I draw a line at colouring in for adults

I’M having a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept of adult colouring- in books. Speaking as someone who wasn’t particularly good at staying inside the lines as a child, I haven’t picked up a coloured pencil and a ready- made design for about two decades.

Yes, I know that it’s supposed to be relaxing and really good for your mindfulness, but I’m pretty sure having someone laugh at my bad colour matching and complete artistic failure might just cause all that stress to come rushing right back.

Now, I’m going to steer clear from the word childish because I have still been known to indulge in a Disney movie as a bit of mood lightener. Yes, I do enjoy the odd music- filled romp with princesses and frothy humour. Let it go, OK?

Going back to simple, childlike enjoyments is evidently a good way of putting the stresses of the world aside and making ourselves feel more human again in those weeks when life has dropped a metaphorical piano on our heads.

It does beg the question though, how did the world get so crazy that we suddenly feel the need to retreat from adulthood and emulate our childhood selves? Why are our daily lives so full- on that when we decide to stop, we jump head on into nostalgia and that blissful feeling of no responsibilities?

I’m no sociologist, but I would hazard a guess that it’s to do with the growing cult of always being busy. You ask someone how they are, nine times out of 10, the answer is “Really busy”. We’re all expected to have a million things on the go, and so the urge to just do nothing instead grows.

The fact that mindfulness, the art of living in the present moment, has become a buzz word speaks volumes. We all want to feel the sunshine on our face and enjoy life’s simple pleasures.

We want to feel whole, healthy and creative, hence the intricate colouring designs for smug, mindful people. After all, you have to use a proper adult book because if we just asked for the colouring in pages and pencils while out at a cafe, that wouldn’t be doing it right. Even if you did create a decidedly adult, satirical interpretation of the Hogs Breath pig.

Even those fancy designs are still an imitation of creative release though. It’s an attempt at being creative to unwind without having to use our own imagination. Writing in a journal, redecorating your lounge room, cooking a meal from scratch ... all these things are creative and might make you feel productive too. Let’s leave the colouring in for the kids.