Whether you’re working from home, not able to work, stuck homeschooling your kids, working in essential services or something else, you’re probably feeling some chaos and disruption. One thing I started doing for my son, and then started doing for myself, is little doodles on my phone. The app I use changes color with each stroke, and has a black background. It’s helped me feel grounded when I don’t have the bandwidth for anything more useful. It doesn’t take much effort or thought, but has brought more peace and calm to me than, say, scrolling through social media or watching movies (though those have their place, too).
Here’s Jeffrey’s artwork, which is a mood of its own:
And a couple I made:
(No door on this house. Seems like an apt metaphor for the times.)
(Those were supposed to be houses on the bottom, if you’re feeling confused.)
(I don’t like being on boats, being prone to motion sickness, but I love watching them.)
(Flowers. Or attacking spaceships.)
I’m sure I’ve read lots of articles about how this kind of doodling does wonders for your brain, though I don’t have them on hand. Let’s just say that absent minded artwork is very likely to regenerate all good things in your life, from cancelled TV shows to aging cells. Maybe. But if not, doodling (or other forms of tinkering, such as on the piano or with a recipe) can hopefully at least bring some mental relief and distraction and beautiful little things.
Hope you are well. This time will pass.
Alizabeth Worley 