EMOTIONAL EDIBLES
In which we stuff our faces with Big Feelings. But in a fun, healthy way.
Hey. Hi. It’s me.
How we feeling today?
All the things, right??
Everything is a lot right now. Even if today is a good day (and I hope it is for you), it’s an overwhelming time in the world. War, climate, hardship, holidays. I have a hunch we all feel the stress and sadness in our bodies. I’ve found myself running around for a few days, super busy, distracted and harried, only to have some little thing happen and BAM. Seemingly out of nowhere a Big Feelings wave hits me, and I’m standing in a big puddle of tears. Whew. Didn’t see that coming. But I could have…
Big Feelings don’t go away when we push them down. They always catch up with us. And if we don’t recognize them, identify them, and then get them out in a healthy way, they become a crashing tidal wave. Or worse.
Now is not the time to run away from the Big Feelings. If anything, it’s a time to make space for them. If only there was a fun, creative way to do that…
Processing Big Feelings with Drawing
You’ve heard me say it a million times: feelings live in our bodies. To fully access our feelings, we can’t just talk about them - we have to use our bodies. Drawing does this in such a positive, generative, meaning-making manner. That’s why the GUT and DrawTogether for kids focus so much on drawing to support our emotional health.
When we draw with a pen on paper (or paintbrush on canvas or sculpt with clay or anything analog), we use our bodies. It’s a tactile, physiological experience. And that action - drawing super fast and hard, or light and slow, or upside-down holding a paintbrush with our teeth - can help tap into those feelings being held in our bodies. Through drawing, we bring the emotions up, have space and time to experience them, to embody them. And using our drawing tools, we can move them out of our bodies and out onto the page.
Another part of working through Big Feelings is identifying and articulating what exactly those Big Feelings are.
Drawing can also help with that.
Figure Out Our Feelings with Drawings
By far, the most popular DrawTogether episode is Inside Weather1 (watch the video here and/or listen to the podcast episode here). Because just like there is weather OUTSIDE, there is also weather INSIDE. And like the weather outside, our inside weather always changes. In one day, we might have three or four different weather systems move through us (or more!) Sometimes, we even experience different weather at the same time.
Through drawing their own Inside Weather Chart, kids learn to identify their feelings, understand them as something they experience as opposed to who they ARE, and notice how the feelings change over time. I’ve heard from educators that they keep these student-made charts up all year round. Kids regularly reference them when the Big Feelings return. This gives kids a good feeling of security, safety, and control.
These days, I think we could ALL use a little of that.
Feelings Charts for grown-ups.
When I was a social worker in training, my supervisor handed me a simple chart of cartoon facial expressions and told me to use them with my clients. She said it would help them help them identify their emotions. At first, I thought it was pretty cheesy. Too cutesy and kid-like! But wow. Was I wrong. These silly comic faces helped even the oldest, most wise clients figure out what was going on for them on the inside, which helped us address what was happening outside. It opened up doors for exploration, conversation, and connection.
In addition to the facial expression charts, people have also created a variety of Feelings Wheels to help us figure out our feelings. I'm a particular fan of this one from Abby VanMuijen:
Google “Feelings Wheel” and you’ll find a hundred others with slight variations, plus a bunch of research to back up their usefulness. There’s some research about how many feelings humans have and a lot of different opinions on how feelings charts do/do not work. So, as with everything, give it a try. If it works for you, great. If not, move on.
While drawing a feelings wheel seems like a solid Grown-Ups Table activity, honestly, friends, it feels a little heavy right now. This week, I want to do something light. Something still related to feelings, but Fun.
I know I could use it.
This reminded me of the super fun feelings-related drawing lesson I did with kids - both on video and in a podcast - that KIDS went nuts over. Even today - YEARS LATER - I still get sent drawings by kids who return to this drawing lesson again and again and again and again…
That drawing is… (drum roll please)…
Emotional Fruit.
That’s what we are drawing today. We are going to draw fruit and give it feelings. It’s so fun.
FUN FACT: The big irony of this assignment, friends, is that I DO NOT LIKE FRUIT. True story! Other than raspberries, blueberries, pink lady apples and cherry tomatoes (which, come on, isn’t really a fruit), I HATE fruit. It’s mushy. It’s gross. And I DO NOT LIKE HAVING BIG FEELINGS. I may be trained as a social worker and I love to talk about big feelings, I hate feeling them! Unless it’s super big happy feelings, of course. But honestly, most of them are just scary. Yeesh.
But! Fruit and Big Feelings are both facts of life. So here we are, GUT peeps. We can do this. Together.
Let’s draw our own personal Big Feelings fruit salad.
Assignment: Drawing our Emotional Fruits
Step 1. Choose Your Feelings
Using the chart or wheel above, identify THREE feelings (Big or small) that you’ve been experiencing lately. Take your time. They don’t have to be connected.
Step 2. Choose Your Fruit
After you’ve chosen your feelings, think of a fruit that goes with each feeling. Need some help thinking of a fruit? Please allow some vintage botanical drawings to help you.
Once you’ve chosen your fruit, it’s time to draw it. Intimidated by an elderberry? Scared to draw a strawberry? Orange you glad you didn’t choose a pineapple? I got you. Let’s do a fruit drawing review.
How to Draw Fruit - a Review!
While we very well may do a full still life drawing series in 2024 (30 day hint!) I am not going to give you a full-on fruit drawing lesson today. But I am going to give you a couple of tips and tricks.
How to draw basic fruit shapes