The world continues to grow to overwhelming proportions. Lives spiral out of control. I see it in my family’s faces. I see it in my friends’ faces. Not only do I see it on my face, but I see it on my darling little kitties’ faces. When I finally trudge into the door at night, after a long day in the studio, accomplishing what I consider nothing, three little furry faces look up at me, kitty eyebrows raised, wondering if “the food machine” will dispense treats or just the same old boring nourishing dry cat kibbles. Will their favorite two-legged “lap” smile and stroke their silky fur? 
As I peer down at my babies, whose faces are also wrinkled in questioning expressions and their little legs just beginning the frantic pacing of “will she or won’t she?”, I take a deep breath, then sigh.
I am no longer overwhelmed. Oh, for me, its never permanent. I’m a born worrywart, a frantic consumer of too many responsibilities. But for a moment, I am at peace. Treats are doled out, chins are scratched, bellies are rubbed, fabric mice are filled with catnip, then three furballs cuddle on their favorite lap. And the human is forced to breathe, sigh, and unwind.
And then I think about the other way to beat being overwhelmed. It is really very simple. Be
creative. Get lost in it. Shut out the world. Draw circles in the dirt. Whittle a stick. Make up a song. Better yet, dance in the dirt, singing your song with the flute you whittled. And take deep breaths.
I am a professional artist. I dance and draw in the dirt every day. My dirt is paint. What is your dirt?
Jaquita Ball is a professional artist and artists’ marketing consultant working from her studio, Red Cat Art Studio, in Bentonville, Arkansas, in the Ozark Mountains. For questions or to discuss a painting commission, she can be reached at RedCatArt@aol.com.
