Motorways, megabite, meditation, monotangle

If you've come to see my entry for The Diva's Weekly Challenge this week, look no further than the first photograph (well, there's more tangly goodness further down, so you may want to scroll on through).  If, on the other hand, you'd like to be further entertained by the weirdness that is my life (and hear the explanation for the alliterative title of this post), then read on...

This is how my day started... on the motorway (yes folks, in this town, more than one lane travelling in the same direction is what passes for a motorway).

As my choice of photograph above may suggest, I was quite stressed at the beginning of this week.  I had so many things to do, I didn't know where to start.  So, on Sunday, I decided to create a 'tasks list' and then prioritise things.  It took most of the day to get the list sorted out — there were almost 100 items on it (just under 100 actually, or my head may have exploded).  I narrowed down what had to be done in the next couple of days, then yesterday (Monday) I spent 13 hours "doing."

It was, however, clear to me that I wasn't becoming less stressed in the process, even though my list was down to 87 tasks by the end of the day.  (No, I was not slacking off... as I was crossing of the tasks I was remembering still more!)

The List (somehow it has now achieved capital letter, double underline status in my mind) currently stands at 83.  Unfortunately "write blog" wasn't one of my Listed tasks.  Nor was "tangle The Diva's Challenge" (drat), nor was eat chocolate cake.  Bear with me, I must digress a moment or two.  No, I really must, and this is the awesome reason why —

Chocolate Mud Cake!

My week was cheered considerably today by the Tuesday Tanglers (it's tomorrow already today in Australia, remember? okay... now keep reading [grin]).  Every Tuesday, as you may or may not have heard, our local tangle family gets together and whiles away the hours tangling at a local café.  Today, however, was even more special, for it was a Tuesday Tangler Birthday.  Yep – this is where the chocolate comes into play (and the mega bite – see how I did that?).  That chocolaty goodness made a rainy, grey day and rather stressful week, suddenly brighter and more relaxing... oh, and tangling... and, of course, the company of good friends too.  Yep – it was mostly the company (and the laughter... let's not forget the laughter!).

So, what to do about my (not permanently reduced) stress levels? Well, tangle – obviously – though there was some tangling already on my List (from now on I'm not taking on tangling that comes with deadlines, it's incredibly un-Zen).  No, the only possible response to having so much to do and not enough time to do it, was to decide to spend four days doing almost nothing.

Illogical?  It may seem so, but I realised that, as soon as I find myself thinking, "I've got too much to do!!" [add a tone of mild panic as you read that sentence for full effect], it's time for me to stop Doing — and switch to Just Being.  So I applied to attend a meditation retreat.

• no speaking (people always think that's the difficult part, but it's fantastic)
• getting up at 4:00am every morning (I'll admit that's not fun)
• and meditating for twelve hours a day

It's wonderful.  (Honestly! ...I've done it before.)

I doubt I'd have come to this (now seemingly obvious) decision this time last year.  I'll put that down to the effect of Zentangle on my (clearly improved) thought processes.  (Sandy's "Yoga For Your Brain" descriptor is clearly spot on.)

I'll tell you how I go with the meditation when I return (to computers, to traffic, to The List)... but for now I'll conclude with the final "M"... this week's Challenge #11 — Monotangle!

I broke out a new Moleskine journal [hmm... I may have to see someone for these alliterative tendencies] for this challenge: creating a Zentangle (or ZIA) using just a single tangle.  People have indicated that they enjoy reading my 'process' postings, so here's how it went:

1. I decided to use a tangle I've never tangled before.  For some reason I'm drawn [pun intended] to shiny, new tangles for these challenges (hey, why not add a little danger to make it interesting?!)  My rules were: no practising, no test run, study the steps, close the book, and pen to paper.  So I found Etcher in Sandy's aforementioned new book, and I was off and running.  ("Hey – why go simple when I can make it more fun by searching for something tricky?" writes the lady with The List.) 
2. I drew it small... medium... large... with and without a dark background... and then sat back to 'appreciate.'  I was thinking as I tangled (usually a bad sign), "This tangle shall not defeat me. It shall not."  (I suspect my subconscious mantra was, "This List shall not defeat me. It shall not.")  It wasn't a horrible effort, but it looked a bit stressed (surprise, surprise!) – and it didn't 'sing' to me.
   
   
   
3. So I turned the page and had another go.  This time (after the chocolate cake) I was feeling a little more mellow (I think it probably shows).  I ambled around the tile in a rather uncharacteristically aimless manner (for me).  So I was off to a happy start.
4. Unfortunately it was at about this point that I suddenly declared, "Oh dear, those look like little ears!"  (If you're like me, it's incredibly difficult to 'unsee' things once you've seen them.)
   
   

   

   (extreme close-up)

5. Melissa and I looked at them and then, as giggles ensued, I pointed to the one, odd, spiky variant I'd drawn and I dubbed him, "cactus man."  To reinforce his new title, I turned his dots into a smiley face (with a mouth), which only served to encourage the giggling.  Our fellow café patrons probably considered moving quietly away at this point, so they wouldn't attract the attention of the 'clearly-unhinged' women at the corner table. 
   
   Meet Cactus Man (or possibly Cactus Boy – he's quite small):
   
   

   

   (extreme close-up)

6. What to do?  (I said this out loud as soon as my composure was somewhat regained.)  Melissa advised (as I have said to many other students in the past), "Keep on tangling, and see what happens."  She also made me promise to photograph both Cactus Boy and the 'ears' before I covered them with anything [drat].
7. I drew a few circles (you can see the ones I started with at the base of each shape), and I was suddenly thinking circles.  So, without further ado I filled an 'ear' with circles, et voilà!  (That's Cactus Boy with the arrow — transformed. Click here to read hilarious poem by Mel, in loving memory of Cactus Boy.)
   
   

   

   (extreme close-up)

8. I added yet more circle fillings, and here, finally was my Monotangle of choice!  There's no shading, but that seemed right for this one.  There's also a blank 'tile' waiting next to it on the page.  I shall wait to fill that one until I get home from meditating.
   
   
   

I did not surgically remove the first page of my journal (though I considered it briefly).  It will serve to remind me, every time I open my journal, of this week's invaluable lesson —  

It's More Important To Be than it is to Do!

♫♪♫ Do, Be, Do, Be, Do ♪♫♪
...sorry, couldn't resist one more giggle for the day [grin]

Another wonderfully playful Challenge this week – thanks Laura for your great, Play-Encouraging words (great timing!) – and, by the end of it all (now about 3:00am as I put my blog, and myself, to bed), I'm feeling rather more relaxed than I was sitting in a traffic jam this morning. 

Hobart: a lovely little city — where two lanes of slow moving traffic
is called 'Peak Hour' (even though it's more like 40 minutes).

Once I leave for the meditation retreat, I will be offline for a while.
No email, no Fbook, no blogging, not a telephone, not even a pen
and paper (that last part is a truly scary prospect).

So, until I return,

Be Happy — Be Here Now!
—————————————————————

Coming up next time :  our latest Ensemble prints will be back from the printer, and I'll post the photographs!

 

A timely point of interest : if you're ever reading my blog and wondering what time it is where I am (you know, in case you wanted to drop by for a cuppa), there is now a helpful "Local Time" clock to the side below the search box.  Also, for local tanglers, if you're wondering when the next Weekly Challenge might be going live (Monday mornings in Diva Land), a little further down is a "Diva Challenge Local Time" clock.

"Finny's Florets" by Liz

Liz Selkirk, a new member of our family of Tasmanian Tanglers, attended an "Introduction to Zentangle" class (we call them 'playshops') just over 10 days ago.  Her first Zentangle, created at that class, is included here for your enjoyment. Isn't it beautiful!?

© Liz Selkirk, February 2011

That evening, after class, Liz was already drawing the night away – completely captivated by tangling.  She has already produced (in under two weeks!) many lovely Zentangles and ZIA.*  Liz has even invented a new tangle of her own (yes, already!). And – a real treat – she has given me permission to unveil it here on Dreamscribe Designs.  So, without further ado...

