When I was a child, there were times when I was bored. Maybe I was sick or It was raining so I couldn't go outside to play. I'd seen all of my movies 47 times at least. Even my homework was done. When times like this came about, I would rummage through my toy box and find my coloring book and crayons. I could spend hours upon hours coloring picture after picture. A decade or so later, I realized that I still can. Yesterday was a very quiet day for me. I had no classes. I didn't particularly want to venture outside into the cold. I grew tired of watching movies. I had no new books to read. Boredom was setting in pretty quickly. I decided to organize my room a bit and while doing so I can across the coloring set that a good friend had given me for Christmas. I remembered the hours I spent coloring as a child, and so I sat down and began to color. Time flew by as I created flowers and rainbows and trees.
I had never given much thought to the mundane act coloring, until yesterday. Rather than books and movies that are are given to us, coloring is something that we give ourselves. Don't get me wrong, books and movies are quite enjoyable and I love many of them, myself. But sometimes I feel like they tell us that our lives are nothing special and that we must turn to the imagination of others to provide us with what we are lacking. It's important to remember that we can all create something beautiful. Coloring gives us proof of this. We the ordinary people can create something beautiful and uniquely our own with the investment of our time.
It is also my belief that coloring has a positive impact on personal well being. In coloring there are no set rules. You can create anything you want. You can stay inside the lines or you can completely ignore them. The sky doesn't have to be blue, grass doesn't have to be green. While coloring you can escape the pressure of the strict yet hectic world around you. You can forget everything and focus on what you want your world to be. Coloring also brings with it a concrete product of one's work. Many times in this world you work and work often not seeing any immediate results. Without seeing your progress or accomplishments, it's easy to become discouraged, but when yo mu color, you see a masterpiece taking form and it is complete when you decide it is. The finished product is right there before your eyes. Coloring helps yo u to remember that the work you do makes a difference.
Coloring, such a simple act, so simple in fact that we often forget the joy that it brought us, once upon a time. Here is your reminder. Always keep a coloring book and some crayons nearby, and the next time you're bored or stressed, pull them out sit down at your desk or even better, on the floor and color away. Create your one of a kind masterpiece. Let the world melt away and maybe discover a thing or two about yourself as well.
Here's to coloring. The art of the mundane.
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