#5 Emotional Doodles, part 2: Gratitude

11/28/21 • 8 min

Hey hey! Belated happy day of thankfulness. Our regular Friday email got bumped for our fundraiser to give DT art kits to kids*, so I’m extra happy to DrawTogether with you on a Sunday. Feels like a special occasion.

Today we’re continuing with our 3 part series “Emotional Doodles” - drawing to reduce anxiety in kids (of all ages.) Last week, we used drawing to help identify feelings and move them out of our bodies and onto the page. This week, in the timely spirit of giving thanks, we use drawing to identify and focus on things we’re grateful for. Press PLAY above for an 8 minute drawing that will change your perspective.

Studies show a “gratitude practice” reduces anxiety and depression, strengthens relationships, improves mental health and minimizes stress in the short and long term. Regularly focusing on what we’re grateful for literally changes the way we experience the world. Drawing is an easy and fun way for kids (of all ages) to begin a practice. You can do today’s DT podcast on your own, like visual journaling - or together as a family or classroom. And as always, drawing like this is a great starting point for a deeper conversation.

After you’re done, if your kiddo wants to share their drawings, I’d love to see it. Post a photo of it Instagram and tag @drawtogether.studio. Also, I’d love to hear from you: How are these podcasts are working for you? What do you want more or less of? Longer or shorter? We’re only 5 episodes in, and have some fun ideas and plans, and I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts - please post in the comments below.

Grateful for you.

xo,w

*Thank you so so much to everyone generously supporting this effort to give life-changing art kits to kids in classrooms across the USA! We are so excited and proud to be in such good cahoots with YOU! <3 <3

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

Grateful for you.

xo,w

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

Previous Episode

#4 Emotional Doodles, part 1: Scribble it out

Helloooo!! It’s Friday! I highly recommend at some point today that you stop whatever you are doing, stand and/or stretch, shake the fingers, shake the arms, and do The Friday Dance. I feel like we all could use it, right?? Well, I hope this newsletter also helps inspire and excite: we have a new super important DrawTogether Podcast episode for you, and a very special DrawTogether group effort. Let’s go!

NEW DT PODCAST EPISODE. (Hit that big play button above to listen!) Last week I got a call from Special DT Guest and pediatrician Dr. Lee Atkinson-McEvoy. She said she’s witnessing higher levels of anxiety amongst her young patients than ever before. Dr. Lee asked if DrawTogether would consider dedicating an episode to helping kids of all ages process feelings. Of course we said YES.

For the next few weeks, the DT Podcast will focus on drawing to help identify, clarify and process emotions. Let’s call them “Emotional Doodles.” Like everything DrawTogether, these exercises are intended for kids, but growns might find them helpful, too. We’ve heard the DT Podcast is also excellent family dinner table material, and awesome to use in the classroom. Remember, these podcasts are a quick bites - starting points for exploration. Keep drawing on your own and see where it leads. Please share thoughts, suggestions or requests you for future DT podcasts with a comment. DrawTogether is a big community endeavor, and we want to hear from you.

LET’S DO THIS: Help Boost Kids Creativity with Art Supplies! I know from personal experience how much having quality art supplies as a kid cultivates creativity and confidence. Unfortunately, many schools don’t have visual art classes, let alone any decent art supplies. DrawTogether’s non-profit “DrawTogether Classrooms” just launched our pilot program: we’re delivering FREE social-emotional art programming to 100 classrooms in 30 states. (Woot Woot!) Now, with you, we want to make sure those kids have the art supplies they need.

We just kicked off a Go Fund Me campaign to deliver 2,000 beautifully designed, high quality DrawTogether art supply kits directly to emerging kid artists in classrooms around the country. We need your help. Just $30 will give a kid a life-changing art kit. For $300 bucks, you’re supporting ten small artists. And for $1,000, you’ll stock an entire classroom with supplies for a year, and change these kids lives forever - and we’ll send you a kit of your own. :)

Every dollar makes a difference, as do tweets and posts - please kick in if you can, and please help us spread the word. Hit the button below to share this email with a friend. Pass it on! Thank you so, so much.

It’s an exciting time for DrawTogether. I have a little DT insider info I’ll share on Sunday - subscribe to support DT and get the inside scoop.... Meanwhile, thank you for being part of this incredible growing community. Pencils up, friends. Everything is better...

xo, w

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

Next Episode

#6 Emotional Doodles, part 3: Slow & Steady

Hey there!

This is our third and final episode in our series “Emotional Doodles” - drawing to alleviate anxiety. Reminder: UCSF Pediatrician and friend of DrawTogether, Dr. Lee Atkinson-McEvoy, shared that she’s seeing unprecedented levels of anxiety in kids and asked if DrawTogether could help. So we’re doing a few short, simple, fun drawing podcast exercises here on the podcast that can help reduce anxiety in a big way. You can do them on your own, with family members or friends, or with an entire classroom.

The first episode explored how drawing varying types of abstract marks can help us identify feelings, and scribble them out of our bodies and onto the page. The second episode used drawing to focus our attention on things we’re grateful for, which studies show helps reduce anxiety and depression. And TODAY, we do a simple and powerful doodling exercise that I do all the time. Let’s call it LINES. It’s simple, powerful meditative drawing exercise. After a few minutes you feel more calm, less anxious, and you end up with a pretty cool drawing.

So grab a pen and a piece of paper and press play. It’s less than 10 minutes. :)

And COMMENTS! Friends! I heart feedback! Your input helps me know what is and isn’t working. Are these too long? Too short? Too literal? Too abstract? Easy to follow? This is one big experiment, so please take a moment and leave a comment or shoot me a message. I so, so appreciate it. Thank you!

And thanks Chris Colin for the DT Podcast drawing music, Amy Standen for the edit, and Thao Nguyen for the DT theme song.

See you next week with a very different kind of drawing direction.

xoxo,w

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe