Create Chaos to Cope??

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The Weirdly Wonderful Power of Art + Journaling

Ever feel like your brain is buzzing, your shoulders are up to your ears, and you're one minor inconvenience away from absolutely losing it? Yeah—same.

When stress builds up, it can feel impossible to know what to do with all that tension. Talking it out helps. So does movement. But there’s something almost magically effective about putting pen to paper—or better yet, hurling that paper across the room.

Art and journaling have long been quiet heroes of stress relief. Not the polished kind where you paint perfect sunsets or write deep, poetic entries every night. More like the messy kind. The kind that says forget the rules and invites you to scribble, smudge, rip, throw, splash, and get weird with it.

That’s why I always think of Keri Smith’s Wreck This Journal when someone tells me they’re overwhelmed. It’s this wild little book filled with creative (and sometimes totally absurd) prompts—like “poke holes in this page” or “drag this book through dirt.” There’s Wreck This Journal Now in Color too, which is the same concept but with full-color pages that make the chaos feel even more playful. And if you’re someone who likes to decompress on the go, there’s Wreck This Journal Everywhere, a pocket-sized version that travels well in backpacks and glove compartments.

What I love about these journals is how they sneak in a form of mindfulness. They pull you out of your thoughts and into your body—into action. You don’t need artistic skills or a clear intention. You just need five minutes, a page, and maybe a crayon you found under the couch.

Stress doesn’t always need to be talked out or solved. Sometimes it just needs somewhere to go. And if that somewhere happens to be a page you’ve just set on fire (safely, of course) because a book told you to… maybe that’s exactly what healing looks like right now.

Have you ever tried this kind of creative release? What's your favorite weird-but-soothing way to cope with stress?

Browse our Wreck This Journal Collection.