STRESSED. DisSTRESS. DEstress.

I have been absent from the blog since my Grandmother's passing. For those who do not know, this is the second significant death in my family in the past year, for my father passed away tragically last August. As July snuck up, so did the 4th, my fathers favorite holiday. It is amazing how one weekend can be filled with so many reminders of love and loss. The Monday after the 4th, my sister moved away to Connecticut. What a week/weekend.

 In the last two months, work has picked up, in both good and bad ways, and with that stress has risen. I have had little time to tangle, except for last weekend when I dropped everything and spent a weekend at the first ever Zentangle Expo in Madison [More on this amazing weekend later!]. It was a wonderful weekend of tangling, networking (including meeting three amazing DETROIT area CZTs!), and catching up with an old friend from CMU. On my way home I had a bus-layover in Chicago, where this happened:

Unfortunately for my sleep and sanity, the amazing and relaxing vibe from the weekend was interrupted quickly upon return with work and personal stress. The amount of anxiety I felt just Thursday night upset my stomach, led to an almost sleepless night, which then was a factor in a difficult  Friday work morning.

Zentangle® has always been a wonderful de-stressing activity for me. I emphasize this factor in my classes, public and private with clients. In fact, I have worked with a handful of clients for the entire purpose of using Zentangle to reduce anxiety and anxiety-induced seizures.

Why, then, is it so hard for me to practice what I prteach?

There is no answer, just a concept of time and that everything comes before taking time for oneself. Thursday night, at midnight, upon jumping out of bed in a fit of worry that I had misplaced something, I grabbed a micron and a small stack of tiles. I will 'force' myself to spend a few minutes before bed with a tile. It helped me that night clear my fretting mind and sleep. Or at least try to sleep.

This article from Psychology Today this past March explains many wonderful benefits of The Zentangle® Method for relaxation and well-being.

Friday and Saturday I worked on this tile, part of the It's a String Thing Challenge. I have wanted to complete the challenge every week, but it has just not happened. Saturday night, I slept the best I have all week. Hopefully more good sleep, and lots of Zentangle de-stressing is in order.

Tangles here are Rick's Paradox and Tripoli, my two favorite go-to tangles. This is in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Zentangle! Here is to many more years of Zentangle, and many more nights of good sleep for me.