Illustrator Draws 30 People’s Portrait In Exchange For Their Secrets

What is your darkest secret in life? A lot of us keep at least one dark secret that we’re too scared to share with people that know us. It can be fear of stigma or fear of permanent relationship crack with our loved ones. In exchange for one secret, Terence Eduarte will give these people one illustration based on those stories.

Some of these stories can be shocking or even triggering, so we’ll officially warn people before scrolling on! But some of them can be beautiful and even inspiring lessons for all of us.

More info: trnz.co

“I Always Check If My Friends Are Doing Well, But People Rarely Ask How I Am”

“I Burned The Suicide Note I Wrote A Month Ago. Today Is A Good Day”

“It Was My 28th Birthday Last Week And No One Remembered It. Not A Single Call Or Text From My Friends And Family. So I Woke Up The Next Day, Sat Outside My House And Cried Quietly. My Dog Came And Started Crying Too. It Was The Most Beautiful Thing Someone Has Ever Done For Me”

“I Try My Hardest To Make People Happy Because I Know What It’s Like To Feel Absolutely Worthless. I Don’t Want Anyone Else To Feel Like That”

“I Sometimes Feel Alone Even If I’m With Friends. I Feel Like I’m Just An Add-On When We’re Together”

“I’m Acting In A Play Where This Guy Has To Act Like He’s Secretly In Love With Me. But When The Play Ends, We Go Back To Real Life Where I’m Secretly In Love With Him”

“I Told My Unborn Son I Wasn’t Ready To Be Loved By Him. The Next Day I Miscarried”

“It’s Been Two And A Half Years But I Still Can’t Tell Those Around Me That I Am HIV Positive. So Instead Of Focusing On What I Can’t Do, I Volunteer To Help Change The Stigma Around HIV”

“Half Of My Friends Are People I Wish I’ve Never Met”

“I Want To Ask My Half-Sister If Our Estranged Dad Ever Touched Her Back When They Were Living Under The Same Roof. Or Was I His Only Victim?”

“It Sucks To Feel Unimportant. I Know You Shouldn’t Really Expect Much From People But It Hurts To See When They Only Come To You When They Need Something. They Only Remember Me, Not Because Of Me, But For Something They Might Gain”

“I Wanted To Visit My Grandmother In The Hospital But It Was A Long Walk And I Got Lazy. The Next Day, She Passed Away”

“I Tell People My Mom Died From Cancer When She Actually Died From Cirrhosis Due To Alcoholism. I Didn’t Want People To Think She Was A Horrible Mother. We Were Close No Matter How Different The Alcohol Made Her Sometimes”

“I Lost My Smile A Long Time Ago. Now I Go Everywhere Hoping Nobody Will Notice That This Isn’t My Smile Anymore”

“I Was Abused When I Was 6 Or 7. I Can’t Remember Which Age, But I Remember What The Abuser Did. He Drew Naked Figures, Showed Me Where To Touch, Made Me Touch Things… Things I Don’t Want To Remember. I Didn’t Know It Was Wrong Back Then, But I’m Grateful That It Didn’t Go Any Further. It Left A Big Impact On Me And I Always Blamed Myself For It. I Got OCD After That. My Every Action Repeated, My Daily Routines Repeated. I Wash Repeatedly, Lock And Unlock Doors Repeatedly, Read My School Books Repeatedly. I Repeat Words 50 To 100 Times Till It Satisfies Me. It Affected My Life So Much, And No One Knew Why. And No One Knew Why”

“I Got Drugged And Raped By Someone I Knew And Can’t Get Myself To Tell Anyone For Fear Of Victim Blaming. But On Most Days, I Can’t Help But Victim Blame Myself”

“I Wrote Letters To My Girlfriend Every Day. Every Day Until Her Lung Cancer Took Her Away From Me”

“I Like To Think The Best Of People But I Actually Think Most Humans Are Terrible”

“I Created An Imaginary Friend As A Coping Mechanism For My Depression. Now I Want To Make Her Disappear But She Keeps Coming Back”

“I Got Rejected By My Friends Because They Think I’m Gay. I Tried Telling Them That I’m Not But I’m Starting To Realize They Might Be Right. I’m Lost Between Myself And Our Friendship”

“I Am Generally Thankful And Happy About What I’ve Got In My Life. But I Always Feel Like There Is A Black Hole In My Heart That No One Would Understand, Some Pain Just Won’t Go Away And I’m Trying Hard To Live With It”

“I Am Constantly Thinking About What Other People Think Of Me. And I Don’t Think That’s Healthy”

“One Day, I Came Home From The University And My Mother Told Me To Cover Up My Legs In Front Of My Friends. She Didn’t Want Them To Realize I Had Gained Weight And She Said She Was Just Protecting Me From Gossip. The Comment Didn’t Leave My Mind And I’ve Been Bulimic Ever Since”

“I Don’t Know What I Want…”

“Although The Nasty Rumors That Circulated About Me Were Untrue, I Don’t Bother Correcting Them And Let People Think I’m Not A Virgin Anymore. But The Truth Is, I Haven’t Even Had My First Kiss”

“I’m Always The One Who Gets Left In A Relationship. I Thought I Was Okay. I Try To Convince Myself That I Am Okay. But There Are Nights When I Just Have Sudden Breakdowns And I Ask Myself So Many Questions. Is Something Wrong With Me… Am I Really Not Worth Fighting For?”

“I Don’t Like My Close Friends Being Close With Other People”

“Many Years Ago, I Was So Broke That I Stole A Roll Of Toilet Paper From My Office”

“I’m A Perfectionist Who Isn’t Perfect At All. It’s Exhausting”

“My First Relationship Was A Physically And Emotionally Abusive One. When That Finally Ended, It Took Me A While To Get Used To The Idea That Love Can Actually Be Expressed In Ways Other Than What I Have Experienced”