The Pedantic Dragon

When I was a kid, back in Ye Olden Days of single family computers and "go outside and play with sticks or something," there was no part of the year I dreaded more than Spring Cleaning. That was the time when I would be forced to actually clean my room. Haul out all my toys and clothes and sort through things, probably have all my careful non-organization wrecked as my mother moved all my furniture and made me vacuum the carpets of the Hidden Places, and more likely than not have to give up a portion of my possessions as an offering to the Cleaning Gods.  As a child, this was a Terrible Time because I felt like I had no control over any part of this process. I didn't like cleaning anyway, and making myself sit still long enough to actually sort through my things was almost painful. I can only partly blame this on being a little ADHD goblin - the rest of this was probably due to the fact that my mother was particularly thorough on her "no clutter" rule. She was a...

Recently, I've picked up coloring again. One of my favorite Tiktokers pointed out that you don't have to sit and Do Nothing in order to meditate - that in fact, so long as your mind is free to wander, you can be doing anything you damn well please.  This idea tickled me, and since I know meditation is good for me, I went out and found myself a couple printable coloring sheets and sat down with my color pencils to let my brain wander and make the colors go on the page. It was lovely, and I ended up letting myself just exist for an hour while I did that. Now, I don't consider myself an "artist" per say, and nothing I make will end up in a gallery or will ever be worth anything in a monetary sense. According to some, that makes it a waste of time.  But... here's the thing.  That logic only makes sense if the only value in an activity is whether or not you profit financially. That's one way of looking at things, but if you ask me it's a depressing way to t...