An enriching experience

Yesterday I was a vendor at a fundraising event for a wonderful local organization, primarily to get the word out about Zentangle® in general, and also to inform people of the therapeutic value of the process.

I met some wonderful people, and a creative 10 year old named Michael sat at my table to learn a pattern, and then proceeded to spread the word in the other room of vendors and attendees.  He came back several times to tangle more, and created some of his own as he was working.

Here are some new tangles that I created to display yesterday.

And here is Michael with his buddy, Corey, with the tangle on the far left made by Mia, a very creative young woman.

A tangled piggy

While perusing the bargain shelves at Borders, I came across a "Paint a Piggy Bank" kit... a blank non-glossy surface ready to be decorated with the enclosed 6 paints.  What I saw was a surface ripe for tangling.

Knowing my recovering perfectionist tendencies, I thought it best to buy a few, in case I made a total mess of one (forgetting that mistakes are really opportunities to be more creative).  I realized these smile-makers could be a fun ad for the process and could be given away as a door prize at one of my networking meetings, or even sold.

A few weeks ago I finished about 1/3 of the first one and put it aside, then the other night with 'one stroke at a time' completed the rest. My brain immediately wonders how on earth I will be able to come up with two more completely different-looking banks... and after taking a deep breath, realize all I need to remember is to make deliberate strokes and let the patterns find me.  

Now this little guy is ready for something wonderful to fill him....dreams and intentions perhaps?  :)

On being creative

On the blog site of my friend, Deb, she discusses viewing herself in a new role of artist, and how this day of a new moon/solar eclipse “is a time to explore new possibilities regarding one’s identity in the world at large.” (Thank you, Deb.)

Such perfect timing, since I, like her, knowing I have always been creative, have not looked at myself as an artist.  I’ve always thought that being creative is something we all do in some small way …. that we all have a talent and what we do well comes from our creative center.  So a chef is a culinary artist, and a knitter (my daughter Sara) is a yarn artist, and a singer (my cousin Alison) is a voice artist and so on.

But to be considered in the same category, since I see my creativity as a dabbler in many things and a master of none…. well, it has seemed too much of a stretch.

So on this new moon day, I wrote out my intention for the month and put it on the lap of the Buddha on my altar…. holding the desire to allow and to embrace that which wills to come forth.  A short time later, the Universe sent me this message as I was cleaning out some papers and I found the following quote:

“When the soul wants to have an experience of something, she throws an image of that experience ahead of her and enters into it.”  -Meister Eckhart

Zentangle business card

I finally designed my Certified Zentangle® Teacher business card. Here's what the tangle on the back of it looks like.

For those of you who are not familiar with the term "Zentangle®"... it is an easy to learn way to create beautiful images with repetitive patterns. Check out Maria and Rick's website here...they are the creators of the Zentangle process.  It's also listed to the right.

And email me at glitterby@aol.com for a calendar of classes, if you are interested in learning this wonderful way to relax and have fun. No artistic experience is necessary!

What's in a name?

Using the positive descriptions of the word, dictionary.com defines 'wild' as "living in a state of nature", "amazing or incredible" and "intensely eager or enthusiastic." They define 'serendipity' as "an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident" and "good fortune, luck."

With these definitions in mind, it is still hard to describe the feelings that Wild Serendipity elicits within me. Suffice it to say that my desire is to greet each day with wonder, be open to the miraculous 'round every corner.....and to know that plans are good to have, as long as I leave room for the Universe's cosmic chuckle.