Reasons to Draw – Simple Ways For Me to Connect with Myself and Rest my Weary Mind by Rayna Lo

My Reasons for Drawing – Simple Ways For Me to Connect with Myself and Rest my Weary Mind

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The past few months have been really busy and I am taking some much-needed time to reconnect with myself. June is a little slower with school being over and people enjoying a much-needed summer vacation, especially coming out of a traumatizing pandemic. CDC has lifted mask mandates for the vaccinated and businesses are fully opening up again.
The old Rayna would have been worried with the lighter workload. I used to tie my identity to my productivity and probably would have had a panic attack. Instead, I am taking this opportunity to center myself through my art and more importantly, allow myself to rest. I have been on earth for over three decades and I am only realizing now that rest is part of the creative process—or any process for that matter. This is a lesson that humbles me, as you truly never stop learning.
I am drawing for me as my form of rest. And this is the most important thing I can do for my mental health and overall spirit. Here are the reasons I draw:

  • Draw because you find joy in it
  • Draw because you find meaning
  • Draw to get lost in the details
  • Draw to escape
  • Draw to connect with yourself
  • Draw to connect with nature
  • Draw to bring attention to things you care about
  • Draw to see things better
  • Draw to look deeper
  • Draw to override superficial judgments
  • Draw because it fulfills your soul
  • Draw because you don’t care about meaningless social media metrics
  • Draw to escape the pressure of “staying on brand”
  • Draw to get away from your phone
  • Draw to shut out the chaos of the outside world
  • Draw as a form of social rest
  • Draw because you can’t express in words
  • Draw to heal yourself
  • Draw because you want to explore new mediums
  • Draw to be surprised with unexpected outcomes
  • Draw because you don’t want to stick to the same style all the time
  • Draw to free yourself from restrictions
  • Draw with no expectations
  • Draw for the joy of learning
  • Draw for you
Axolotl drawn with color pencils on mixed media paper
And it doesn’t have to be restricted to just drawing. You can replace ‘draw’ with whatever verb you wish. Anything that makes your soul feel alive. It could be fishing, singing, playing guitar, etc.

I am fascinated by axolotls and wanted to learn more about these creatures. This drawing has nothing to do with Chinese calligraphy or the other stuff that I’m usually doing and that’s why I love it so much. It’s so liberating to expand my horizon and not feel pressured to stay within the same style. I am also learning cool facts while searching for axolotl reference photos.

They they are named after Xolotl, the Aztec God of fire and lightning, who could take on the form of a salamander. Axolotls have the ability to regenerate limbs, spinal cords, eyes, and parts of their brains. This means they could have incredible insight into treating human neurological diseases! Unfortunately, axolotls are critically endangered and I hope that by drawing them, I helped bring some attention to them. My drawing also looks like a character from Ponyo and that was an unintentional and delightful surprise since I love Ghibli movies so much.

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