What is Therapeutic About Coloring?

Sometimes I feel embarrassed to admit that I spend so much time coloring. Like when my dentist asked me if I have any hobbies. How can anyone who doesn’t understand the world of colorists, not wonder what I’m talking about? Do they picture an old lady with a box of crayons and a child’s coloring book? Though that would probably be fun. I always loved to color when I was growing up and a new box of crayons made me happy!

Coloring makes me happy. It is my therapy. Coloring takes my mind off things that make me feel stressed. It lowers my blood pressure. It keeps me from snacking incessantly. It is a perfect time for me to listen to a book and escape into another world. It is a time to look outside my window at all the gifts God has made.

What once were long, lonely hours of each day is now filled with creating something pretty out of a black and white hand drawn picture. It adds color to my life, lifts my heart, and I learn something new all the time. Sometimes I watch videos by other colorists that keeps me company and teaches me something new, not always about the craft of coloring, but about life. I’ve made online friends through coloring.

Sometimes I have conversations with God while I color. I realize all these colors are gifts from Him. God loves color and so do I. I love all the colors of the world.

Being a senior, a widow, an introvert isn’t always easy. Others might see me as unsociable. Not true. I’m just uncomfortable with people I don’t know. I miss people, human voices, and interaction. These things can cause sadness, so coloring takes my mind off these things.

Yes, coloring is a hobby, but it is so much more for me. It is therapeutic. It makes me smile. It is a creative outlet. And it makes me happy, happy, happy.