: Page 8
Introduction:
Why have memories when they will eventually be forgotten. Why hold onto to
meaningful things if they eventually become meaningless. Why live, just to die.
These are my frequently asked questions. Everyone has a supposed purpose in life,
even if they don’t know what it is. There are various interpretations of what the
purpose of life is, as it is subjective. Many people define it as a career path, they
define it as their “calling” in life. I, on the other hand, find it difficult to define the
purpose of life. I feel as though it is difficult to see the purpose of life when you can’t
see the beauty of life. Finding the hope and strength to continue through calamities
makes it all the more confusing as to our existence’s purpose.
I am a person that loves control over situations, and I become quite anxious when
things do not go according to my plans. That being said, I unironically lack security in
multiple aspects of life, which add to my problem in trying to define the purpose of
life. Lacking security in things that are supposed to be secure, like religion and
relationships contribute to these feelings of defeat and hopelessness. These
insecure places contributed all to my burnout, where everything in my life began to
just get worse and worse. I could not find the energy to do the simplest things, and I
felt as if I were completely hopeless. I felt lonely, and I could not reach out to people
for help, even though I wanted to. Day by day my life took a spiral down for the
worst, and I felt like there was no point in having a purpose in life. All the beautiful
colours that described life for most people around me was a measly black and grey
for me. All the beauty in life that I used to see as a child had disappeared, and my
life was at a complete standstill.
As I began to try and pick my elf up, I put up a facade to make people believe I was
okay. That facade has been part of my life for a while now, and as I make my way
through life, I hope I will be able to drop it eventually, and just be honest with my
realities.
Even though life still has a long journey ahead, with many more trials and
tribulations, I am slowly learning that even the smallest drop of hope can be found, if
searched for.
Scene I: Distance

Most people have a time in their lives where they begin to isolate themselves from
everyone, mainly trying to understand who we are, and what we want to do. We
isolate ourselves as we try to figure out our purpose. As we begin to grow, we realise
our shifts in interests, and realise that we don’t know ourselves as much as we
thought we did. Sometimes, the distance from the people is what is needed to
discover more about ourselves.
As I am in that time in my life, where I have to have an idea of where I want to be
and what I want to do in the future, I take every opportunity I get to be alone and find
out my interests. The soft natural light shown in the picture portrays the light of my
future, showing that it is shining, though it may not be as bright. The skies are still
clear and calm, and I feel as if I still have control over my life, even without knowing
exactly the unknowns of the future. My solitude grounds me, and I am able to
balance my alone time with the quality time spent with people I love. I may be alone
at times, but I am not lonely. Everything is still going at my pace.
Scene II: Burnout

My life took a very unexpected turn of events, as academics had started to become a
main priority, and I no longer had the liberties of exploring and enjoying my interests.
Being constantly told that the marks I get now are what are going to determine my
future placed me in a box, and I was losing myself, as others were finding
themselves.
The close-up shot with the blurred background represents how I was stuck. I kept
falling deeper into a hole of despair and it felt like I was multiple steps behind all my
friends. As they were enjoying life, I was locked in my box of strictly focusing on my
academics, without being able to enjoy the beauties and liberties of youth. All the
colours of life I used to see began to fade. My Christianity even began to fade, as I
understood less about God and religion, and I felt I couldn’t keep ep with it mentally.
I began to feel an unfamiliar feeling. A feeling of burnout.
I was becoming burnt-out emotionally and physically as most of my energy was used
on school, and not enough on my mental health. I began to isolate myself once
again, however, this time was without the intention of self-discovery, or just purely
enjoying my alone time. This time was due to feelings of being lonely, as I lost my
pace, and everyone was too far ahead of me to catch up. I wanted to refrain from
being the burden on them, as I did want to see my friends flourish to their full
potential. I truly began to understand the difference between being alone, and being
lonely. I began to understand the true feeling of being burnt-out. I understood the
ugliness behind sadness.
Scene III: Drowning

As I fell deeper into loneliness and feelings of numbness, I began to feel like I’m
drowning. I would spend most of my time pondering how peaceful life would if I
would just not be living. I would imagine myself in this peaceful place, consisting of
nothing but happiness.
All the beautiful things I used to once admire in life, became nothing but null images I
could see with my eye, due to the way they absorb light. I often found myself staring
at the sky, wondering when it will all end.
This image was something I related to, without having to use any words. All my
feelings that I was unable to describe came to light by this single image. The high
key lighting and the colours used in the image made me realise how I became. All
those elements portray emptiness. The lack of physical objects in the image, apart
from rain show how I felt my life was like. Every day was a rainy day. Every day I
was drowning in the heavy rains of my life.
Scene IV: Submerged

