My COVID-19 Coping Strategy – a Drawing a Day

“Wow! Thanks for the amazing sketch and wonderful idea! You’re an inspiration!”, the Facebook poster said. “Thank you for saying that” I replied. “That’s what I was hoping for!” Up until that moment, I had thought my artwork was just helping me. Maybe I did have something to contribute to our current crisis after all.

Because of being in the hospital three times last year, I have not written many articles lately. My recovery hit me hard. Being in the hospital during my son’s graduation did not help. He was salutatorian of his class as well. Fortunately, my husband is tech savvy, and I was able to participate virtually. The nurses on the floor were great. Everything worked. But I was not able to participate in any of the activities I had planned.

A reduction in medication, taking an art class, and doing some volunteer work was helping me “get back to myself”. Then COVID-19 hit. Like everyone I was/am in shock. Suddenly, my son was coming home from his freshman year in college and he would have to share the internet with my husband that works virtual from home. But, what about my art class?

I got my virtual assignment from my teacher. A drawing a day for 20 days. Could I do it? Because I was having a tough time, I was not posting much on Facebook either. My first assignment? Your eye. I decided to post it on Facebook. Why? Because I am a big Brene’ Brown fan and believe in vulnerability. Brene’ Brown gave me the courage to talk about my mental illness. What happened? I got 21 Responses, 12 Comments, 1 Share! My family and friends were commenting on how talented I was! My father was the artist: I studied journalism! But, suddenly, amid this scary situation, drawing became my daily adventure. Could I do it? Each object represented its own challenge. All I had were my supplies from class: my pencils, my drawing journal, and my colored pencils. I was learning. Each day, I would work on my assignment, despair at least once that it was crap, and then post it on Facebook. The number of responders keep growing. The comments were increasing. “Love your drawings – they enliven my day,” One commenter said.

But, as National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Brown County President what did I have to say? Who has lived through a pandemic? None of us have experienced this before. “My mother lived through the great depression and World War II, I didn’t,” a relative commented to me. Right. We are in uncharted territory. I participated on a NAMI Support Group Zoom call from another county. “What do I tell the people in my county?” I asked. “It’s not about having the answer, it’s about connection. It’s about getting ideas from other people,” one man replied. He was right. NAMI calls this “group wisdom”.

Group wisdom comes with lived experience. That is something none of us has yet. We are all going through a through a transition. On Thursday, NAMI Brown County had its own zoom check in call. What did I say? I did not come with any solutions, I just told them how I have been coping.
I realized as I was completing my final for the art class that I had changed a lot since the class began. When I started the class, I was very insecure and even told my husband I was going to quit the class. I am so thankful that I did not. As a part of my final exam, I had to pick one of my pieces of art to critique. I picked “A is for Apple”. Why? Because I selected the subject, took the pictures, ran into some page composition challenges, but overcame them. I think they really do look like slices of an apple. See what you think!

So, doing a drawing a day is a coping strategy for me during this COVID-19 crisis. A former boss of mine has been posting pictures from his woodshop. A former professor is having live blues concerts in his living room. Everyone is going through this transition. None of us has the answers yet. All we can do is find our own positive, constructive coping strategies as we go through this extraordinary time in history.