You Could Call It A Stress Reliever - Feature

JAPAN

03.17.2018

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Gabriel Kotico 

AFN Sasebo

Allow me to paint a picture for you. Imagine having one of those days where absolutely nothing goes right. First you spill coffee on your shirt; later you realize you left your wallet at home; and then that annoying co-worker who gets on everyone’s nerves just won’t leave you alone. But that’s just the outline of this picture. Let’s add some real depth and color to this portrait. You also live in a foreign country where something as simple as buying groceries requires lengthy research and translation support because the words on the packaging are symbols you don’t recognize; you don’t even recognize many of the foods and you don’t know how to ask about it. Compounding matters is the fact that you not only live abroad, you live on the opposite side of the globe from the place you call home. As such, when you’re awake, your family and friends are asleep and vice versa. So who or where do you go to for help? How do you manage your stress under these conditions? These are some of the everyday struggles that all DoD community members living overseas experience to some degree and in addition to the rigors of military life itself.

Eric Jovellanos, a facility operations specialist at Commander, Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan, is one of those people living overseas. He served 26 years in the U.S. Navy and retired out of San Diego as a senior chief in 2015. Fortunately for him during a majority of his service, he was not alone.

“My whole career our family was intact,” said Jovellanos. “We went everywhere. We were stationed in Japan a couple of times and once in Italy.”

Other than a short tour in Diego Garcia and a couple of deployments, Jovellanos was lucky enough to bring his family with him wherever his military career took him and that helped him take the edge off when life became hectic.

Following his retirement, he found himself going overseas again. But while the entire Jovellanos family packed their bags, they each had different destinations. He and his wife made their way back to Japan while his two kids left for college in Florida.

With an empty nest, Jovellanos said he suddenly had more free time than he’s had in the past two decades. He said the separation from his children created a void in him that he filled with a hobby he began during his own childhood.

“I started painting when I was still young—grade school,” Jovellanos explained. “My parents noticed that I had the talent to draw and paint, so they tried to develop my talents.”

Art was something that Jovellanos enjoyed his entire life. However, his military service and paternal responsibilities prevented him from having time to practice. After retirement and more free time, he suddenly found a paint brush in hand again.

“For me, it’s having more time to do what I like to do and develop that,” Jovellanos said. “I thought I lost it in the military because I didn’t have time to do it. But it’s all coming back. It’s like riding a bike. And I feel like I’m getting better at it.”

Jovellanos initially thought he was just picking up an old hobby, but what he ended up doing was sharing it with the DoD community in Japan. He said he was talking to staff from the USO, when they expressed how they wanted to plan activities to help Sailors reduce stress through some form of creative expression. That’s when Jovellanos stepped in and offered to give painting lessons. Jovellanos said he told the staff, “Hey, I [paint] during my free time; might as well do something that can help others cope with stress.”

USO Sasebo now hosts paint night once a month where Jovellanos teaches others to paint.

“We call it a party, not a class, because we want people to enjoy it,” he said. “I feel happy being able to do that, being able to share my talent and see other people’s faces light up.”

Thanks to these parties, everyone involved can share a smile despite being away from loved ones. And Jovellanos, a passionate artist and member of the DoD community in Sasebo, not only hones his artistic skills during the paint nights, but he also helps others paint their own pictures.

“You could call it a stress reliever,” he said. “But it’s just something that I love to do. And teaching it and sharing it with other people gives me a better satisfaction.”

• Date Taken: 03.17.2018
• Date Posted: 03.17.2018 23:29
• Story ID: 269777
• Location: JP