This answer is simple. Color is absorbing, energizing and it calms my mind. That’s what happens a lot of the time when I paint. I get into a quiet zone focused on the colors I am working with. My mind doesn’t wander much. It’s just there experiencing the present moment. That quiet focus feels meditative.
For a good while I used to be critical of what I was drawing or painting. My mind and heart were not quiet. That judgmental person has dropped away…. a lot of the time. I realize when I draw a line on a page, it’s just a line. When I’m painting, I also remember that color is energy, it’s wavelengths of light. It has no meaning. It’s neutral, so to speak. I’m the one who chooses to bring meaning, emotions, and symbolism to the colors I use and see. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we realized in every situation in our lives that we have a choice about how to respond to what we’re seeing, hearing, and sensing; about how to interpret or give meaning to those experiences.
Recently, I’ve learned to just experience the energy that lines, shapes and colors offer. Sometimes I attach meaning and stories to the lines, shapes, and colors I create. Mostly now I just do them because of the joy of creating them, and the peace and quiet that the creative process offers. That’s why I take the time to create a Daily Doodle just about every day. And that’s why I consider painting, any creative endeavor really, as part of the Uni-Heart Breathing Exercise.
How do you feel when you are drawing, painting, or working with collage and color? How do you feel when you’re doing any creative endeavor? Do you give yourself negative messages like “I’m not an artist;” or, “I can’t draw?” What about dropping those old tapes? Why not enjoy putting lines and shapes on a page and adding color to them? What about allowing yourself to feel the incredibly beautiful energy that colors offer?