Friday, June 1, 2012

Deus ex machina

Or why pay attention to those intuitive murmurs.

On Thursday, a day of forensically-examined anxiety, a book arrived that I'd ordered on a whim or unconscious directive.  Sandy Steen Bartholomew, Thursday's Hero.


Here are a few of the words she brought:

 "Zentangle (my note: intricate and focusing doodles) can help you stay calm and relaxed, but it also teaches you to notice your surroundings, to really pay attention, to use your hand-eye coordination - also good for balance - and Zentangle can change your thoughts.

"Anything is possible, one stroke at a time."

Doodling (which I think has been discussed at this site before) is something my hand does without consulting my mind.  By involving intentional thought, voila!, something more, something better,  a new tool, sufficient rocket fuel to escape my own twitchy gravity, as good as seeing the cavalry silhouetted against a prairie sky just after hearing the bugle notes that signal rescue.

Here is an example from another of Sandy's books, Totally Tangled.  I ordered it this morning. 



This is my thought process: if sitting quietly, doing nothing that I can detect, brings on a state close to panic, like Pigpen raising a cloud of dust in a snowstorm, I am excited by the possibility of paying deep attention to something I already enjoy and seeing if it can free me from feeling hideously, powerlessly stuck.  We have nothing to lose but our chains.

16 comments:

Melissa Green said...

Dear Marylinn, what a fascinating subject with potentially fabulous results. I remember at a difficult time in my life coloring mandalas and the concentrated effort calmed my anxiety in a way no medicine ever has been able to. Besides being fun, it relaxed all of my systems, all of my organs I'm sure, and my body turned to farina.

Sandra Sheen Bartholomew sounds like just what the doctor ( Marylinn Kelly, MD, that's you, you realize)
order. It's like that old saying, "When the student is ready, the teacher will come."

Wonderful. You must let us know how it feels as you discover and practice Zentangles. xoxo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Melissa - I will let you all know, probably a great deal more than you would like, how the Zentangle and I become good friends. My color pencil work has that ability to focus thought and might work, too, on anxiety. One can never have too many tools in the bag of tricks. xo

A said...

Though it was probably two decades ago, I still have a vivid and wistful memory of peaceful hours spent with The Brain coloring book and a very large assortment of colored pencils kept very sharp. My trusty near-sightedness was just starting to need the help of reading glasses, so I always sat in a room with excellent natural light and with the door shut against noise or interruptions, because I was trying to learn as well as see. I thought at the time that the quiet, alert state of mind (like the old song, relaxed and paying attention)that emerged and always lingered for awhile afterwards was because the subject matter was so enthralling, and I'm sure that's partly true, but I'll bet the act of following all those tiny tangled structures with a hundred coded colors was what led me into such profoundly calming engagement. Would that I could evoke that state
at will; it seems so right.

Sandy Steen Bartholomew said...

Yeah! I'm so glad you found Zentangle. :-) I too suffer from anxiety and tangling has helped me calm down and get on with my life. I adore your art too and can't wait to see how you incorporate color and your little characters into your tangling. My daughter, Lilah, started when she was two - and her little creatures - the Lilah Beans - have taken on a life of their own. (You need that book too, for your new collection! "Zentangle for Kidz!" - hint hint). Tee hee. :-)

Rubye Jack said...

You remind me of the importance of focus. With focus we can free ourselves of constraints and do things never before possible.

Rubye Jack said...

17You remind me of the importance of focus. With focus we can free ourselves of constraints and do things never before possible.

Rubye Jack said...

See that 17 on my previous comment. I don't get what word verification is trying to do now. The word was 17. I typed it in the box and it shows up in the comment. Go figure.

Kass said...

I doodle in so many ways. Dance doodle. Draw doodle. Sing doodle, noodle. There is such a need to be distracted from the mind.

Penelope said...

Thanks, Marylinn. I'm looking forward to what you come up with, and now no further excuse is needed for me to take out my pen and pencils. x

Kerry O'Gorman said...

from one doodle head to another...break those chains! I too doodle without thinking...mostly when I'm on the phone, usually waiting to get on line with a REAL person...I wait and doodle and let my hand do some meditation.

Marylinn Kelly said...

A - Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. From what I read, the more we practice, the stronger our intention, the more likely we are to produce that calm state at will. The sharpened pencils, the essential natural light, both factors in what I love so much. When I began using color pencils with stamped images, I soon knew that, as I colored, everything else went away. All was focused on the point of the lead. Translating that into a therapeutic practice...I'm working on it. Wishing you well. xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Sandy - Thank you. I've begun the pen-and-ink work to which I will add color. One does feel like such a beginner, no matter how many years of drawing are in the bag of tricks. I love the way your book arrived just in the nick of time and that I had just enough sense left to know it. Wish I'd started this at 2. Lilah must be a wiz. xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Rubye - It seems with so many things there is the yin and yang, focus balanced by surrender (as I see it). All a bit of a tightrope walk, or so it feels. The middle ground between intention and letting go and yes, we can do so much more than we knew. Sorry that the word verification is so, um, pesky. I am continually surprised when I get it right. xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Kass - Doodle, noodle, stare out the window (you would probably not believe how long I can do only that). I have a word which is dink for just messing around, distracting myself yet, surprisingly, getting a thing or two done. I am picturing a doodle dance. xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Penelope - Without your pen and pencils the world would be missing some of its memorable personalities (ratadillos?) We never really needed an excuse, but now it almost sounds like doctor's orders. It feels imperative. xo

Marylinn Kelly said...

Kerry - A friend told me yesterday that my hand was smarter than my head (hard to be less smart), by taking up the pen and zeroing in on those tiny lines and circles. Good hand, kiss, kiss. Thank you. It does make being on hold almost welcome - free time. xo