If you're looking for a way to express yourself, try an alternative book. It's kind of like having a journal/diary, but it's not all writing, it's art. I learned this "art therapy" during cancer treatment at the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer, Hope, and Healing. I have one book completed and another I've recently started.

The concept is to take an old book, or I suppose any book for that matter and make it your own. You can paint the pages, rip them out, cut them, glue things onto them, etc. You can let your creative mind wander and do as you please.

If you need a jumping off point, I've used google, searched "art journals" and looked at what others have done. It usually inspires something for me.

A good thing to keep in mind is to rip out a good chunk of pages because it quickly gets thick with all the art and will rip the binding of the book if you don't have enough room. I've actually used some of the pages I've ripped out as part of my artwork as well.

I've never really labeled myself as an artist. I'm not very good at a lot of it, but something about this book makes art and expressing myself, a little bit easier. I just do simple things and play around. Once you grasp an idea and run with it, it's rather relaxing, even if it doesn't turn out the way you pictured.

It's something that's worth giving a shot. I know people of all ages who enjoy it. Kids just love doing art, to begin with, and it will strengthen their creative side as well as teach them how to express themselves. Adults, we really need something to remind us to relax every now and again. Doing random art in a book helps.

You have to be willing to let loose. It was hard for me to start because I over thought about what I wanted to do or how to start, especially after seeing some of the work other people have done. So then I began to compare myself to them and thought that nothing I did would ever look as good as that. However, once I got out of my own head and just went with it, I found out how much I enjoyed it. I somehow managed to create some pretty nice pages, and I'm super proud of what I've done.

I've shared a few of them with others, but some are just for me. Which is the point. It's your own journal, your story.

Here are a few of my pages I'm willing to share. It shows a small variety of the different things you can do:

1. Lyrics-

I have a couple of different pages of lyrics. Some painted, some with things glued, and others just written down over the words on the page. My sister's book is actually just lyric art. So your book can be dedicated to one thing or multiple. This page has the lyrics to Dear Daughter by Halestorm. An amazing band if I so say so myself.

2. Drawings-

This is something I somehow managed to create. This is sort of a personal growth page for me as the words in the mirror (as you can slightly see) used to say 'Ugly'. However, over time, I changed my tune a little, so I changed the words. I like that you can still see the erased word, it's quite powerful. A good example of unintended art.

3. Fears-

Yes, I'm afraid of lady bugs. Don't ask me why cause I have no idea. I found these stickers in the scrapbook isle at Walmart and thought, why not? It's a part of who I am after all. Despite hating the little devils, I actually really like this page.

4. Quotes-

I have a small notebook with pages of quotes I've found and written down. So some of them I've moved into this book. The paper the words are written on are other pages I ripped out of the book.

5. Friends-

I write books on a site called Wattpad and I've met so many amazing people through that site. I dedicated a page to writing the usernames of all my amazing friends near and far who I've met.

6. Gluing-

I literally had random pieces of wood and glued them on a page to make a flower.

7. Creating-

It was a snowy day here in Maine and I hate the outdoors, so I made a snowman inside. Which, by the way, was a huge deal because I hate the feeling of cotton balls. It's part of my Sensory Processing Disorder, a texture issue. I cut a Q-tip in half for the arms, used string for the scarf, and cut a small piece of a cereal box out to make the hat.

8. Mantras-

These were the words I repeated to myself over and over again throughout my cancer treatment because believe me, I needed to know it was worth it. Even now, when things get tough, I remind myself that it's all worth it. So this page is all about what keeps me going sometimes.

I hope this article and examples help inspire you. Go out there and get to work. You don't know what you're capable of creating until you try.