If you know me, or you have been following these somewhat random notes of mine, you will know that these come from the mind of an overwhelmed overthinker.
The last two weeks have presented various hurdles, of which I will not go into detail now. Let us just say that having a routine checkup on Tuesday could land you in hospital on Thursday in the midst of work and parent chaos. Also, bad things don’t always just happen in threes… It could be multiples of three. Anywhoo, so I have not had my head attached correctly for a while and thus just doing some chaotic form of crisis management. So my excuse is that I did not have time, while the truth is probably that I was in a funk and did not feel like it.
Silence and stepping away from something do however always bring some time for reflection, self-doubt and avoidance – an ongoing spiral of the overthinker.
This afternoon I finally sat down and did a debrief. The purpose was to just get everything out of my mind and onto paper. Categorise, sort and try again. A lot of the last 12 months have been dedicated to figuring out how to manage my time effectively and juggle various responsibilities. Mostly because I was overwhelmed and this caused anxiety. Many of these little discoveries have been noted on this blog. I started implementing the bullet journal method. Most days this helps me to stay on top of things. On other days, however, things happen that were not on the list.
This week has been … weird, for many reasons and no reason at all. Probably because it has been raining for most of it. Work has also been quite hectic (yes, I know, everyone says that), with way too many little bits of things that fill up your day without having anything to show for it.
On Tuesday I had a phone call from a friend whom I have not spoken to in forever. It was… simple. Uncomplicated. And shame, then the poor guy caught me at the most horrible hour of fed-up-ness. First problematic thing was that the Lilliputians were singing along to a movie that they have been watching on repeat for weeks now. Why do they do that? I cannot remember doing it as a child but then again, that was because you would have had to rewind the tape first… that’s maybe it. And the dogs were being dogs, barking at anything that moved from the safety of the dry living room. Protecting the house without getting wet, you see.
So my rant started, and summarised all the chaos together with all the little things that were annoying me, which then turned towards myself. Comments about weight gain and not getting to everything. I depicted exactly how chaotic mornings have been here, because of my less than sunny disposition before 9 am. So he told me to watch my language. I was surprised. Don’t get me wrong, the guard in front of my mouth is a drunk sailor, but… he’s known me since school, I did not think that that was a problem.
Kintsugi is the art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer mixed with powdered precious metals like gold, silver, or platinum (thank you Wikipedia).
Leonard Cohen tells us to “Ring the bells that still can ring; Forget your perfect offering; There is a crack in everything; that is how the light gets in.” in his song, Anthem.
I started my zentangle journey when I wanted to find some creative elements that I could include in my bullet journal or planner. In short, I wanted to make the pages pretty. I tried out a few things and as it goes with Pinterest, I stumbled upon the world of tanglers. People who are doing beautiful things! Little artworks that grow out of a single shape and is made through repetition. This is something that resonated with me and I started off with the Inktober challenge of 2020 and was hooked.
What did I need to start:
A plan
My Creative Crafting WhatsApp group suggested that we join in on Inktober 2020. I found the official prompt list a bit daunting and googled to see what else is available. The zentangle community did not disappoint with a tangle challenge of their own. Clear step outs for every day of October and a Facebook group where you could be inspired by others. It was a challenge where I found something that I loved… which are the best kind!
A sketchbook
Back in 2007 my beautiful friend, Nicky Wenhold, who worked with me at a printing company, gave me a ring-bound book. It was made up as a mockup to test some cover ideas and it has traveled and moved from various dwellings, from my student life, to my adult life. The first few pages were used for research planning of the literature review of my Masters (2013-2015). And for the rest of that time it just sat on my shelf. Beautiful blank pages just waiting for something. This book has now become my sketch book. It is not fancy, but it is perfect.
Ink
I started with an Inktober challenge so I of course needed pens. I started off with a pencil, eraser, marker, fineliner and an artist pen. Quite basic. I’ve only recently upgraded a little, but those are still the basic items that I use.
And those were the only things that I really needed to get me on my way.
I am motivated by movement and continuity and because I am still a newby, I am still only following prompts and challenges by the various groups on Facebook.
This challenge started while I was still on leave, so I had the time to sit down and lose myself every morning before the Lilliputians took over my world. I am however now back at work so drawing time is limited. I would however like to show off what I did.
This challenge was promoted on the 7F5R Facebook page and in order for me to understand what I was letting myself in for, I first had to do a little research.
Reticula refers to the shape that you fill with fragments. Sure, that is very simple but in essence, that is what it is. It is explained more eloquently here. The purpose of the zentangle method is to lose yourself in the process of repetition of shapes. I also found it very interesting that the only shapes you need to be able to make to tangle are
i c s o .
I am still not entirely convinced, but I do have to say that I have always believed that I cannot even draw a stick figure and now look how far I’ve come.
Some of them were done on their own, and some were combined. Here are a few of my favourites.
Day 12 to Day 31 Combined – 16 January 2021Z is for Zentangle, Day 1 – 2 January 2021
A few people have asked me why I do this. In my previous post I chatted about only taking with you that which inspires you and I have to say the zentangle groups that I follow are all giving me new perspective new ideas, and I am seeing things that I have never even seen before through Instagram and Pinterest… It has opened up a whole new world for me.
It is a very mobile, very inexpensive hobby. And I love the process of doing very basic things to create something beautiful.
Follow me on social media if you want to see me work my way up to beautiful mandalas!
A new year is the perfect excuse to kick out some nasty habits and cultivate some new ones. In an earlier post, I chatted about setting realistic goals. There is no point in setting yourself up for disappointment.
