Last Sunday I attended Nicholas Carbonara’s Art Event in the Rose Common Room. It happened to fall on the first sunny day following the week of the never ending snowfall, so the room was warm and bathed in sunlight. In addition, Nicholas’ two dogs were running around and greeting every newcomer who walked in. Initially I was feeling stressed about my assignments and a little annoyed that I had to take two hours out of my prime study time for this event, but once I sat down my worries seemed a little farther away.

Nicholas opened the workshop with the idea of using art as a therapeutic method to break away from our stressful workload and the added commitment to social media that seem to consume our lives. He noted that the event would be the perfect opportunity to try this out, allowing us an uninterrupted hour full of blank papers, dogs, and funky music to draw, write or simply sit there and self reflect.

During that hour, I utilized every bright color I could find in the box of markers and drew whatever came to mind. I’m not an artist, but I’ve always found doodling to be relaxing. In this setting, it was definitely a similar experience. Once I had filled up my sheet with various shapes and colors, I spent the rest of the time petting and nuzzling Ewok, one of Nicholas’ dogs. Overall, his hope of us having an afternoon to distance ourselves from our hectic schedules and instead taking a moment to breathe was personally successful. It was a pleasure to attend this event, and I hope Rose has more events to provide us with tips on self care.