Recently I signed up to Skillshare for a free trial. It took me about a month (the trial is for two months) to take a course. Man, I wish I would have started earlier. But, I guess it’s better late than never. I ended up choosing a course that has given me inspiration for both my personal and work life. I want to share it with you because I think it might inspire you in a positive way as well.
The Creative Course That Teaches You To Be More Self Aware
Since starting this course, I often joke with my husband that I’m now an artist. For instance, he’ll ask me to do something, and I’ll say, “I’m an artist, so I can do that!”
Of course, I’m not that great of an artist. But, this course has made me feel more creative than I’ve felt in a long time.
It’s called Drawing as Self Discovery: 5 Ways To Start. It’s done and delivered by Mari Andrew, who you can find on Instagram here.
Essentially she takes you through some exercises that help you reflect on your life and then draw out your thoughts and feelings in a really cute but meaningful way.
For instance, one of the exercises is drawing out a brain and the thoughts going through it. For me, I had just woken up and was overthinking for the day, so I decided to draw out my ‘Morning Brain’.
The beauty of doing these drawings is that you become more self-aware.
For instance, after drawing, writing, and coloring in the brain sections, I realized that a lot of my ‘morning brain problems’ had to do with scheduling and planning. If I just planned out what to have for supper during the week, made making the bed a part of my morning routine, and scheduled out a productive day, then I would take care of some of the things my morning brain always focuses on.
So, doing the exercises she teaches can help you discover more things about yourself and give you an opportunity to adjust your life.
Why Not Just Write Things Down?
You could just write down a list, but I found that drawing out things like the brain, and coloring in the different sections, made it much more rewarding.
It turns out that drawing has a ton of positive benefits, and we all know – thanks to the rise of adult coloring books – that coloring can be a stress reliever and offer other benefits too.
Obviously, I love to write. But, there were other benefits that I found while doing these exercises.
- You need to focus on staying in the lines while coloring or painting, which helps you to turn off your thoughts and escape them for a while.
- Colors impact emotions and behaviors, so the right colors can make you feel happier or more peaceful. I got giddy when I pulled out my yellow, for example.
- You get away from the computer/TV/phone screen for a while and get into the present moment.
- You get rewarded with a pretty representation of your feelings and thoughts.
- It drives home the point of the message more. As you reflect on your drawing, the words, and the reasoning behind it all, you become even more aware of the concerns or of the peace of mind you have.
- You move your energy into a higher (happier) state and make it easier to stay in love or above.
Drawing As Self Discovery Inspired My Work-Life Too
I’m a content writer for various blogs, and Mari’s examples and explanations gave me a lot of ideas for what I can do to add unique pictures to my content.
I’ve been feeling a little bit stuck in my writing lately, so getting inspired in this way is a really good thing.
I’ll just have to be careful that I don’t spend all day illustrating because it’s that addictive!
A Personal Development Tool We All Can Use
In the end, I think what Mari teaches is a tool you can use for personal development.
- You get to know yourself better.
- You get to release negative emotions.
- You get to discover ways to impact your life in a positive way.
- You get to be creative.
- You get to develop your creative abilities.
I’m sure you’ll discover some other benefits personal to you, too.
You don’t need to be a great drawer to take this course and benefit from the ideas in it. You just need to be able to look up ‘how to draw’ and then find whatever it is you want to draw. That’s how I drew out my brain.
Plus, you can just whim it. If you are not going to be sharing your drawings, then it doesn’t really matter if it looks amazing. It just matters that the drawings have some sort of meaning to you.
If you are interested in learning stuff like this and much more, check out Skillshare here.
