Friends laugh and cry with us. They add light to our darkest seasons when we’re lost and trying to figure out life. For Team Wise, it feels good to know that they have each other to talk to and bring their happy energy back during tough times.

In the first part of Tara, G! Kape’t Kwentuhan, wherein Team Wise tackles all things adulting, Vivoree Esclito and CJ Salonga open up about the lowest points in their lives.

CJ gets candid about his struggles with depression, which started when his grandfather, one of his favorite persons, had a stroke just before the pandemic. He was so scared that he resorted to heavy drinking hoping the alcohol would somehow numb his feelings. But it only made him feel more depressed. It was hard to do things that shouldn’t be like sleeping and eating, “Araw-araw ‘di ako kumakain. Nasa kwarto lang ako.”

Anthony Jennings shared there was a time when CJ really felt unmotivated, “Dumating sa point na si CJ, nagkwento siya sa amin na ayaw na niyang magtrabaho. Hindi niya alam gagawin niya.”

Eventually, with the help of his family, CJ managed to start small in taking care of himself again. Getting cast in Tara, G! was also like a little help from the universe as it introduced him to friends who will lift him from his hardship. He said his newfound ‘kuyas’ Anthony and JC Alcantara have given him sage pieces of advice and encouragement.

CJ still feels the weight of sadness from time to time but he’s coping. He muses, “Normal umiyak. Normal maging malungkot. Huwag lang araw-araw,” with Anthony adding, “Hangga’t may tao na nandiyan sumusuporta sa’yo, may pamilya ka pa, may kakapitan ka pa. Huwag kang mawawalan ng pag-asa. Darating naman ang bright side. Sisikat at sisikat ang araw.”

As for Vivoree, it’s only recently that she started to realize how unhappy and complicated her childhood was. She admitted to growing up in an unhealthy environment. Her parents used to fight a lot when she was little, and as the eldest, she had to mature fast to look after her siblings. She felt like her parents expect so much from her, thus turning her into a perfectionist. Also as a result of the unbalanced family dynamic, Vivoree became so jaded, “Growing up, na-realize ko na I have a wounded inner child. Parang, I will never be completely happy talaga.”

She used taking care of other people as coping mechanism, unaware that giving too much of herself will eventually feel draining, “Strong ako, ‘yun ang pinaniniwalaan ko. Makakalimutan mo ‘yung sarili mo talaga kasi inuuna mo ‘yung ibang tao. You take good care of other people. Pero ‘pag mag-isa na ako, nare-realize ko, ‘Ano na ‘yung tinitira ko sa sarili ko?' Kasi binibigay ko na lahat sa ibang tao, eh… Habang tumatanda ako, mas na-realize ko, ang lungkot ko pala. Growing up, hindi ko talaga inuna ‘yung sarili ko.”

Strong as she is, Vivoree turned her tough experiences into power tools. The sense of responsibility and maturity she once saw as burdens, she now considers her strengths. And because she’s already gone through a lot, Vivoree feels like she can survive anything, rejections even, “Every failure, every rejection, lahat ‘yun ginagamit ko to fuel the fire in me to just keep going.”

Team Wise commends Vivoree for her courage, saying they appreciate how good of an ‘Ate’ she is to all of them despite being younger than most of them.

Know more about Vivoree and CJ’s struggles and how they dealt with them by watching the video!

Catch them with their Team Wise barkada Anthony Jennings, Kaori Oinuma, JC Alcantara, Zach Castaneda, and Daniela Stranner on the coming-of-age series Tara, G! via iWantTFC.