I saw those pencils in an ad, and I had to know what they were.
I saw this kid bring a volcano alive with pencil
I suddenly had this pencil and no idea what to do.
Then I saw my coloring book collection, and it struck me, what if I take away the color?
And then an odd thing happened, “coloring” became more enjoyable.
I’ve had my coloring book collection long before it was cool. As in over a decade before, coloring became the “it,” “mindful” thing to do. The reason I emphasize that fact is because when coloring did explode on the scene, I couldn’t see how it contributed to “mindfulness” and calm. I colored because it reminded me of my grandmother, of the reason I can quickly recall my favorite color crayon in the Crayola box, of the moment my grandmother took me aside and taught me to keep the colors somewhat within the lines. But mindfulness? Absolutely not. It’s kind of stressful. Matching all the colors, taking a long time to match the colors only to find out that the colors you matched, don’t. Then two hours in, you’re flustered and annoyed, and you haven’t even finished a quarter of the page, and you look at it with just one question, so what was the point again?
And then I eliminated the color.
Suddenly, I paid attention to the subtleties: how hard I pressed on the graphite, which texture I wanted to apply to which section, how each part contributed to the whole, what my shading indicated.
And in an hour, I nearly finished. I had a sense of accomplishment. I created (or rather finished) something I deemed beautiful, AND I felt great.
Maybe there’s something more there, something about living. Eliminate the distractions and life itself is more enjoyable and meaningful. Or, perhaps I was just bored and wanted to justify the pencil purchase.
Will I ever break out the colored pencils again? Sure, the next time I have 6 hours to spare.
