Colour yourself calm

Some of the things I enjoyed most as a child were colouring, reading  and eating chocolate and funnily enough they have all stayed with me right into adulthood. I also enjoy the occasional nap and at this point I am thinking more naps would have been a better resolution than getting fit because I know which one I am excelling at thus far. 

Some of the best parts of being an adult is having the freedom to forget I am one occasionally and that's usually why you will find me escaping into a really good book given half a chance. Life can get pretty stressful as an adult with all sorts of stresses and worries that no one had bothered to warn me about when I was a teenager and wishing my life away.  
While colouring was always something I had enjoyed on some level, it wasn't something I can say I have done a whole lot of in recent years outside of work events ( in the children's section of a bookshop) and in my role as Auntie Laura ( a role that I take very seriously). Its not that I didn't want to colour but I had this overwhelming feeling that it would be quite embarrassing to admit as a women in her thirties that it was something I had an interest in, a bit like taking someone back to your room and it being covered in teddies. Times have since changed and colouring books for adults are now being seen as an actual thing ranging from the hilarious (ryan gosling ) to the ingenious ( art therapy, anti stress colouring book).
This is something that makes me very excited indeed because now not only is there a range of excellent books catering for adults but it's also socially acceptable to be seen buying them.

After some pretty subtle hints ( subtle like a brick, I am) my boyfriend bought me the anti stress I had my eye on in work and kind of made my Christmas. I think this year my fear of getting terrible presents ( a ex once got me Celine Dion perfume) overwhelmed my love of being surprised. Once I got my book home I got stuck right in as I already have markers at home for other valid reasons I wont go into right now. So Far I have completed about 12 pictures and along the way I have learned a few things. 1) those pictures take a lot longer to complete than you would imagine (2-3  hours a picture) 2) I am absolutely meticulous when it comes to finishing each one. 3) this can lead to claw hand which is where you get a cramp in your hand from holding the marker ( uncomfortable but not fatal) 4) this also leads to my hand being absolutely destroyed with marker. 5) colouring really is like a form of therapy. I find it incredibly soothing, as a chronic worrier it really allows me to switch off.

It does make me smile thinking that if two years ago I had told someone I spent a relaxing night on my couch in my pj's colouring in, I'd have gotten some pretty weird looks but now not only do people not blink upon hearing it, instead there are murmurs of envy because it sounds so relaxing and they wish they had a colouring book too. I am very glad my time has come but I really must go now because I have some colouring to do. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The darker side of romance

Image
  For some reason I felt compelled to write about a corner of my past that hasn't been part of my blog before. a heads up to anyone who might be upset by this topic I will be delving into emotional abuse so feel free to stop reading now if you don't feel able to carry on. When I was in my late 20's I met a guy on a night out. He was a few years younger than me and honestly looking back threw up a couple of red flags early but I didn't trust my own intuition plus I was only a few months away from finishing college and planned to move to Edinburgh in a few months so it wasn't like it was going to be anything more than a brief fling. However as time went on I became more infatuated with him, there was an intensity there and he seemed sweet but damaged. Like a perfect modern fairytale I thought I would be the one to fix him. somehow plans changed and he was going to follow me over to Edinburgh, get a job there and we were going to live happily ever after. at this point
Read more

Help, I think I'm autistic

Image
 So I, at the age of 41, have come to the realization that I am autistic.  Growing up I always had a feeling something about me was a little bit off. I never quite fit in and I wasn't sure why. It was like everyone had been given a book of rules of how to exist in society but no one had thought to hand me a copy. Looking back with hindsight the signs were there. I was a super sensitive kid, a sensitivity I have not lost in adulthood, I cried very easily and felt every emotion very deeply. I was a picky eater and very particular about the textures of different food. I was very sensitive to light and noise and the feel of different fabrics. I was never a hugger. all of these things are as true about me now as they were when I was younger. I am socially awkward, I don't make friends that easily and will joke I am an acquired taste. Eye contact is something I have to actively work on and small talk feels like torture.  I thrive on alone time, I am incredibly sensitive to the moods
Read more

Sometimes I open my mouth and my mother comes out ..

Image
I have been told on more than one occasion that I'm sarcastic. Often that I'm too sarcastic (as though there could be such a thing) and I have retort up my sleeve for such occasions which is if you think I'm sarcastic you should meet my mother. No, really you should because my sarcasm is but a pale imitation of hers. Every so often though I come out without something that makes my friends or other family members pause because sometimes when I open my mouth, my mother comes out.  It's funny how people always take the words you are turning into your mother as such an insult because the reality of the matter is it's a both a good and bad thing. Obviously there are certain qualities I am perfectly happy to emulate and others not so much and on the whole I am not entirely sure how much control I have over it. It's not quite a pick and mix counter here. I think there are some habits you are not even aware you have picked up until someone else kindly points it out.
Read more