In this tiny piece of ZIA (approx 3 x 6 cm, or roughly 1¼ x 2⅜ inches) you can see the first appearance of Liz's new tangle (top right corner!) –  

Finny's Florets

Here is a close-up view from that same piece

Finny's Florets is in the top right corner. (Click to enlarge.)

Finny's Florets, step-by-step

Drawn by Liz Selkirk. (Click on image to enlarge.)

An example of Finny's Florets — in one of Liz's Zentangles.

Here are some other examples of Liz's use of this tangle in Zentangles and ZIA. Check out the beautiful, tiny monograms she created for the covers of photo albums (in which to store Zentangle tiles, of course!).  What a wonderful start to tangling – her very own tangle. 

Sandra Strait (who had a sneak preview when I was planning this post) says it best:  

"...it’s a killer combination, pleasing to the eye, and I know people will love it.  If [Liz] does up the steps, I hope she’ll post it in Freehand Doodle patterns!"  

...and we will, Sandra!

Congratulations, Liz!

You're off to a great start
in the wonderful world of
tangles.

I know Liz would love to receive
comments and feedback 

about Finny's Florets

 from the Zentangle community. 

So, please post your comments,
and I will make sure they
are all passed on to Liz.

Thank you!

(Click on any of the images for a larger view.)

———————————————————————————

[My thanks to Sandra, for your invaluable assistance in publishing Liz's new tangle.]

*ZIA = Zentangle inspired art

In-between places

Today I had a lovely afternoon at 'Tuesday Tanglers' sitting at the café tangling in-between two dear members of my tangle family,  Michele Beauchamp and Melissa Hughes.  Together with a number of other Tuesday Tangler friends, we chatted, sipped coffee, ate desserts, tangled, shared Zentangles and ZIA, drank more coffee, ate jellybeans, and tangled some more.  What a wonderful way to spend four hours!

That was a very fun 'in-between' place to be. In fact, when I began to ponder this week's Challenge (#10) from I am the Diva – entitled, The Space Between – I realised there are many 'in-betweens' in Zentangle land.

"In-between Places" – © Kit Murdoch, 22 February 2011.
(Click on image to enlarge.)

There's a moment between deciding to tangle and picking up a tile... between putting pencil in hand and touching it to paper... between thinking of a tangle and beginning to draw it... but (here comes another metaphor for Margaret) one of the most liberating 'in-between' places of Zentangle is that magical place we inhabit when we tangle – a place that is neither right nor wrong.  Zentangle is not really even 'in-between' right and wrong (at least, not in the sense that it is half-way between one and the other),

A Zentangle simply IS.  

• No judgement.  
• No right. 
• No wrong.
• No decision to be made one way or the other.  

Zentangle is a process that exists independently of the 'right or wrong' pendulum swing that seems to proscribe much of our lives.  Sometimes, more so in some aspects of life than others, things may appear to be very black and white. A is right, B is wrong. C is good, D is bad. Or perhaps: X is unpleasant (I experience aversion) and Y is pleasant (I experience attachment).

However, the more I learn about walking the Middle Path in my own life – the more I realise that equanimity (neither aversion, nor attachment) is an important step on the path to objective, self-aware living.  And the best way to achieve equanimity?  In my experience – to live in the present, to experience Reality, to
Be. Here. Now.*

Zentangle helps us to live in the Present Moment.  Neither the past, nor the future – but betwixt and between.  When we worry about the future, or fixate on the past, we cease to live in the present.  How can we enjoy all that is real —right here, right now— if we mentally inhabit either past or future?§

For example, I have previously heard the word, fear, analysed in terms of the acronym F.E.A.R. = Future Events Appearing Real. So many of our fears exist only in the (not real) future, in the 'what ifs' and 'maybes' of..... okay – this is karmic in some way, I'm sure!

This Huntsman spider was over a hand span across, from one
leg tip to another. (Clicking image to enlarge is not advised.)

