Wonder Day 10.20.15

I'd want and will change the way I act with others. I want to have a happy life and not regret anything.  - high school student, Texas USA

Wonder Day 9.28.15

I am happy. The stars make me feel safe.  - Stephanie, middle school student, Texas  USA

Wonder Day 9.1.15

Old me: read gossip magazines. New me: reading nourishing things. My heart is happier.  - mailed to Wonder Anew

Wonder Day 8.14.15 - Vanessa Rivera

Upon graduation I began to get really worried about my future. I questioned if I would live up to the standards I held myself up to and the reputation I built in the eyes of others. I battled hard and even started to feel depressed, like my life wasn't going to be as great as I imagine it to be. At the same time, I battled detachment from someone that was important in my life. Thinking about this person took me into a past that no longer exists and thinking about my future did the same.

Through living in a state of gratefulness, I find that all the things I want to happen in my life manifest themselves. The energy of gratefulness puts us in a place where we are ready and able to receive. Some days are still hard and I still battle with these thoughts, but the time span is now shorter because I am aware. I am responsible for my happiness. - Vanessa Rivera

Image: Vanessa Rivera. Cortona, Italy.

Wonder Day 8.10.15

I have always had a smile on my face or at least I always try because I don't want sadness to overcome. I smile at people hoping that they smile back. This shows me they are okay. I hope the world smiles back. Although I might be sad, I smile hoping that a part of me is happy and hoping the suffering will go away. It does work.  - middle school student, Texas USA

Wonder Day 6.10.15

A personal change I would like to make in my life is: I would like to get better grades. I think I would achieve this by trying harder to focus when I study and plan things ahead of time. I would also like to be more reliable as a person and a friend. I would like to have a better relationship with my family. I would also like to be happy with the person I am and recognize my strong suits. I could achieve this by being more confident in myself and my decisions and try to communicate with my friends and family. By making these changes, I can live a happier life and be more confident in myself. I would also like to not rely on other people and be more independent. - high school student, Florida

Wonder Day 5.21.15

Something that I have changed in my life is that now I am happy and by being happy I can make someone else's life happy if they have been sad. By being happy, I can erase all the awful things that have happened in my life by being happy. I don't worry about what people say about me. Being happy is feeling good and everybody likes feeling good. Last year I got mad a lot and I think that I really started to lose my friends. When I'm happy I feel free but when I'm sad, I feel like I'm behind bars and then I feel frustrated. So now I feel very happy and being mad creates problems cause then I always get mad. So I try to stay happy. So this is what has change in my life. Now I'm happy and I'm gonna make someone else's life happy.  - middle school student, NC

Wonder Day 3.20.15

A positive change in my life that I have made was that I stopped being so negative all the time. This year I have decided to be more happy and positive because in the past I've went through a lot. My parents split up a lot and finally got divorced when I was 12 and so I moved houses a lot. Lots of things changed so I was always depressed. I would juts sit there and cry for no reason sometimes and now it's different. I am more positive and happy and always try to make the best of things. Even though I'm still poor and have 2 crazy siblings, and don't have the best life. I am still happy. - middle school student NC

Wonder Day 3.13.15

a year ago, I became severely depressed and considered taking my life, i talked to my parents, went to counseling and am happy again - middle school student

Wonder Day 1.23.15

One positive change I want to make in my life is to be happy and not live for others but for myself and achieve everything I want to in life.

I feel that I tend to fall into deep depressions or anxieties due to caring more for others than myself, I tend to stray away from the things I love or lose sight of the more pressing matter because of other people’s problems.

To work towards my happiness I have been expressing myself more in my art, trying to make the best out of every situation and learn so that I can achieve more in the future. As well as getting outside help for my depression.

I feel like everything is working out and the things that weren’t coming together, are.

I also have been looking at the people I have been hanging out with, and haven’t liked what I have seen, so I plan on changing the people I hang out with as well. So that I can become the successful and happy person I know I am, one with a soul that is at rest.

I hope my card reflects this. The background can be interrupted as my dreams, the centerpiece is where I want to be, and the side pieces go from top left (first picture) to the top right (last picture), slowly going into color as I grow and become the person I want to be (center picture). - art academy student, Parsons the New School for Design