By: Lauren Ataman-Millhouse -
Last month, author Chloé McFeters released six coloring book journals for adults, including C is for Courage, a coloring book journal for those living with cancer. The book’s journal prompts invite the reader to write about the practical and emotional aspects of the journey with cancer, while the abstract patterns for coloring allow the mind and senses to flow with colors and creative self-discovery. Also included are powerful essays and poetry from two cancer survivors, author Marion Cohen and Frank O’Hara Prize-winning poet Richard H. Fox, who also penned the foreword for C is for Courage.
McFeters believes that personal or expressive writing can be beneficial for many of us. “That’s certainly been something I’ve experienced and observed in my own life and work. Also, there’s something about the activity of coloring that’s ‘grounding,’ that seems to help bring one’s attention and focus to the present moment. I think that’s a good thing nowadays, ‘unplugging’ and unwinding, and taking stock of how we feel at any given moment.”
Dr. Teresa Woodruff agrees, "C is for Courage is a terrific resource for cancer survivors – using the vibrancy of color and patterns, Chloé McFeters has created a tool that is a terrific daily event and a visual reflection for the future.”
About C is for Courage, author and Psycho-Oncologist Dr. Shannon Poppito commented that its “…well-placed and paced journaling prompts (especially the pragmatic section on hair loss and the deeper section on survivor guilt) can be excellent therapeutic homework assignments to encourage cancer patients to creatively engage with specific cancer-related issues on their own and to further explore them together with their therapist in following sessions.”
C is for Courage is part of McFeters’ on-going series of coloring book journals entitled "Words and Color," which she hopes will inspire people to explore their thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a way that is comfortable and calming for them. Other books in the series include: Dear Heart, for those living with heart disease; The Ally Within, for those living with autoimmune related illnesses; Led By Love, for those who serve as family caregivers; Still, But Not Silent, for domestic violence survivors; and Beyond the Call, for women who have served in the military.
McFeters is also a documentary filmmaker and personal historian. In 2014, her production company, Tortoise and Finch Productions, released a feature-length documentary titled You Look a Lot Like Me (www.youlookalotlikeme.com), which explores the issue of intimate partner violence in the United States. The film is currently used as an educational and training resource in a variety of settings across the U.S., including universities, mental health clinics, libraries, etc.
To read reviews of C is for Courage or to learn more about McFeters’ work, you can visit her website at www.chloemcfeters.com. Coloring book journals from her “Words and Color” series can be purchased directly through her site at http://www.chloemcfeters.com/books/ and discount pricing is available for qualified groups and organizations.