My partner and I just ran around the room (me squealing, at intervals, like a little girl) as a large spider ran across the carpet.  Once he was safely relocated to the outside world, I asked J, "so what wasn't present moment about that particular fear?"  He thought for a split second and replied, "It was clearly a fear based on 'what if the spider crawls on me?' – a future event that did not, in fact, come to pass." Okay... suitably chastened, and having to admit to you all that some future events seem a little closer (and therefore scarier) to the present moment than others, I shall continue.

Before and after shading. (Click to enlarge.)

The reason Zentangle helps us achieve moment-to-moment thinking is because, in the art of Zentangle, our world (our focus) narrows down to, and concentrates on a 3½" (9 cm) square... and then to the pencil string on that 3½" tile... and further, to a segment of the string of that 3½" tile. And then, focussing still more closely, we see just the tangle in that segment of that string on that 3½" square tile. And finally to each individual pen stroke of that tangle in that segment... And so on. 

Where – when our world becomes that simple, that focussed, that meditative – is there room for doubt, fear, worry, or tension in our minds?

All but This Moment in time disappears from our thoughts. The stress and worry we carry, the pain or suffering we push away, the addictions we crave, all of these things evaporate (the past that is gone, and the futures that do not yet exist) – when faced with the Now of tangling, as in meditation.

We reach a seemingly magical place, a place that defies the rules of the ordinary, where we are able to experience our Lives, even if just for a time, Moment to Moment,
BEing Here Now.

In-betweens are often magical places. In Celtic mythology, the in-between places were places of transition, neither one thing, nor the other. Doorways, shorelines, the forest's edge, dusk and dawn are a few examples. These were places of power, where the extra-ordinary was possible, and where the bonds of reality and the every-day were shed.  The transition from sunshine to rain, for example, is often marked by the magic and beauty of a rainbow.

Between sunshine and rain, a rainbow appears.
(Photograph © Kit Murdoch, February 2011. Click to enlarge.)

When I first discovered Zentangle, I was on just such a border between one part of my life and the next.  I didn't, at the time, realise how important that 'in-between' moment was.  But there are many moments of transition and change in our lives when it is a Good Thing to pause, to breathe, and to appreciate. (Does that sound familiar?)

Mary Jaksch writes,

In old houses there is a stone or plank at the bottom of the front door. It is the threshold and marks where ‘home’ begins. It marks the edge of intimate territory. The threshold itself is neither in nor out. It is an in-between place. When you inhabit the place or the moment that is betwixt and between, you inhabit a mysterious realm. Something new, something unknown, is about to open for you. The word ‘threshold’ is a poetic word which conjures up dreams and images and I want to speak of them in the hope that you in turn will begin to dream and that out of your dreams a new awareness will arise.

Begin to dream today.  Zentangle opened up a new world for me.  One more incredible than I could have imagined.  If I never receive any more from Zentangle than I have already, it is a bountiful treasure still.  And yet, I believe – in the deepest reaches of my heart – that my feet have only begun to tread this path.  I have crossed a threshold into the entrance way of Zentangle, and am Positively En-tranced (in the truest sense of both words).

And, this year (in October), I hope to cross yet another great in-between (The Pacific Ocean, between my home and the home of Rick and Maria) to continue on to new Zentangle discoveries, friendships, and family.

The Weepies - Can't Go Back Now (Walk On)
"Go where you want to go, BE what you want to BE!"

One of my fave songs about letting the past be the past... and
walking forward into our lives as they are now.
(Don't click on the screen – it takes you to another song.)

———————————

Having tangled away the day, I did not learn until this evening of the devastating earthquake that hit Christchurch, New Zealand today.  I hold in my thoughts tonight all those who, after today's tragic events, wait in-between knowing and not-knowing.  Since I am, for now, unable to do anything other than hold them in my heart, I will – once again – tangle.  Let us hope that, for at least some of those who wait, there will be a rainbow's promise of hope between tonight's grief and whatever tomorrow brings.

———————————————————————————————

*There is a book, Be Here Now – that is worth checking out for the illustrations, alone. And, if you find the ideas attractive as well – have fun exploring (you will soon discover that this book, like Zentangle, also subscribes to the 'there is no up or down' principle [grin]). From Wikipedia: "Be Here Now is a 1971 book on spirituality, yoga and meditation by the Western born yogi and spiritual teacher Ram Dass. The title comes from a statement his guide, Bhagavan Das, made during Ram Dass' journeys in India. The cover features a Mandala incorporating the title, a chair, radial lines, and the word "remember". The book is sometimes referred to as Remember, Be Here Now. The numerous illustrations, including the cover art, are not credited."

