Day 7 Mental Health Isn’t Always Loud—Sometimes It’s Circles and Scribbles

How quiet, repetitive shapes helped me manage anxiety in the early days of recovery.

Continuing from yesterday’s post, in the early days after my stroke, I didn’t have much. I couldn’t speak fluently. I couldn’t type with my “wonky” hand. And I certainly couldn’t plan or paint the way I can now. But I could hold a pencil—barely—and I could make a shape: a circle, a squiggly line, or just some marks.

So that’s what I did. Yesterday I included one of my first “good” circle scribbles. I’m still proud of that drawing. Blues, blacks, and gray, that was exciting to create.

Again and again, I drew circles. Scribbles. Loops. Repeating them quietly, sometimes anxiously, as my body and mind tried to find some rhythm again. I had no idea then that those simple marks would become a form of mental regulation—my own quiet language of grounding.

There’s something calming about repetition when your world has been turned upside down. About doing something when so much feels out of your control. Circles became my anchor. Scribbles became my breath. This wasn’t therapy in a formal sense—it was survival through shape. It was therapeutic art and it was so freeing.

I’m happy to report that I’ve moved beyond just circles and lines, but they were my beginning. They helped me access stillness, calm my nervous system, and feel a flicker of agency during a time when I needed help even going to the bathroom.

Now, my days are filled with paint brushes of all kinds—cheap, expensive, clean, dirty, and everything in between. And though I still deal with fatigue and the occasional fierce muscle spasms, I’m living—with color, with purpose, and with deep gratitude.

Mental health recovery isn’t always loud or bold. Sometimes it’s slow, quiet, and repetitive. Sometimes it’s circles.

Today’s Gentle Assignment:

Find a few minutes of quiet. Grab a pen, pencil, crayon, or marker—whatever you have nearby.

Draw one circle. Then another. Then another. Let your hand move without judgment.

Notice your breath. Notice how your body feels as you repeat the shape.

Try filling a whole page. Try spacing them out. Scribble if you feel like it.

Let this be your moment of grounding today.

Embrace Simplicity without Judgment

With gentleness,

Michelle Joy Brown, Your Artist Friend

A watercolor painting from 2022, painted on watercolor paper.

© 2025 Michelle Joy Brown. All rights reserved.

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