Sojourner hosts a coloring book social – with cookies

You’re invited to a coloring book social from 6 to 8 p.m. June 13, at Sojourner in Lambertville, N.J. At 6 p.m., artist Gwenn Seemel will talk about the new mental health workbook, “Everything’s Fine,” and then participants will color and have some cookies.

The “Everything’s Fine” workbook started as a series of paintings that were all about the artist reclaiming their mind from a bad place. It was late 2021 and, at the time, “most people wanted to pretend that the protocols and privations of the first 18 months of the pandemic hadn’t happened.

“If you were aware of your mental health issues, you were mostly considered a mopey grumble-bum who should lighten up.”

So, Seemel painted about the ways they weren’t connecting with the world around them, and as they shared their paintings, they found people who understood where they were coming from.

In the workbook, those paintings have become coloring pages and questions for reflection that can help you figure out how to articulate more about what’s going on in your mind.

“Creating this book has been a vulnerable process, but also one that’s helped me heal. I hope that filling in ‘Everything’s Fine’ with your colors and feelings brings you some of that goodness too,” Seemel said.

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