Drawing to relax

It has been a long time since I pulled out some colouring in pencils and drew. I forgot how therapeutic and relaxing it can be.

It was another late night. My eyes were stinging from looking at a screen for most of the day and I was just feeling flat. As I pulled out my phone to start my monotonous empty use of social media, I became instantly unmotivated to start scrolling. Not only did I not want to sit on my little box and expose myself to even more screen time, I also didn’t feel hungry or tired or energetic or lazy. What did I want to do?

It was at this moment that I had a strong desire to start drawing. I thought about when I had last drawn. Sometime ago. I quickly thought of all the things I could or should be doing, but I quickly dismissed the idea as I grabbed the coloured pencils from my draw and began to scrounge around for the differently coloured pencils and a drawing pad.

Once I had everything in place my thoughts drifted to what now? I needed something to draw. My mind settled on a turtle. I have always struggled to draw without having something to sketch or examine, so I quickly googled a photo of a turtle that had the composition I wanted. The patterned shells and round and curved flippers would be ideal and easy to draw. I started with my first line. A smooth stroke that followed the back shell. Before I knew it, the next ten minutes turned into half and hour and then an hour. My concern with the time becoming a distant memory as I became more involved in the drawing.   

At times like this, I forget how much I have missed a hobby like drawing and just how therapeutic it can be. After I had finished and I looked down at my work, (with which I was rather impressed) and thought about how the world hadn’t flipped upside down. I hadn’t become drastically behind on my assignments. I hadn’t missed thirty emails, ten phone calls and a partridge in a pear tree. Everything was fine and I felt calmer.