Did you know that 45 minutes of making art can measurably lower your stress hormones? And, you know what? It works whether or not you think you're "any good" at it? In a 2016 study at Drexel University, adults were given 45 minutes with markers, clay and collage paper, with no instructions beyond "make something." Afterwards, around three-quarters of them had lower cortisol (the body's main stress hormone). The part I love the most is: people with no art experience benefited just as much as the seasoned creatives. Your brain doesn't grade the result. It responds to the doing. A follow-up study from the same team scanned people's brains while they doodled, coloured and drew freely. All three lit up the brain's reward centre, the same system that responds when something feels pleasurable or meaningful. Doodling had the strongest effect of all. So those little spirals in the margins of your meeting notes? They're quietly doing you a favour. And it isn't just a couple of studies. In 2019 the World Health Organization reviewed more than 3,000 pieces of research on the arts and health, and they found that creative activity is linked to lower stress, better mood, reduced loneliness and a greater sense of purpose. Even colouring in counts: a study found that colouring a mandala eased anxiety more than drawing on a blank page, because the structure gives your mind somewhere calm to rest. Here's why it works. When you're absorbed in mixing a colour or following a line, the part of your mind that rehearses worries and replays conversations gets a break. That's flow, and it's one of the gentlest ways to reset a busy nervous system. This is exactly why 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘰𝘱 and 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘍𝘦𝘴𝘵 exist in this community. They're not about producing a masterpiece. They're about giving yourself permission to play for a while and come back feeling lighter. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸: set a timer for 15 minutes and make something. Doodle, colour, paint, arrange leaves on the table, anything. Then come back and tell us one word for how you felt afterwards.

I have another confession: September sneaks up on me every year. One minute it's still winter with blankets and hot chocolate, the next the Namaqua Daisies are doing their thing (including all the sneezing and itching eyes) and I'm suddenly emotional about flowers. That's spring for you. It doesn't ask permission, it just arrives. So, this month's Colour Pop is a full-on floral bloom, with four words sitting right in the middle of it: 𝗕𝗘 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗗. I picked this one because spring is nature's reminder that growth doesn't happen all at once, and it definitely doesn't happen without some quiet, unglamorous work underneath the surface first. Before anything blossoms, it's just sitting there, doing the invisible bit. Does this sound familiar? That's most of the mind work we do too. So before you pick up a single pencil, sit with the words for a second: - 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 "𝙗𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙" 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬? - 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺? - 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦? 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗢 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬: 1️⃣ Download the picture below 2️⃣ Colour it in — pencils, crayons, oil pastels, paint, khokis, whatever's within arm's reach, no rules 3️⃣ Snap a pic and drop it in the comments, along with one line on how you've been kind to your mind this September, or where spring shows up for you 🗓️ 𝗞𝗘𝗬 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦: Entries close: Wednesday, 30 September 2026 Show me what spring looks like through your hands, and what kindness looks like in your head. I can't wait to see this thread bloom. 🌷 Happy colouring! 🎨

So, we only had one entry into the competition, so I will be carrying the prize over to September. Yes, the winner of the September competition will get an Amazon voucher for R250. Here's my attempt at the colour pop - which doesn't qualify to be part of the draw. Well done to @Viloshnee Perumal 's mom for successfully completing her colour pop. Why did I choose to feature Melanie Perkins, co-founder of Canva? Because she had a vision - to make graphic design accessible to everyone - yes, to you who is a solopreneur and cannot afford to pay a graphic designer. Canva is the bridge between the standard MS Word / PowerPoint document and a professionally designed brochure. That vision became a reality and Canva is now huge - with over 260 million current active users worldwide, and growing. Canva has also now purchased Affinity, a competitor to Adobe, giving Canva pro users access to professional graphic design software. (but, let me warn you, if you're not a graphic designer, get ready for a seriously sharp learning curve 🤣). If you would still like to give it a go, I am attaching a copy of the colour pop for August for you to download - and please share your completed image when it's done. Let me know what you think about my attempt - maybe it can inspire you. 🤗

I have a confession: I've been sitting on this month's reveal for weeks because I was way too excited - I almost couldn't contain myself. Meet our August muse, 𝗠𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝘀: the woman who looked at design software and decided it was way too complicated for regular humans (like us), and built Canva instead. No big deal, just a tool now used by millions of us to make pretty things without a design degree in sight. She's straight out of Dezré Little's gorgeous Radiant Ventures Vol. 1 colouring book, which is a whole collection of colouring in pages celebrating 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 "𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲" 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 "𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗲." Bold dreams, glow-up stories, quotes that'll hit you right in the chest while you're just trying to stay inside the lines. Here's the bit that inspirec me: Melanie didn't build Canva for designers. She built it for everyone else. The people who never thought "creative" applied to them. That's the whole plot twist. Access over exclusivity. And honestly? That's my kind of claiming-your-space energy. So while you're colouring her in, toss this question around in your head: 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵? HOW TO PLAY (still ridiculously simple): 1️⃣ Download the picture below 2️⃣ Colour her in using crayons, gel pens, acrylic - it doesn't matter, there are no rules 3️⃣ Snap a pic + drop it in the comments 🏆 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗭𝗘: the winning entry walks away with a 𝗥𝟮𝟱𝟬 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿 to treat yourself. 🗓️ 𝗞𝗘𝗬 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦: Entries close: Monday, 31 August 2026 Winner announced: shortly after, so keep this tab open 👀 Grab your pencils, your kid's crayon box, whatever's within arm's reach and let's get colourful. I can't wait to see what she becomes in your hands. Happy colouring!

I got my mum to join in the Fun as well.