As I finally sunk to my ultimate low, I felt everything almost come to a stand-still. I

had reached one of the darkest moments in my life, and I was unsure of how I was
going to get out of that place. Everything was dark in my eyes, and each day that I
woke up, I felt like it is no-where close to a blessing. Each day that I woke up, was
just another day that I was alive.
The low-key lighting demonstrates what I felt like my life had come to. I was full
submerged into this darkness, lacking any light or hope for my future. I felt it was
better to stop breathing, than continue to struggle. Trying to tackle each day was
tiring.
The medium shot accompanied by the eye-level camera angle shows that there
were people who saw eye to eye with me, however, I was still lonely. I felt as though
I’d only make their situations worse by trying to find comfort. I was fully submerged
into my darkness. I was surrounded by beautiful things, and friends, but I was unable
to not feel lonely, no matter who and how many people surrounded me.. I had lost
the beauty and purpose of life.
Scene V: It’s Not the Same Anymore

I'll keep the pictures saved in a safe place

Wow, I look so weird here
My face has changed now
It's a big shame
So many feelings, struggling to leave my mouth
And it's not that rare for me to let myself down
In a big way
But I had enough time and I found enough reason to accept that
It's not the same anymore
I lost the joy in my face
My life was simple before
I should be happy, of course
But things just got much harder
Now it's just hard to ignore
It's not the same anymore
It's not the same anymore
It's not the same, but it's not a shame 'cause
I spend a long time putting up with people
Putting on my best face
It's only normal when you stop things in the wrong way
It's only four o'clock and still, it's been a long day
I just wanna hit the hay
People knocking on me like every day
I'm tired of taking stress
If only there could be another way
I'm tired of feeling suppressed
And when they want me the most
I'm tired of acting like I care, but I do
And I can't wait to hit the bed
But tomorrow makes me scared
'Cause it's not the same anymore
I lost the joy in my face
My life was simple before
I should be happy, of course (of course)
But things just got much harder
Now it's just hard to ignore
It's not the same anymore (it's not the same)
(It's not the same)
(It's not the same)
It's not the same anymore (it's not the same)
(It's not the same)
(It's not the same)
I kept the feelings inside
I open up when sh*** gets built up this high
She makes it easy to cry
The words fall out of me and there's no more disguise
I miss the days when I was someone else
I used to be so hungry
Right now, my stomach's full of air
And I've spent many months just hating on myself
I can't keep wishing things will be different
Or leaving problems on the shelf
I wish I didn't need to get help
But I do
But I do
I've been so hard on myself, yeah
Even my family can tell
And they barely saw what I felt
I wouldn't wish this on my enemy or anyone else
It's not the same
(It's not the same)
(It's not the same)
It's not the same as before
It's not the same anymore
And it's fine because
I've learned so much from before
Now I'm not sure on advice
There's no excuses at all
No point in feeling upset
Won't take my place on my floor
I'll stand up straight like I'm tall
It's up to me, no one else
I'm doing this for myself
It's not the same anymore
It's better
It got better
It's not the same anymore
It's better
Yeah, yeah

As I continued to sink deeper into my dark place, I heard a song. A song made by
Rex Orange County, which resonated with me as I was in this dark place. The song’s
lyrics made me realise how lost I was, and in a sense, helped me begin my healing
process. The last few lyrics are “it’s better.” I did not realise how much those words
could impact me, as they were all I needed to hear to begin to try again, even if
everything will not be the same. The lyrics made me understand the true power of
music, and how it can heal. I began my escape from my dark place with the use of
music.
Scene VI: Healing

I was eventually able to escape the place I was in; however, I am not completely out
yet. I still have those lingering thoughts often, and I still feel insecure in my
relationships and religion, but I am healing. I realise it is okay to not be okay
sometimes, what matters is that you get the help that is needed. I started to see light,
and to feel happiness. I started to acknowledge the people that were there for me
and could help me, even if it were only one person at times. I started to appreciate
the beautiful things in life once again, and my interest began to develop once again.
I was no longer surrounded by darkness, as I began to see a dim light. Which gave
me my drop of hope for which I was searching. The dim lighting in the picture
demonstrates how I am seeing the light once again, and the two figures looking out
to the city represent how I am starting to acknowledge the beauties of life once
again. The second figure represents the person I can confide in, even without
necessarily using my words. The image as a whole represents how I am finding my
peace, and I am healing.