About Alexandra Heep:

Alexandra Heep is a longtime writer, chronic over-thinker, and recovering content mill survivor. Her work has appeared in literary journals, anthologies, and online platforms where words are still respected. She writes children’s books, health reflections, and the occasional blog post laced with humor and hard-won honesty. After years of illness, detours, and navigating the noise of modern wellness, she returned to writing with the firm belief that stories—like people—don’t have to be perfect to matter. She publishes under multiple pen names and drinks more goat milk than you’d expect.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

A to Z Challenge: E is for Enjoyment (in the Adult Coloring World)



If you colored as a child, what was that like? (I can't personally answer that question as I did not color as a child). Did you feel enjoyment or were you not even aware of what kind of emotion coloring brought to you? I would guess that it was one of the two options (if not, please leave a comment stating what it was). 

Where am I going with this? Well, I started coloring to distract from other things, so in a round-about way it's for enjoyment. I have found, however, that many people don't seem to know what that means. They obsess over the color scheme, they stress over having too many books from which to choose, they can't decide which of their coloring tools to use. And so on. Then, they criticize the finished result, saying it's not good enough.

I don't understand any of this. Have we truly become unable to simply enjoy the process of creating something, of living in the moment? Now, some might say that part of their enjoyment is the "learning" process of acquiring and improving on techniques etc. However, the words "stressed," "unsure," "overwhelmed," don't really speak of enjoyment to me, and I read them all the time. Why color if it evokes those feelings?

Plus, it's just coloring! Unless you're in school working towards a career in art, this driving need to "improve" seems secondary. Yes, I feel a certain sense of satisfaction when something turns out "better" than a previous effort, but even that term is subjective.

Some might say that improving and learning are positive things. Then why not focus on becoming better human beings? To me, that is something important to strive for.






2 comments:

Mail Adventures said...

Actually, the name "adult colouring" makes me smile. Why not just "colouring"? It is like, as an adult, someone needs to give you permission to have a great time doing something "childish"!

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Eva - Mail Adventures

Unknown said...

I agree - adult coloring book makes me think of adult diapers! I recently started coloring as a destressor. I enjoy doing it while I listen to audible books.

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Nancy

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