I'm Kim Saira, an artist and social activist, and here's a piece of my mind
HOW THIS CONTENT CREATOR FIGHTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE WHILE BALANCING HER MENTAL HEALTH AT THE SAME TIME
By Kristina Benoist
Welcome to our Piece Of My Mind series where experts, advocates, and amazing people from all backgrounds and professions share a snapshot of their mental health. We dive into their self-care routines, how they balance their work with their mental health, and how they manage those really bad days. We’re sharing this piece of their mind so that you can hopefully find some inspiration in your own mental health journey moving forward.
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Kim Saira is many things. An artist, activist, content creator, influencer. If you follow her on Instagram, her brightly colored posts will stop your daily scroll in its tracks. As a graphic designer, she’s truly pro at making things look beautiful. But the real beauty can be seen in her work as a social advocate.
As an Asian American immigrant, her work focuses on the issues and injustices that many BIPOC in our society face. From identifying stereotypes to celebrating Asian American game changers, Kim uses her power and influence for good. One of her latest posts calls out late night shows for their harmful “Spill Your Guts'' segments where celebrities are expected to be grossed out by foods common in Eastern cultures.
Living at the crossroads of social media and social justice requires so much talent, time, and spirit. We sat down with Kim to learn more about how she manages her mental health.
This is Kim Saira, and here’s a piece of her mind.
IDONTMIND (IDM): How is your mental health today? What’s your headspace like?
Kim Saira (KS): My headspace has actually been great today! I took last week off to just focus on rest. I wasn't pressuring myself to make content or anything, so it's actually been really good. I don't go to a therapist, so I'm trying to find alternative ways to take care of my mental health. And yeah, I’ve been feeling pretty good.
IDM: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.
KS: I'm an Asian American artist, influencer, and immigrant. I do a lot of social justice activism work through my art. My art has just been my vehicle for communication. In my activism work, I create art about issues that pertain to mostly Asian American communities. As an Asian immigrant myself, I very much relate to these issues. But activism and standing up for other people is supposed to be intersectional, and we should all be uplifting all BIPOC. So I also create and share artwork by and for other POC as well.
But I realized that activism doesn't pay my bills, unfortunately. So I decided to go into influencing. Hopefully, it creates more representation for Asian Americans and Southeast Asians. I actually didn't see a lot of people who look like me in the influencing industry to begin with. So hopefully I'm still making a positive impact.
IDM: What does a normal day look like for you right now?
KS: So a normal day for me starts around 7 am, and then I'll meditate for a little bit to get my day started. Then after that, I check my emails to see if I have anything happening with other organizations that want to work together. And then throughout my day, I usually brainstorm ideas for the content I want to create. If it's a graphic, I'll be researching that specific topic for a few days.
I try my best to make time for myself throughout the day. I'll try to exercise a little bit, eat some food. Those seem like two very basic things, but because I work on a freelance schedule there's no nine to five, there's no lunch hour. Sometimes I forget to eat or just don't exercise, and I really have to work to prioritize that. And then honestly, my day sometimes ends around like 4 am. I'll make time for dinner and then I'll shower and then I'll get back to creating.
“therapy is definitely a privilege, and I couldn’t continue to afford it, especially as a freelancer. So when I stopped going, I had to substitute that with alternative methods, because the work never stops in activism.”
IDM: What was your first experience really thinking about mental health?
KS: I'm an Asian immigrant, and when I was growing up, mental health was never a topic of conversation in my family whatsoever. That's when I realized that something was definitely wrong. Growing up, I really internalized the model minority myth to get good grades, to not speak out or to be too loud. I was always taught to be humble and to lower myself in my family, because that was within my culture.
And now I really understand that what it actually did was suppress my emotions, and it kind of caused my anxiety to get worse as I grew older. So I feel like I only realized the importance of mental health in my twenties. That's really because my depression and my anxiety really caught up to me. I'm 24, so it was maybe when I was like 21.
IDM: Your work is focused on heavy subjects and issues — some of it very personal to you and your identity. And obviously that can take a toll on your mental health. So how do you balance your work with taking care of your mental health?
KS: So in January and February when anti-Asian hate crimes were really increasing, I was creating a lot of content about it. It was really hard for me emotionally, because I was looking for a safe space and a community of friends that really understood what I was doing. I was creating content that was going out to the public about really hard stuff. And I kind of struggled to find that community then. I ended up going to a therapist, and I was really grateful to find a therapist that was Asian American and totally understood what I was going through. Having a therapist at the time was really helpful for me to just vent and get my emotions, anxieties, and frustrations out.
But therapy is definitely a privilege, and I couldn't continue to afford it, especially as a freelancer. So when I stopped going, I had to substitute that with alternative methods, because the work never stops in activism. So I have one or two friends that I can really lean on. I just told them I go through a lot in my work life, and that I really need them to be there for me in my personal life. And opening up that conversation really helped me create a balance between my work and my personal life. Now I know that whenever I'm feeling down or depressed, these couple of people will always be there for me — because we've created that space.
What are a few ways that you self-care? How did you find them, and how did you realize that they worked for you?
KS:
NAPPING
I nap a lot. And I actually didn't understand at first why that was so crucial in my life, because naps are just such a minor thing. But I used to feel really guilty for napping because I would associate it with being lazy. I realized though that it really energized me. And when my mind is really cluttered from the day and when I have just ongoing anxiety, I just need to decompress. Prioritizing rest and allowing myself to nap has become a huge part of taking care of my mind.
EXERCISING
One thing I've started to do more of lately is working out and exercising. It doesn't have to be a super intense HIIT workout or anything — it can be just stretching or dancing around. Moving my body really clears my brain. Sometimes I'll just be super off or super upset, but I'll go and move my body in some way. And afterward, I'll be like, 'Why was I mad about that? Wow, that wasn't as big of a deal as I thought.' That's really helped me.
HAVING A COMMUNITY TO LEAN ON
Having one or two friends that I can actually talk to about hard things has been so important. Not everyone wants to hear and talk about these hard topics in real life, which I totally understand. So having one or two friends that hold space for me to be me has been crucial. Specifically when I need someone to be there during those hard times, because I understand that not everyone can do that.
“There’s just a constant stream of information and things to be talking about at all times. So I really want to make more space to have guilt-free rest.”
IDM: Is there anything that you know you should be doing and you just can't get yourself to do it or you just don't make time for it?
KS: Definitely eating and sleeping when I should! It's something that I'm really trying to consciously work at, but it's actually really hard. Social activism combined with social media — there's no stopping point. There's just a constant stream of information and things to be talking about at all times. So I really want to make more space to have guilt-free rest.
IDM: Let’s say you’re having a really bad day, you just wake up and you know that you aren’t feeling right. What is the first thing that you do to try and get your mental health back in a good space?
KS: Drinking water and doing a 10-minute guided meditation on YouTube really helps me. All you have to do is sit there and listen. It always helps me with just getting my thoughts in order and putting me in a calm space at the beginning of the day. And drinking water honestly just kick starts my routine on the days when I need some more structure.