Creating a Colorful Life

A childhood hobby became my current therapy.

Image by Author

In 2015, adult coloring was a huge trend! At the time, I thought, Why are all these adults coloring? It’s so childish!

But when a friend constantly talked about how coloring reduced her anxiety, I decided to give it a try.

At first, my patience only allowed me to color for a few minutes at a time. But before I knew it, I was spending several hours coloring intricate designs! When my mom discovered my passion, she gave me an expensive coloring book for Christmas. I treasure it to this day!

How Coloring Dates Back to My Childhood

Looking back, it makes sense that I fell back in love with my childhood hobby. I grew up collecting Lisa Frank coloring books, scented markers, and bright gel pens.

As an adult, life doesn’t always seem so colorful. Sometimes it feels dark, boring, and depressing. But when I have neon gel pens in my hand and extravagant pictures in front of me, it brings me back to my colorful childhood.

I Discovered the Cost of My Addiction

As an adult, coloring started as a relatively cheap hobby. I bought gel pens and colored pencils from Five Below and Dollar Tree. It was easy to resist the urge to buy new books. But as time went on, shopping for art supplies became my regular retail therapy.

Within two weeks, I bought two huge packages of gel pens, three packs of colored pencils, and a fancy set of 120 dual-tip markers. Luckily, that habit has died down.

Coloring Allows Me to Imagine New Worlds

A few years ago, my mom commented, “That Tiger looks weird. Why is it pink, purple, blue, and green? That’s not how tigers are supposed to look!”

I said, “It doesn’t have to be orange and black. It can be any color I want!”

And it’s true. It’s easy to choose the right colors for a tiger. But why?

Creativity isn’t about being normal; it’s about thinking outside the box.