Color Me Calm - Color Me Happy

When I vacationed on Amelia Island, I bought a coloring book, called "Color Me Calm."  I thought coloring would be a great activity to use to self-soothe myself and to keep me present and mindful in the moment. Both of which are DBT skills.

 I love to color. I colored my way even into college as a way to self-soothe, even before I knew that I was using a certain therapeutic skill. Then for some reason, I stopped coloring, but last night I colored for the first time in a while and I had a great time! I felt calmer, peaceful, and happy when I was done. I had forgotten how good it feels to get lost in choosing the next perfect color. Color Me Calm is part of a series of coloring books by Tami Newcomb called "Color Your Way." I like the mix of positive statements followed by corresponding, slightly whimsical pictures. Here is my first picture:
It states, "The present: where once upon a time and happily ever after hook-up to make now."  I love it!  I imagined myself as the woman in the swing.  I have long, strawberry blonde hair and yesterday I enjoyed swinging at the park-another thing I hadn't done in a long time.  No kids were at the playground and my hips hurt, so I decided to take a break from walking and swing instead.  It was fun and I enjoyed feeling the wind as I went back and forth.

The pink dress I colored actually reminds me of a similar pink dress I got from Target.  I wore it last year at the Renaissance Festival.

Dress: Target Rainbow Tank Top: JCPenney  Hat is from the Ren Fest.  I'm just trying it on, because I thought it looked funny.  I think I was enjoying the moment that day too.