Week 3: Creative Practice Blog #2

 

Brain Doodles

By Camille Lazarus 

Creative Practice Blog #2

    During my first week of participating in my creative practice of drawing I gave myself guidelines to stick to, I was going to give myself thirty minutes of undisrupted time to be creative and allow my mind to think to ensure I was allowing myself to feel the full benefits from this practice. The first week, those thirty minutes went by slowly as I was overthinking my own abilities as an artist and fighting the urge to check my phone. I was fighting my inner thoughts and perfectionism. Today as I sat down to engage in my creative act, I felt different. I had woken up with intense feelings of stress and anxiety surrounding the coming week and the work ahead of me. I set aside time in the middle of the day to sit down and draw, also to break up the studying I needed to complete. Before I started, I sat alone in my room and focused on my breathing in order to clear my mind and cut down on intrusive thoughts. I did not know where I was going to go with my scene today, but one thing came to mind: a beautiful park. 

    On my self-care journey over the past year, one thing I have grown to love is walking. It is a time for me to be alone with myself and think, but also be actively taking control of my health and mental well-being, much like how drawing has some of the same effects. As I sat and drew this park, I imagined myself sitting on the little park bench in solitude, alone with nature and my thoughts. Growth can be seen throughout nature in many ways, it is a very special healing space where growth of all kinds occurs. Not only in nature itself but also in the animals that find their homes and nests within the trees and bushes. I feel as though a big part of my growth throughout my self-care journey has been largely connected to nature and being outdoors. Drawing this park scene actually brought me feelings of peace and happiness as I imagined myself inside the scene. I think actively calming my mind and clearing my head before starting to draw, allowed me to get more into the scene and filter out my self-doubt. After finishing my drawing, I was not only in a better mood than I was before starting but also felt like my head was more clear.