Who says you can't cry.

while watching drama...

Photo by Corina Rainer on Unsplash

Recently I have been catching up on many shows and interestingly they all revolved around mental wellness and how to live well with yourself and your deepest fear. At some points of these shows, I just broke down and my emotion becomes so raw together with the characters' vulnerabilities and their acceptance for one another.

1. It’s Okay, That's Love

This was a drama dated way back in 2014, quite an ancient one but still one of the highlight to binge again! A psychiatrist suffered from childhood trauma of adultery by her mum and disgust by any intimate acts. A writer who had an abusive childhood looked so cheery and witty on the surface.

A story that touched the string deeply in my heart about how love might look like in real life. In some sense, all of us have our own unique insecurities that might have developed unknowingly as we grow up or some insecurities that we are aware of yet unable to overcome and accept them as our own vulnerability. And to be loved and to love, it takes so much courage to expose these insecurities and give another “stranger” a chance to work through all these together.

Before you get into a relationship, you could potentially look out for characteristics of how you'd like it to be based on a celebrity couple or friends around you. And honestly they are the model couple I wish for my own!

“You don’t become the weaker one because you love more. You become the weaker one because you’re not free at heart. Not the worry of needing to get back as much as you give, but knowing that being able to love – that is enough to be okay and happy. That’s what it means to be free at heart.” – Jang Jae Yeol (It’s Okay That’s Love)

“I have thought in my head 10000 times how love would feel like, and if I do find the person that I fell in love with, I might be able to experience it. I’m looking forward to that.” – Ji Hae Soo (It’s Okay That’s Love)

Maybe first we have to accept that everyone is imperfect and learn to be comfortable with our own insecurities before we are able to share it with others.

2. Switched

This is a Netflix original series in Japanese based on manga series "Sora wo Kakeru Yodaka" by Shiki Kawabata. I personally think it’s quite a conventional plot about body switching but the way that this concept is filmed and how the underlying thoughts behind were brought out in such a refreshing and eerie portrayal that you can’t help but get sucked in.

I am so stoked with how quick the turn of events across episodes and the evolution of characters from start to end. I always love the grey in character portrayal - that no one is absolutely good or bad, and often times what we see is not the absolute truth.

A really good show to go deep dived in how overemphasis on physical image can take a toll on confidence and personal growth. It also highlights the very significant fact that confidence comes from within and not from external validation, and everyone has the potential to overturn their framed situation and replace it with a positive outlook as long as we believe in the strength in us.

"Even if your face changed, but your inside is still the same, you know that." - Zenko's Mum.

Looks are deceiving, let's focus on watering the insides and let it shine through from inside out, because true beauty need not be seen, they are felt.

3. It's Okay Not To Be Okay

This is the currently trending 2020 Korean drama! Honestly, I have to give credit to the superb acting, especially Sang-tae. This show truly reflects both perspectives - the caregiver and the patients who suffer from mental illness. It can get so taxing to take care of those who are having episodes yet on top of that you also have to endure the harsh remark from the public. And I also watched the behind-the-scenes of this show, and I really feel that the whole production team put in a lot of effort to curate every scenes and make sure the emotions are all accurately presented.

I think one more unique thing about this show is that it highlights how our upbringing really does shape us and it is so important that as we become an adult, we learn to unlearn all those negative energy that were imposed on us. As a child, we might have been very passive in the way we absorb our surrounding and words that were told to us, we would simply perceive all that as the truth. But when we are adults, we are more authoritative of our own life and how we wish it to be, and i think it's time we unlearn our past and believe in the future we are capable of building.

"When you can't control yourself, count to three." - Moon Gang Tae

"To make my surroundings happy, I have to be happy first. Selfishness is not necessarily a bad thing. " - Ko Moon Young

No one needs to suffer alone, and to help someone, we need first be able to help ourselves and be strong in our heart that it's okay to not be okay, so we say 1, 2, 3 and we take a break.

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Been taking a lot of off time to watch all these dramas because school has started and I am feeling very overwhelmed with the variety of things ongoing at the same time. So deep breath in, deep breath out, 1, 2, 3, I can do it! Good luck all with life endeavours, we will brave through them together!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the photos.