Coloring

Hobbies? Other than playing violin, playing piano, and spending wayyyy too long watching YouTube videos, I do not really have any other hobbies; however I love coloring. Coloring? You might be wondering why a sixteen year old junior loves coloring and colors during her free time. Well, all in all, I think of coloring as a stress reliever from the jam packed days in my life. There are probably 56418976543187 different ways to color a picture and the exciting thing  is that there are no wrong ways in approaching a picture (except if you color out the lines…please don’t).

Ever since I was able to hold a writing/coloring utensil, I immediately fell in love with coloring and the rest is history. After I got my first coloring book, every day I would color non stop until my hand started hurting. Back in the olden days, coloring was a way to pass time.

As a child, I would color similar pictures to this elephant.

But as I grew older, I started transitioning to coloring things like this.

Whenever I finish a challenging coloring page with thousands of different sections, a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. Whether the picture is big or small, coloring helps me get through the tough and stressful times and calms me down. Coloring allows my mind to settle down and be carefree, leading to a more calm state of mind. Coloring not only helps me relieve stress, but it also opens my eyes to different color combinations and allows me to think creatively.

As a child, for Christmas, birthdays, or other occasions, my go to answer for a gift was a coloring book and coloring supplies like the ultimate crayola sets. As my free time diminished throughout the years, so has my time spent coloring; however the effect of coloring greatly helps me through the stressful time of high school.
Altogether, coloring as a hobby help developed my “artistic skills” and nowadays makes me feel like a child again. Coloring books aren’t just for kids.