The visual remnant of my hectic battle against existentialist angst and suicidal thoughts brought on by severe stress...emotional turmoil...and severe clinical depression...It all culminated in this singular act of self mutilation...my first and my last...I burned deep into my flesh the symbol of the ankh...the egyptian symbol for "life." I did this for several reasons...in my overdriven fractured mind I didn't believe I could be certain I really existed at all or if my "life" were just some dream as I lay dying...In defiance and fear I burned myself with a metal striker heated by fire...the pain brought me an epiphany...It did not matter what the nature of my existence was...as long as I thought...and felt...I was "real"...I still "lived"...the pain I felt was real...all that mattered was the present...the fact that I do think and do live...so I continued...and modified the single strike into the symbol for life...a scar so I would remember that lesson for the rest of my life...