Behind the Blog: My Fascination (Addiction) to Adult Coloring Books

I have a confession to make.

I like adult coloring books.

Actually, I like all coloring books.  I don't care what age they are intended for...

But I mean it.  I like them.

A LOT.

Alright.  I am still not being completely honest with you all.

I AM ADDICTED TO ADULT COLORING BOOKS!

There.  I said it.  I am an addict.

I don't really know how it happened.  At first I had only one...and then I had two....and then...

Dang... I even have magazines devoted to coloring.

I don't even know how many I have now.  All I know is that I have a lot.  Probably more than I can ever actually finish in my lifetime.  But I think that is okay.... it gives me more choices on what I can color in depending on my mood at the time.

Shhh!  Let me live in my happy oblivion!

Where did my collection come from?

How did I get all of these coloring books in my life?  A lot of different ways.  A lot I have bought for myself, with my most recent acquisition to my collection being my Tokidoki ones.  I audibly squealed when I discovered their existence.  Then, quite a few of them have been gifts that I have received from various people.  And then finally, I review them, so I have received them for that purpose as well.

Oh and I have won some from giveaways too!

To be fair though, there have been coloring books that I have received for review or from giveaways that I haven't been my most favorite...and that is okay.  You can't like them all.  So I have managed to separate from a few of these.  I have given them to others that I know could really enjoy them and use them for entertainment or for therapy for things like PTSD.  So I know they have gone to good homes and are appreciated it.

Why do I love adult coloring books?

But anyways, let's get real for a second.  There are some real reasons why I am obsessed with adult coloring books.  The first and foremost reason is quite simply that they give me a creative outlet.  I tend to get stuck creatively a lot.  And I hate it.  With coloring, I at least don't have to come up with the picture, I just have to come up with the way to color it.  And sometimes, for me, that is still hard and I hate it!  I get blocked so often and so easily.  It is very frustrating.

The second reason is that coloring gives me something to do other than read.  It is another thing in my life that I can do to unwind, but is still easy to stop in the middle of when my 17 month old decides I need to pay full and undivided attention to her (and this happens a lot).

Third, I find coloring to be pretty cost effective.  When you really think about it and pretend to do the math, an adult coloring book provides hours of entertainment for very little money.  One picture in any given adult coloring book can take me HOURS to finish.  So I find them to be a huge bargain!

And finally, and this one is much more personal, is that I find it to be good therapy for my hands.  Once upon a time, my hands pretty much stopped working.  I couldn't really get them to do anything, and I couldn't feel much with them.  Don't worry though!  They work now!  This only lasted 3ish months or so, but they get tired super fast, especially when I am writing, drawing, coloring, etc.  This means I have to take breaks much more often than I would like, but I figure the more I use them in these ways, the more I am working on the muscles that are weaker now.  I hope by coloring and other similar activities, the muscles will work more and I will be able to last longer.

Whats Next?

My newest bit to go with adult coloring books is post cards.  I really like that I can color them and then snail mail them out to whomever I choose.  I sadly don't have too many postcard options in my collection yet, so that is definitely something I need to make grow!

Oh, and I really like the poster type of coloring books, despite not actually having any yet.  I need to fix this ASAP!  Though, I will probably have to wait until the holidays or something to actually solve this problem.

You know what is really sad though, is that even though I have all of these coloring books and desire more (dang addiction) I don't spend as much time coloring them as I want/should.  I still spend most of my time reading (my much worse addiction).

I do, however, intend to create a coloring club with my friend who lives locally if we can ever get our schedules to match.  This is so much harder said than done though.  But have you ever sat down and colored with other people?  It is actually so much fun!  You just chat and color and the time flies by!  It is a great way to be creative and still be social!  It is actually a huge thing in the world!  I may need to find some coloring clubs online and do some research to see if I can find any that meet locally too!

Then finally, I really want to do some crafts with my colored creations.  I have seen a lot of amazing ideas in my coloring magazines that I have picked up over time and I really want to do them.  Now I just need to actually do them!


Thanks for sticking around!

I don't see this addiction getting better any time soon.  I only seeing it getting worse, but I think I am okay with that.  However, I don't know if other people in my life (my husband) will be!  I guess they will just have to get over it though.  Adult coloring books, even if I am not currently coloring just give me so much joy!