How many decades have passed since you allowed yourself the therapeutic joy of doodling? Art isn’t just for skinny people in berets and black turtlenecks. Art is healing. Place a pack of colored pencils and a sheet of paper in front of any child and voilà. Do the same thing with grown-ups and you’ll witness an endless display of insecurities and resistance. Grown-ups are very serious people. They are domesticated to wipe out the whimsy. The piano is boarded up, that chapter of life is over. But you are an artist, a highly imaginative creative spirit. Your very existence is an expression of beauty. Forget about quality and instead savor the pleasure of the process. Get this: Studies show that creativity can drastically reduce stress levels and pain perception. In fact, art, prayer, and healing are associated with similar brain wave patterns. How cool!

Creativity allows you to take a break from that which ails you. It also serves as a way to process your experience. Art gets the pain out of your body and gives it shape and words. It mends the broken heart that aches over cancer. Honor your need to express yourself. This doesn’t mean you have to try to follow Bob Ross patiently stroking out a mountain in reruns of The Joy of Painting on PBS. Think of art as an important tool in your healing process and allow yourself some playtime with your muse.

It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.

—PABLO PICASSO