Head bonk recovery

[sasha_feather]

A decently nice day!
H. came over and we went to the Trans Joy Fest, which was lovely, but very cold. It felt quite wintry by the lake. We didn't stay very long but we picked up some fun stickers. Then we came back to the apt. and did some coloring pages for a while. I suppose I should invest in more crafts and coloring books as they seem safe and fun for concussion recovery. It's been about 6.5 weeks and I expect recovery to take months. (It's hard to say of course). So I will have to develop some new habits. H. suggested collage, which is similar to vidding in that you are cutting things up and re-assembling them.

A silver lining is that I am seeing friends more and talking on the phone with them.

Right now it's not the screens so much as the motion and concentration involved in things like gaming and vidding. I mean I don't think screens are great but they are also not horrible. Coloring, snacking, and listening to music is about my speed right now. Very nice to be around people and I am really appreciating my friends.

Comments

Mmm, collage is delightful!

[jesse_the_k]

There's a guided doodling method called Zentangle™, which bills itself as a meditative art. Of course they sell their particular system (and certify teachers), but they also provide guidance for free. One starts with black ink and pencil on 4x4 or 6x6 inch paper squares, and then there's a whole universe of zentangle-adjacent tools because capitalism.

https://zentangle.com/pages/get-started

Zentangle art is non-representational and unplanned so you can focus on each stroke and not worry about the result. There is no up or down to Zentangle art. If fact, you can most easily create Zentangle art by rotating your tile as you tangle -- always keeping your hand in a relaxed position. You don't need to know what a tangle is going to look like to draw it. You just need to know the steps. The result is a delightful surprise.

As you use the Zentangle Method to create beautiful images, you likely will enjoy increased focus, creativity, self-confidence and an increased sense well-being.

Zendoodle is the generic name for this. If you're interested, I could get some "artist tiles," and we could try it out.

Re: Mmm, collage is delightful!

[replyhazy]

Oh, you are too fast for me, I was going to suggest Zentangling!

My other suggestion would be Play Dough or Sculpey type clay. Sort of 3D doodling might be soothing.