Birthday in Solitude / A Lonely Birthday

"Birthday reminds me of how lonely I am. Loneliness creeps in, and haunts me."

As shown in the picture, the protagonist lives in a small old flat apartment all by themselves, there are only a bed (also a couch) and a dining chair, which show that they do not and will not have any guests coming over, even the goldfishes have friends. The protagonist is celebrating their birthday alone, they only have a reflection of themselves in the mirror with them. The mirror reflects and reminds the protagonist of how lonely they are. I used a mirror on wardrobe to show one's own company and a metaphor for self-reflection, I think being alone is one of the best times for self-reflection. The protagonist is having their birthday cake while rewatching their favorite movie, the nostalgic feeling allows them to indulge in their favorite past time.

Some people find this picture sad and creepy, some find this relatable or common. I would say everyone has different perspective. So, I named this "Birthday in Solitude" or "A Lonely Birthday" because opinion may differ. I must highlight there's nothing wrong or unusual with celebrating birthday alone. Every time I'm doing things alone, people are always saying 'Why are you so lonely?' 'Why are you isolating yourself?' 'You should've called us over'. Well, I just very much enjoy my own company, being with people doesn't make me less lonely and being alone doesn't make me lonely. As I have social anxiety, being with people actually makes me feel worse and it drains me out. I guess I'm pretty much used to being both alone and lonely. At the end of the day, we only have ourselves. Therefore, we should learn how to enjoy our own company, and do not rely too much on others, no one will stay with us forever, only ourselves.

The look and feel of this piece is very much inspired and influenced by my favorite director Wong Kar Wai. I really like the unique colors and style of WKW, I also admire his way of storytelling.