Portraits of Anxiety

I'm working on a blog post of Cuong's trip to China and when looking through our photos, I've been inspired by a motif that keeps turning up: my face when experiencing anxiety and discomfort.

I've noticed that the worse the anxiety, the less obvious it is! And, when the anxiety centers around something vague and internal like being a good human or 'doing a good job' (which I suppose is the very definition of 'anxiety'), it's imperceptible to bystanders! Why do my worst, roiling panic attacks look like a state of gentle bemusement and my most trivial moments of mild physical discomfort look like I'm being dramatically murdered? See for yourself.

Portraits of RoilingAnxiety: 

This is me submitting my grades in the school office and pretending not to have 17 heart attacks about not doing it right:



This is me secretly having a panic attack as I tried and failed to get us an uber from my apartment. I like to call this type, "Stress-Ubering."



This is me having a regretful bout of anxiety over acting weird towards Cuong the previous day:

Another round of stress-ubering:

Mild Physical Discomfort: 

Me descending icy steps in a storm as a porter walks by carrying 7 times his body weight. Note that Cuong has already reached the bottom and he has a broken foot. 

Me receiving a basic massage. 

Me with sun in my eyes.