Sometimes You Just Gotta Doodle. (Errrr…yeah, keeping reading. Hehe.)

I ordered a book last Fall called One Zentangle A Day (Here’s what a zentangle is, incase you aren’t familiar….Zentangle) One zentangle a day was a bit of an overachievement for me, so I made a 2015 goal to do one Zentangle a week. Yeah, I can do that.

Wrong.

(It was April before I attempted my first one.) 

Matty even got me a bristol board pad, Micron pens, and Field Notes graphed books for Christmas to help me get started. I had everything I needed. 

Everything except for…well, there’s this little issue I have had am working on that I talked about in this post.

I’ll not rehash all of that again, but let’s just sum it up by saying that I have a problem starting projects that I know I can’t take the time to make perfect.

But…heck. This is doodling. It’s just doodling. It’s not supposed to be perfect. (But look…look at that blank bristol board. You can’t mess that up, right? You should doodle in pencil first. Then, go back with your Microns. What? No, that’s stupid! It’s frickin’ doodling. It’s not the Sistine Chapel, you idiot!)

A couple of weeks ago, Matty had a meeting in Charleston. So, like any good wifey would do, I felt like I should go with him. (When Charleston calls, one must go.) It was a great little overnighter getaway. I had lots of time to tidy up email, check up on clients, and…

Finally do some doodlin’.

I had so much fun. Oddly enough, I was by myself the majority of the time. I filled up several pages with zentangles. I cringed when I messed up, tore pages out, and scribbled a lot…but it was still a super great time for me. Sometimes, a big ol’ chunk of creative alone time is good for the soul.

It’s hard to carve out time to just let our minds go and not really think about all the things that we constantly have happening. But, it’s so important to do that. In my line o’ work, finding ways to be creative away from the glow of the iMac is crucial for me. It enables me to be creative when I am sitting at the iMac. It’s imperative. I’m starting to realize that more and more…and finding fun ways to do that. 

Take time to chill out. Take time to be creative. Take time to be alone. Everyone will thank you for it…especially yourself.