I can’t be the only person who thought “adult coloring book” sounded dirty. Please, tell me I’m not the only one.
That was all until I discovered that an adult coloring book is as innocent as a child’s coloring book—it is just that, actually. But instead of coloring Disney princesses, cartoon characters or color-by-number (which was my personal favorite coloring activity when I was younger), adult coloring books are slightly more sophisticated.
Adult coloring books range from funky designs to cityscapes of lands near and far, and I’ve even recently discovered a "Gilmore Girls" themed book. Clearly, these coloring book designers have thought of everything. But let’s be real, even now as an adult, I would totally be up for coloring Disney princesses, cartoon characters and color-by-number.
I’ll be the first to admit, I prematurely judged the coloring books. I blamed my lack of artistic ability on my disinterest in adult coloring books, as well as thinking "I’m 20 years old. I don’t color anymore. I do adult things." But over winter break when my roommate sent me Snapchats of her intricate, colorful pieces from the books, I couldn’t help but be intrigued.
Flash forward to the start of this semester. My roommate returned to school equipped with a plethora of blank coloring pages and a massive Ziploc bag full of markers. Sure, I was mesmerized, but I still wasn’t going to give in. But then it seemed like everyone started coloring. Even my school’s bookstore had a section in the checkout line devoted to adult coloring books. People were tweeting about it. I couldn’t seem to escape it.
As Winter Storm Jonas rolled into Washington, D.C., the city slowly shut down, confining students to the comfort of their dorms. Bored, defeated and stir-crazy, I began to search the Internet for some coloring pages. I was finally giving in.
“Don’t print one from the Internet,” my roommate said. “The markers will bleed straight through the printer paper. Here, choose a page.” She handed me her coloring book. “Are you sure?” I asked her. She insisted. As I flipped through her completed pages, ones that she was in the process of filling with pretty colors and blank ones, I stumbled upon a design that looked like a stained-glass window. That was it. I ripped it from the book and started filling the “stained-glass” with different hues of pink, purple, and blue. I spent days perfecting that coloring page. If we didn’t have those snow days, I wouldn’t have started off the semester well.
Now that I’ve finally given into the adult coloring book hype, I feel guilty for my initial hesitations. I now realize the immense benefits of coloring. It’s therapeutic. It’s the ultimate tool of procrastination. It relieves stress and distracts from the never-ending responsibilities of an adult in college. It’s the perfect activity to do while watching television. Most importantly, the coloring books make me feel young again. OK, I’m still young, but who doesn’t like escaping to childhood one coloring page at a time?
