Coping skills are things commonly brought up within therapy and are necessary when dealing with negative emotions. A coping skill can easily be defined as how you deal with a negative emotion. These skills can be both positive and negative. An example of a negative coping skill would be someone punching the wall if they are upset.
For my Silver Dove books, I try to display more positive coping skills with my main characters, hopefully to teach younger people how to deal with their emotions effectively.
When you look at Colomba’s character, she is mainly shown taking deep breaths to calm down when she feels angry. This is an effective, positive coping skill that many people, including myself, use when dealing with anger. She also uses physical activity to help with negative emotions, either using her powers to fly or practicing martial arts. Physical activity is also another highly effective positive coping skill.
Luis, on the other hand, has more difficulty using positive coping skills. Luis tends to display more negative coping skills. This is seen by him lashing out as the Crow when he feels angry or jealous, especially when Colomba is involved. As the series has progressed, Luis has begun to display more positive coping skills, with the encouragement from Colomba. This is seen with Luis getting more involved with art.
Art is a very popular coping skill, if someone feels upset they can draw, paint, dance, or sing to feel better. This is how I got involved with writing. When I was younger, I suffered from anxiety and depression. Writing helped me get through it then and it helps keep it at bay now.
We all need to find our own coping skills so that we can manage this thing called life. Hopefully, Luis can learn that too before the series ends.