My Personal Experience | The Healing Art of Coloring Books

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Brief History

Although coloring books for adults were popular in the early 1960s, those were mostly used for political propaganda rather than the therapeutic works that define the adult coloring book of today. Coloring books for adult therapy have seen a growth in popularity in the 2010s. It reportedly brings people a sense of their childhood, and help with developing fine motor skills and vision, reducing anxiety and creating focus, and relieving stress in a manner similar to meditation. Concentrating on coloring may facilitate the replacement of negative thoughts and images with pleasant ones. Coloring books can be used in daily activity. The books are also a way to get away from technology, which some regard as beneficial to people's health. Coloring books can be used by people who are uncomfortable with more creatively expressive forms of art.

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The Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book by Johanna Basford is frequently cited as the one that started the adult coloring book trend. Two years after it was published in 2013, the book has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. In an interview, Basford cited 3 reasons as to why she thinks the book became such a success - first, that coloring books are a way for adults who don't normally draw or paint to be creative. "A blank sheet of paper or an empty canvas can be daunting, but a colouring book acts as a bit of a buffer in this situation," she says.

Second, coloring books don't require anywhere near as much logical thought as, say, drawing a portrait. There are psychological benefits in zoning out, too:

"I've heard from so many people ranging from lawyers, financial advisers, business owners and busy mums, all say the same thing: that colouring in helps them relax. Then there's people who are recuperating from illness or dealing with a difficult time in their lives, they too find the calming, almost meditative effects of colouring is beneficial to them"

And then there are the existential reasons. "Chances are the last time you spent some time colouring you didn't have a mortgage, a horrible boss or a worries about climate change," Basford says.

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My Personal Experience

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This time last year, I was mourning the death of my son, Enrico. I was 36 weeks pregnant and ready to pop when I got worried because I could not feel any movements from him. @steemitph and I drove to my OB's clinic that cold August day not knowing what to expect. After performing an ultrasound, my doctor confirmed (quite emotionally) that there were no movements nor a heartbeat coming from my baby boy and within 24 hours, I gave birth to my still-born child via normal delivery. I did not get to hold him or even see him; I was put to sleep immediately after I released him from my womb. When I woke up, I was told that the poor boy had his cord coiled around his neck three times, causing cord stricture that led to his death.

They say there are five stages of grief but I only went through two; acceptance and anger, in that order. I might have gone through denial, bargaining and depression but I don't remember feeling those or maybe I went through those too swiftly for them to even matter to me. Anyway, I immediately accepted the fact that I lost my son. It was clear as day to me that he died in my womb, after carrying him for 8 months and going through all the crazy sh*it pregnant women experience; nausea, back pains, edema, name it. I gladly went all through that because I was going to have a son in return but it's not as if I asked for him, no. He was quite a surprise but when we found out I was pregnant, everyone anticipated his arrival. We moved to a bigger house, @steemitph started to collect die-cast toy cars and bought one every payday, family and friends sent boxes of baby stuff and by the time I entered my third trimester, the crib and baby buggy were ready. I wrapped my head around everything that happened in the past eight months and could only muster one solid reaction - anger.

I was furious with life and its cruel tricks. I wanted to burn everything to the ground and spare everyone the pains of living. The worst part is that I felt like I couldn't share these feelings to my partner, @steemitph. He is such a really good guy who has a kind and gentle heart and I was sure he would not understand all the hate and anger. I also didn't want him to worry about me even more; he's been reading up on postpartum depression since I got discharged from the hospital.

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I was in that emotional mess when a box full of coloring books for adults was delivered to our house. It was from my elder sister, who personally believed that coloring these books relieved her stress from working in the hospital. She even sent coloring materials along with the books so I could work on them right away.

You'll find the word "relaxing" multiple times in reviews of adult coloring books. It's not the word I would use to describe my experience with it though. It was more of an outlet for me, a bottomless pit where I poured my anger, hate, and frustration. The slim colorful pencils were my weapons and I waged war upon the black-and-white images printed on those books. I let out my anger one deliberate stroke at a time and it comfort me to see the pictures come to life after rigorously working on them.

It was not at all like magic where I felt better in an instant. I spent countless hours on those books and when those hours turned to days and those days turned into months, I found myself somehow relieved from the hate I lived with for so long. I felt like I could be around @steemitph again without the shame of my anger. I felt more at ease and when I started to open up to him, my healing then began.

Sources
Introduction to Coloring Books for Adults
Secret Garden Coloring Book
Interview with Johanna Basford

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