Scribbling My Way to Mental Health

Just out of curiosity…

How do you stay grounded and centered? Do you pray? Do you meditate? Do you run out to the vast landscape away from crowds so you can breathe, scream, hike? Or maybe you create beaded jewelry, or color? All of these are ways we use to keep ourselves from panicking. Many people started new hobbies/activities during lock down in the pandemic and I suggest you don’t give those up just because you can get out and about more today.
We all need some way to keep us balanced, I don’t know about you, but I will end up under my bed or hiding in the closet without it.
I have tried all of the above with varied success. Praying/meditating just gives my busy brain a chance to take over the empty space and set off nuclear thoughts that put me in a bigger panic. And going out into the wild is great during the day, however it is not a helpful strategy at 2am which is primarily when I get panicky. My latest method of grounding myself is sketching/ drawing with a small tip pen using lot’s of small strokes. The rhythm of my hand motions calms my brain and my body and I fall back to sleep in less then an hour. I started doing these drawing while in Oregon. They were a way to continue making some kind of art when I had no time to devote to it. And now I continue, and am expanding the practice to help not only calm me down, but also to re-ignite my creativity.

I have been reading a book about Edward Gorey called The World of Edward Gorey who is one of my favorite illustrators of all time. He works in pen & ink and he creates fantastical landscapes and characters that are unique, even odd and a little macabre. You may know his work from the opening scenes of the Mystery! series on Public Television that ran for years and years.
His style is full of intricate patterns and details all done with a tiny black pen and they are very inspiring to me.

I have been creating some similar style drawings and this is what I am doing to relieve anxiety. Starting with a blank page and just making marks spurs my imagination to help sort out what I am feeling and the images that arise are expressions of my feelings and nothing more. I am trying to emulate some of the pattern styles Gorey creates, unique crosshatchings that add so much character to his art. I want more of that in my art and so he is inspiring me to develop in this way. Even though I have drawn in pen for many many years, my style has been sketchy and raw and I want to refine it more.

I love this art form for several reasons. Simplicity of tools; paper and a pen or two, it’s black and white which I have always loved; I only have to make value decisions not color hues and saturation decisions, It is in a small format; 9”x12” so it fits in my purse. I can make art anywhere and to me, that is pure joy.

When one is dealing with life changes the way many of us are these days, it is important to find ways to stay calm, to have some continuity in life in the midst of chaos. Don’t worry about what others think of your choice, it’s not important. What you create is not always perfect and often it is the process not the product that is the valuable thing. Sometimes the scribbling is just the point. The act of scribbling releases pent up energy in the body and helps to calm the mind too.

This last drawing is because I have started purging and packing. Where am I going? That is still a developing detail and I will keep you Posted!

Until next week, Have a Happy Day!

Cheryl