What Creating Can Give You

I've been at the computer a lot lately, trying to make Messy Magic House happen.
Emails, forms, waiting for replies.

Papers all around me.

I doodle. It doesn't matter what, a shape, a line, whatever comes out. I've done this forever, actually. I remember it from university, sitting in class taking notes, and there'd always be a bunch of random doodles crawling into the margins.

It's hard for me to just sit still in the waiting. I want to get up, go do something else in the house, lose the thread completely.

So instead I reach for whatever paper is closest. And I draw.

Why It Works

When I'm doodling, I have to pay attention. The pencil. The line. The paper under my hand.

There's no purpose to it. I'm not making it into anything.

You don't need a specific outcome for creating to do something for you. The second I let go of what it's supposed to become, my body gets to take over from my head for a minute.

I spend a lot of time in my head. Thinking, overthinking, analyzing, overanalyzing.
Creating is one of the only things that pulls me out of it.
My senses take over instead of my spinning brain, the color, the texture, the shape in front of me.

This isn't just a me thing, either. It's been shown that small repetitive hands-on tasks like this, doodling, fidgeting, working with your hands, help calm down a nervous system that's stuck in overdrive.
It's a real regulation tool, not just a distraction.

And then I can go back to the computer, keep going with my to-do's, and actually stay with it.

Try It

Sit down with a piece of paper. A pen, a pencil, your kid's watercolor set, whatever you have on hand.
It really doesn't matter.

What matters is focusing on how the colors move, how the pen is drawing the lines.
Lines don't even have to be perfect. You can grab a rock and just move it across the paper with your pen.
Look at what the rock is doing. Look at what the pen is doing.
Just immerse yourself in your senses.

You won't believe how much it can add to your day.
Such a small thing to reach for, in between tasks, whenever you need it.

That's why it's so important to me to create Messy Magic House.
A place where you can let go of the expectations, explore, play, get back into your body.

Not just for me. For everyone who needs it too.