There's an incredible trend of coloring books for adults right now. It is being promoted as a way to de-stress and connect with an your inner creative self.
Coloring provides not only a chance to unwind after a busy, stressful day, but also a quiet activity—a recess from laptops and cell phones. It reconnects us with childhood experiences while providing brain stimulation. It is an opportunity for play that ultimately... well... keeps us sane!* And social media offers a place to share creations with more people than the refrigerator door did when we were kids.
Johanna Basford's coloring books for adults have sold over a million of copies all around the world. It's a growing trend that is being encouraged by psychologists.
But if you're not one for predetermined pictures — you could try to Zentangle. Zentangle is basically advanced doodling.
The idea is to created intricate designs through the use of repetitive patterns. The process gives you the freedom to create while encouraging well-being and focus.
It is a method created in Massachusetts by Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts in 2006. The feelings promoted while Zentangling are not unlike mediation. Hence the zen in the name (I assume)... the zen will bring you inner peace, while you create a tangle of overlapping, intersecting patterns
So, perhaps it's time that after a long day, we reach for that 12-pack of Crayolas rather than that 6-pack of beer. OR, better yet, maybe bars can start offering colorable placemats and crayons for exhausted adults at happy hour!
Yeah... I'd drink at that bar.
Yeah... I'd drink at that bar.
*a study of 26 mass murderers discovered that 90% of them had lacked playtime during childhood : http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/why-adults-are-buying-coloring-books-for-themselves
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