Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Monica Harris. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Monica , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

When I developed the Meditative Doodling technique, it was as a tool for myself to deal with anxiety and depression. After talking to a lot of people who shared similar situations, I thought it might be worth sharing. The more tools we have as changing & growing people, the better, right?

I first started teaching adults, simply because they were my first contacts in terms of eagerness to discover the method. Eventually, one of my friends approached me and asked if I would be willing to share it to children. “Why not!” I thought.

Teaching Meditative Doodling to young people has been a rewarding project! To see kids as young as 6, find a way to express their emotions without words has been amazing. As I point out to them, it’s just another tool they can add to their ‘tool box’ when it comes to figuring out their feelings. It’s a way to navigate through tough times and to celebrate the wonderful times.

For the young learners, it melts my heart to hear them thank me for visiting or to ask when I’ll be coming back. Tears have been shared when they request hugs (and yes, I deliver with warmth and love). Connection is created when a young student reveals that she is not looking forward to summer vacation because that means she’ll be home alone with her father, who is not very kind. (If you’re wondering if I reported that to her teacher, I absolutely did!)

Once, during a family night, a father stood on the side scrolling through his phone while his daughter doodled with me. I encouraged him to come join us but he said he was fine – preferring not to bother her. I took a moment to stand next to him and, without eye contact, asked if she was getting to that tough age? Where there were difficult topics to discuss? A light bulb went off and he said, “Yes! How did you know?” I told him that I had raised two daughters and was now having the experience with a granddaughter. My suggestion was that he try doodling alongside his daughter. When doodling, they would each be looking down at their papers being creative. Discussions could be so much easier when they didn’t have to sit STARING at each other. He thought that was a brilliant suggestion and joined her at the table,.

My soul feels like it has found a purpose; allowing me to share this therapy technique with anyone eager to learn it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Getting into the creative realm happened purely by accident. My background and education is in human anatomy and physiology. I taught high school and college level courses in Biology, Chemistry, and Life Science. While these professions are satisfying, they can be rather rigid…present information, help students understand it, ask them to prove that they understand it, and then move them on to the next class.

It wasn’t until I had the chance to live overseas and step back from my teaching that I realized my heart was passionate about creating. I had made a promise to myself in 5th grade that I would be a writer and, not just any writer, but a children’s book author. I dove into that and was extremely lucky to have 28 books published and more than 200 magazine pieces or assessment writing passages published.

Returning from abroad, I continued to write but I found life filled with worries – raising my young children, dealing with social expectations, having a husband who travelled a lot, and the pressures of keeping a household running on my own. This, of course, was even more complicated as we moved back to the USA only a few weeks before the events of 9/11. Helping my children understand the hatred that erupted against fellow citizens who weren’t even involved in the terrorist act was extremely difficult.

Life continued on and, as mentioned previously, I searched for ways to keep my mind calm and peaceful. Meditation, canvas parties, meditative coloring books….they did not work for me. My mind still jumped around searching for the answers of “what if this” and “what if that”? That’s when I developed the Meditative Doodling process – a way to connect emotions to colors and shapes.

Within the last year, I have also taken on other projects. I create miniature mushroom gardens using dried citrus peels and other items found on the beach or during a nature hike. Fox faces from dried oranges are always popular as are meditative doodles created with recycled books. I search for words or phrases and doodle the emotions surrounding them. Since I don’t do reprints, each piece is one-of-a-kind. On occasion, sheet music also offers inspiration for an image that brings the song to life.

Last of all, I began teaching art classes to kids aged 6-12 during the summer. I try to use as much recycled or repurposed items as possible. This makes art accessible to more kids who may not have a full home art studio. Themes can range from Playing with Paper, Fantasy Worlds, and Miniatures. The most important lessons are: art is creative, good for the brain, therapeutic, and community building.

(I’m not sure what the question is here—I’ll make something up)
WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY?
I find joy in looking around me and observing nature. The changing color of the clouds at a sunset. The way a toad burrows into the dirt to camouflage itself. The intricate patterns formed by spiderwebs. Joy can also be found when finding an object and asking myself, “What can I use this form? How can it become part of art?”

(Again….not sure what is suppose to go here – I’m winging it!)
MOST DIFFICULT PART OF BEING A WORKING CREATIVE?
The most difficult part is finding places to showcase my art. Craft shows run year-round but my ability to travel across country is limited. I also find it extremely infuriating to pay for a booth and then find out that the organizers didn’t advertise enough. It ends up being a day where I sit alone and don’t even earn my space rental fee back. so I sit there all day without a single sale. This frustrates me!

Social media can only go so far when reaching people. Scams are rampant so that requires additional research to make sure you’re not wasting time or money. Trying to sell on Etsy is great IF you have multiple of an object but since the majority of mine are one-of-a-kind, the ongoing cost is not justifiable.

Getting in front of potential customers and participants is the most difficult part of this profession.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thedoodlingduchess.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedoodlingduchess/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedoodlingduchess