“So gorgeous!” my friend Kim wrote. I breathed a sigh of relief. I had just posted her special-order sea turtle drawing on Facebook. “Would she like it?” I had been anxiously thinking. “You got it exactly right,” she said. Now, onto the water lily!
As I said in my previous post “My COVID-19 Coping Strategy a Drawing a Day”, drawing has been my coping strategy for COVID-19. It was quite I challenge, but I was able to do a drawing a day for the entire alphabet! Some pictures are better than others. But, like my son said, “At least at the end of the day you can say, ‘I created this.’”
I am a big Brene’ Brown fan. She gave me the courage to talk about my mental illness. I started posting my drawings on her discussion group with my favorite Brene’ Brown quotes. “I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of your drawings including this one. Thank you for continuing to share them with us, it’s a blessing!” Marie said.
Arthur Ashe
Yesterday, I posted this quote from Arthur Ashe, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” That is what I am doing. As I said before, I am not a trained professional. My background journalism, marketing, and advocacy. We are living in extraordinary times. No one has lived through a global pandemic before. No one knows what is going to happen. All I have is my art supplies from class.
Now that I have finished the alphabet, I have moved onto a “Drawing by Request”. Do you know what happened? People started asking about buying my drawings!! As I said earlier, I am not a trained professional. So maybe Arthur Ashe is right. So, I have decided to start posting my “Drawing by Request” to my second coping strategy, building a website in WordPress!
Sea Turtle
When I start out each day, I am humbled by the beauty and symmetry to the natural world. I feel so inadequate to replicate what I see. Kim and I both marveled at the coloring on this turtle shell! It reminds me of passage from the Bible:
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of mankind.” (Job 12:7-10 NIV)
So, why I am I doing this? I am trying to do something positive and constructive during this extraordinary time. I hope you are inspired as well.
Mental Health Warrior 