REFLECTION TASK 6

Create an art or just Colour?

            The article which I read this week is about colouring books for adults. The writer wonders whether this method is useful for de-stressing or not. The article is mentioned that the therapists states the colour books for adults are not effective to stay away from the stress. Donna Betts, president of the board of the American Art Therapy Association and an assistant professor at George Washington University, agreed, adding she has never used colouring books in a therapy session, and would never consider it. Also she states that colouring adult books is like a listening music not learning an instrument. That is to say, colouring is not a creative way for art. My ideas are different about this article. In the beginning of the article, the teacher who suffers from some anxiety over her job recently tells her doctor that colouring is effective method before sleeping. I think that colouring is not creative or artistic way but it is important and beneficial for some people with stress or anxiety. I think that there are possible two reasons for this.

            Firstly, people need a different and easy hobby for their daily lives. Learning a music instrument or painting can be more difficult and time-consuming. With changing today’s world, many people have a stressful and busy career and daily lives. Colouring adult books can be suitable for them because they do not have enough time to learn instruments or paintings. Using colours is a vivid method when they are doing mandala or colouring something else. I want to try to this method for before I sleep. I colour some drawings for a while. I think that it has calming effect on me.

            Secondly, people consider that colouring is effective method for staying away from stressful moments. It is an important factor of being useful. When they think about it can be useful, they can calm down and relax by colouring. Before I started the colouring drawings, I believed that it was calming effect on me, so it makes me relax. In addition, I asked to my friend who had a stressful life colouring before she slept. She just said that she did not affect any differences of her feelings. I think that it is psychological relaxing process for many people.

            To sum up, colouring adult books or mandala can be useful when we think about that people are relaxing by means of this method. I tried to do and liked it. Maybe it is not creative and artistic process; however, I advise that people can try to colour mandala when they are stressful.