Art for Therapy in Difficult Times
A lot has changed in our world in the last few months. It seems that as I write this, we are in the thick of things as it relates to the Corona virus. This has been a time of confusion, anxiety, and extreme difficulty for most of us. We are all suffering in some way with this externally, but we are also suffering silently in the battlefield of our minds as well.
I would like to take a moment to just encourage you. As someone who deals a lot with anxiety, I know it's vitally important to make sure to fill your mind with good things, positive things, and things that will combat the negative effects of an anxious mind. You have to be intentional about it or the anxiety will try to consume you. Yes, we need to be aware of things going on in our world right now but, find a news outlet that you can trust with giving you the important facts and less of the more fear provoking hype. Only look at it once a day and preferably not before bed. Look for good news in the midst of all the bad going on right now. You might have to seek it out as it's not always that popular. Keep your mind set on a positive future. The famous writer/philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson once said,
"Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but faith looks up!"
Things will get better. Try to enjoy a little bit slower pace right now if it's possible. “There is great potential for great personal growth during times of difficulty.” You are becoming wiser, more resilient, more thankful, more patient, more conscious of how you spend your time, more creative and many other things right now. There are always going to be growing pains.
Right now, we are all looking for more ways to enrich our daily lives and take away some of the stress that the virus has inflicted on all of us. Art can be one of those ways. Engaging in art has been proven to lower blood pressure, stress levels, decrease depression and anxiety, release tension, help you gain more focus and clarity of mind as well as create feelings of happiness, peace and accomplishment.
Here are some ideas in which you can incorporate more art into your life:
Doodle or draw: you may not think your good at it, but everyone knows how to hold a pencil. Just practice, have fun with it and let your mind wander into the creative side for a while.
Color: Grab some crayons, markers, pencils and a coloring book or plain sheet of paper. Start with things in nature. A rainbow, a tree, some flowers, etc… You can probably find some adult coloring books on Amazon. Those are great at keeping you busy for many hours if you let it.
Water Colors: Even Kindergarteners have water colors listed on their school supply list! Grab your kids paints or again, order some online. Water colors are easy peasy. With each color, you get what you get. Just rinse your brushes often. Use a thin black pen or sharpie marker to outline your design when your done (and it’s dry) and it gives it a nice finished look.
Write a poem, short story or in a journal. Writing down your feelings help them get out of your head. Its therapeutic. Plus, after this is all over, you can go back and look at the memory of how you made it through a difficult time.
Cut, glue, paste, Collage! Find some sort of board (even if it’s part of a card board box from your last online order.) Print pictures from the internet or cut out pictures and words from old magazines. Make yourself a vision board. Think of a goal you have or things you want to do when the quarantine is over and put together a collage to hang up and look at often to remind yourself that good things are yet to come.
Paint! Saving the best for last of course. Get out your canvas, your brushes and acrylic paints and join me every Saturday night via our business Facebook page at 7pm and I will show you step-by-step how to make a new painting every weekend. If you need supplies, you can order them for a limited time in a Pick-Up & Paint @ home pack from my website and I will place it out on our studio front porch for you to pick up on your way back from Chick-Fil-A;) Pick up times are Wednesdays from 5pm-7pm and Thursdays from 11am-2pm. Packs include: Canvas, paints, rinse cup, paint plates, napkins, instructions, and brushes if you need them. We have 10 different paintings for you to choose from and they are good for all ages.
Many of us are celebrating Easter this coming Sunday. It is difficult to think about having a celebration in the way that we normal would because of all the limitations. It just means we are going to have to find some creative ways to still enjoy this holiday. In my house, we are going to do an easter egg hunt with our 4 kids in the back yard. The kids are looking forward to it!
Through our own challenging time right now, we can also remind ourselves that Easter represents a biblical story in which Jesus, the son of God was brought through a very difficult emotional, spiritual and physical journey this week of preparing for His death on a cross. He suffered a great deal, He died and was buried. All of His friends and family were filled with sorrow. But then 3 days later, one memorable morning, the stone was rolled away from Jesus’ tomb and the morning sun hit the dew on the earth and the birds sang a joyful noise. The tomb was now empty and death had been conquered; He was raised to life. Because of His great sacrifice God forgives our sin and makes eternity in Heaven available to those who believe. A place where there is no more suffering, no more pain or sorrow and certainly no more viruses. I believe this whole heartedly and I know it’s a little uncanny for a business to write such a deep spiritual thing, but it’s my blog and I felt it appropriate in light of the approaching holiday. So, you can take it or leave it. I believe God is working behind the scenes on everything as it pertains to our world and I am choosing to have hope that things will get better because it’s not over yet. Evil doesn’t win here, viruses aren’t going to stop us from living our lives, and we are all going to get past this. The sun will shine again. Thanking God for what He is yet to do is one way to be hopeful about our future and having a faith that looks up.
I hope you all have a wonderful week. Find ways to make art and join me for a free class on Saturday to paint the Rustic Cross. Thank you for supporting our business and we look forward to seeing you for some paint parties in the near future <3