How coloring has changed my life.

If you can recall, Louisiana, Baton Rouge and surronding parishes specifically, experienced the worst flood in History last August. A few weeks prior to this severe weather event occurring, I moved out to my camp on the Amite River!! I was so excited to finally have the fredom of my own place and somewhere I could call my home. That was until the flood happened. I had gotten five feet of water in the place I was allowed to call home for three consecutive weeks. I remember seeing pictures of the damage and then having nightmares for weeks at a time. Having no other place to go, this also meant that I would have to move back to my parent's old house and in with my sister and nephews. For the longest time, since I had just moved out and given my oldest nephew Jacob my old bedroom, I felt like a bit of a nomad. Since the potential rebuild of my place was set to take months on end, we decided that I once again needed to make a home fo myself in the place I had just been given the freedom to get out of! As you can probably imagine, this had me feeling very distraught. I had no choice in the matter though, and I was being forced (once again) to make the best of out the crappy situation. If I had a dime for every time I had to make the most out of a bad situation, I'd be a millionaire!!! Given that I'd be spending an unknown amount of time back at my old house, we had to set up somewhere for me to stay and sleep. I was going to have to take my younger nephew's bedroom. Keep in mind that this room was used as our dining room when we were kids. It was not a big room at all, and worst of all, it had no door! I am not trying to sound like a spoiled brat, or worst of all, ungrateful, but like mostly everyone privacy is something I cherish. I knew from the first day I stayed in that room that this was not only going to test my strength but my sanity more than any other aspect. I needed something to come to my rescue, something to soothe my anxious and increasingly buzzing mind. That is when I found coloring! I have always adored coloring! I remember having endless amounts of books as a kid I would spend hours on end coloring my favorite Ninja Turtle or Power Ranger, and I only used the classic Crayola colors ! It wasn't until I discovered that there was such a thing as adult coloring books that I began to let my love for coloring fester onnce again! Once I started to color again, it took my mind off of the fact that I had just lost that independent feeling I had just begun to gain. It is almost if I am transported to the world inside of the pictures . I am creating characters with my own creative sense in mind, using the colors of my choosing. Coloring allows me to use the creative side of my brain that I had never previously discovered. I would be lying if I told you coloring has not changed my life. It has allowed me to be free, to let go of tragedy, and let my unique side fly! Coloring to me is not just a hobby, but it is a passion!!