January 19: Zentangle

During our weekly Magic Pizza Tuesday last night, I started Zentangling on a box of a new Magic deck I have built. Almost all of my Magic decks are in boxes adorned with my Zentangling, and I absolutely delight in the process, the feel of the fine tip of color as it twists and turns on the white cardboard, the curves of the lines, the transformation of the box into art. It is incredibly soothing and gives me something to do and to focus on when I feel anxious and or anti-social. I hadn't built a new deck or decorated a new deck box in over a year, so it was a delight to return to this creative outlet. 

I discovered the art of Zentangle a few years ago when I was looking for adult coloring books. I had one book of tessellations, which are intricate geometric and mathematical patterns that are super fun to color, so I searched for another one of similar intricacy. That is when I discovered Zentangle, which is a meditative (aka Zen) form of free drawing (aka tangling or doodling) that consists of shapes with recurring patterns from a combination of points, lines, simple curves, and circles. (Zentangle was invented in the USA by the former monk Rick Roberts and the artist Maria Thomas, who used it to create a combination of meditation and art. I have mixed feelings about the co-opting of the concept of Zen (from Zen Buddhism), the copyrighting of the word "Zentangle", and the monetization of meditation, but I still love the concept and continue to practice it, without spending any money on it!). 

I have always been a "doodler", while in lectures and meetings, at school, work, and church, while listening or waiting, I doodle on any scrap paper available. Sometimes when I look back on my doodles on church bulletins, the margins of a class notebook, or meeting notes, I can vividly remember my feelings in the moment by looking at the type of designs I drew- the thickness of the lines, the boldness of the patterns, the repetitiveness of the designs representing anger, frustration, enlightenment, or ennui. 

After discovering Zentangle, I've tried to make my doodling more meditative. While Zentangling, I try to experience an intentional soothing-ness from the repetitive creative work. I also find some life lessons buried in the idea of Zentangling, for example it can teach you how to own your mistakes. I often use a fine tip sharpie marker for Zentangling, so mistakes cannot be erased. Instead, you learn to incorporate what seem like “mistakes” into the overall pattern of the design. It’s a great metaphor for everyday life—nothing is ever perfect, but how you adjust to imperfections (mistakes or the unexpected) in life is what really matters -- which is what I often struggle most with because of my perfectionist tendencies. 

I also love how Zentangling reinforces "creative aimlessness." Thich Nhat Hanh (a Zen Buddhist) emphasized the importance of  cultivating aimlessness in order to live more fully in the moment. Zentangle is doodling for the sake of doodling, not for any particular end result or finished product. We learn to find joy in the moment of the doodling and not just joy in the future finished product. Thich Nhat Hanh said if we stay too focused on the future, we lose the joy of our steps in the here and now. When we practice aimlessness, Thich Nhat Hanh says, “we see that we do not lack anything, that we already are what we want to become, and our striving just comes to a halt.” And of course that reminds me of that quote from Moana I wrote about previously: "The call isn't out there at all, It's inside me."

I think the world is trying to tell me something about my calling in life... 😀 ...it's within me somewhere, and maybe I need to stop striving so hard to "find" it. Live in the moment and discover the call that's been in me the whole time. Sounds simple, right? We'll see!

With delight,

♥Jamie