DIFFERENT WAYS TO RELAX AND UNWIND
Picture this. You just got some time to yourself: after the kids are asleep or a pocket of down time just popped up. What do you do with this gift of a break? Succumb to the endless scrolling on social? No way! You should paint with watercolors! Let me share all the reasons and show you why.
You could read a book but that requires getting back into it. Finding out where you were in a good story so you can really get immersed was hard for me. Switching from go go go to finding a quiet spot to dive into a story was difficult. So that meant reserving it until it was time for bed and then struggling to keep my eyes open because books usually put me to sleep. A dark room plus a quiet house and a good book....I would last 15 minutes tops. So books aren’t an ideal go to.
Then there’s movies. The way the stars need to align for a movie to happen is insane. First, watching a movie will take at least 2-3 hours total which is a lot of time to dedicate when you only have a small pocket of time to work with. Then if you have little ones who napped like my kids, you need to have the volume super low so they aren’t disturbed. Movies take too much commitment and dedication when you really want to just sit, relax and be entertained for a set amount of time. Nine times out of 10 the movie experience would get interrupted so this was rarely my pick for relaxation.
Ok, so let’s watch a show. There’s so many choices on Netflix, Apple TV, the list goes on and on. But again, the time commitment is less than a movie but it is still a set amount of time to watch the whole show, at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time. Just like movies, you need to decide what to watch, what are you in the mood for, is a true crime story really a relaxing choice for you right now? So shows were out, this was something to do only at the end of the day for me.
Alright, then let’s go out to unwind instead! Well when you are busy and don’t even want to think about making more decisions, this choice is so full of them. If you have kids then you need to make arrangements for their care. Then where are you going to go? Need to get dressed, get to the place, settle in, consider the weather, etc. You might even have to talk to someone gasp, shock, horror. Going out has so many challenges and when you have a small amount of time to work with it usually isn’t even worth it.
Ok, so we are going to stay in and we want to tap into our creative side. How about painting with oil or acrylic paints? These take prep and a really good understanding of the medium. Oil paints and acrylics are not toxic for the most part but the set up for painting and the breaking down at the end of a paint session can be a little complicated. You want to take care of your paint, not waste it and take care of your brushes too. So there needs to be a bit of a set time commitment to make good choices of the paint you want to use, mix it, use your supplies and then put everything away including washing the paint out of your brushes for next time. With these things, it makes it more complicated to take on the go as well so that is another limitation.
WATERCOLOR PAINT YOURSELF CALM
Alright, let’s fit in creative time with watercolors instead! They have the easiest set up and break down ever because the supplies are compact and portable. You can squeeze the paints into a small metal palette and set them out overnight so they are always dry and ready to go. One brush, a water container, a paper towel, paper and paint is all you need to have in your kit to get started.
Canvases aren’t necessary, instead you can get a small multimedia sketchbook that can take watercolor paint beautifully! Watercolor washes dry quickly so even if you have only 5 minutes, that is enough time to paint a small painting, dry it and pack it up for your next pocket of free time.
There is nothing to think about, no hard decisions, just mix a little paint with a little water and put it on the page. Watch the colors flow and blend. The whole process can be meditative and relaxing. Your mind quiets almost immediately because painting practices are immersive experiences.
It’s a beautiful way to destress so when your break is over and you need to get back to making the harder decisions, you can do so from a calmer state because you actually took time to decompress and reset with watercolor painting.
START WATERCOLOR PAINTING NOW
To learn more about getting started with watercolors get on the watercolor workshop waitlist!