§The subject heading of this article amused me (Hobbies and Interests » Good Self Esteem), since it would seem to me to be more than a hobby or interest... but what Phillips writes, particularly in her two opening paragraphs, illustrates the problems of inhabiting the past or future quite well.

Reference
Jaksch, M. J. (1999). The threshold. Retrieved February 23, 2011, from http://goodlifezen.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/the-threshold.pdf

Canada to Australia... sharing, caring!

A quick post today, just to share my delight!  

I was excited to see a tangled envelope arrive in today's post.  Even more excited to see that it had come all the way from Canada... from Laura!  Here is a photograph of the absolutely stunning tangled card she sent me (and there, in the background, you can see the view from my balcony).

(Click photo to enlarge.)

While I'm here - I'll quickly give you some links to a few more very special posts that I have been meaning to share:

• Yet more wonderful tangle Pencasts from Melissa (Lone Creature) arrived yesterday! It's a real treat to be able to see (online) the tangles, as they emerge from her pen. (If you haven't yet seen these unique online tangle demonstrations, go check them out!  And peruse the rest of her blog while you're there.)
• There was a most beautiful and inspiring post today called Open Hearts from stART, which seemed to me to fit perfectly with this next—
• Gorgeous tangleZENtangle calligraphy by Alphabee Tangles (as a fellow calligrapher, I'm naturally drawn [pun intended] to tangled lettering!) and, since Catherine reminded me of the 'peace' theme—
• A gorgeous 'peace of art' from Carole Ohl who, as it happens, is also the author of one of my fave posts entitled—
• More Than a Metaphor – which includes the beautiful idea that "It's as if each stroke is a pathway to NOW."

Live in the Moment. Be Here Now!

Happy Tangling,

Kit

My own little 'peace of art' – published last year in the book
WordsWork : Calligraphy and Lettering Art of Australia and New Zealand 2009-2010
by the Australian Society of Calligraphers

Coffee with Michele!

Yesterday I met Michele (Shelly Beauch) & Paul for coffee at a cafe called Jam Packed, in the old IXL building on Hobart's waterfront. What a beautiful place to meet a tangler face to face, for the first time! I sat with my Zentangle kit, working on a tile... so Michele had no difficulty in spotting the right person.

Right next door to Jam Packed there is a lovely gallery called Art Mob (specialising in Tasmanian Aboriginal art). Michele, Paul and I were admiring the spectacular painting on the sandstone wall behind us and, of course, noticing that it was an enormous, wall-sized 'tangle'.

I spoke to Euan Hills, director of Art Mob, and he told me that the artist's name is George Tjungurrayi. I would like to honour his talent by sharing George Tjungurrayi's page at Art Mob with you. The painting we saw was huge (3.9 x 2.05 metres, or 12.792 feet wide x 6.724 feet tall). Click through to that link and you'll see it - though at full size it's a different experience altogether. A magical painting that you 'fall into' as you look at it, mesmerised. To see a similar version of that same pattern, click through to his painting, number eight. It is such a privilege to live in Tasmania, and have the opportunity to see, and be inspired by, these beautiful, ancient patterns.

Though I have seen Michele's Zentangles on my screen many times before, the tactile nature and immediacy of being able to hold them in my hand, turning them this way and that, and falling into her tangles, was a far richer experience. I realised anew the value of the 'appreciation' experience in Zentangle. And, looking at Michele's work yesterday I was particularly inspired by the beauty, freedom and playfulness of her spiral, rope and swirled tangles. Even on her coffee mug!

Michele did a beautiful tile to mark the occasion. And I also have a wonderful new refrigerator magnet - a Shelly Beauch original!

Thank you, Shelly!

Next time we'll meet at your end of the State.
(And I'm playing with spirals and rope tangles today [grin].)