2018: A New Year Indeed

I have been away from the Zentangle world for months now. I felt drained, like all my creativity had been sucked out of me.  I had no inspiration or motivation left. After my last blog post, Linda suggested in a comment that I take the time to do something else…to recharge (a big thanks to you!).  I decided to stop beating myself up about not tangling more. I decided to allow myself to take as much time as I needed to recharge (guilt-free).

Although I started the year with a sick week, I chose to not let it bring me down. I choose to believe that this was my eat-the-frog way of starting the year.  So, I started meditating (almost) everyday, which has helped me tremendously with the frequency and intensity of my migraines.  I started intermittent fasting and joined some fitness classes at the local community center.  3 pounds down, 57 more to go!

 

I built a DVD storage shelf and  some origami air-plant holders for the living room.

 

 

 

I took up knitting again after a break of some 5-odd years. I made up a super-easy bag pattern to ease myself into it. I hope to make some time soon to write up the pattern and share it on ravelry…

And I started the bullet journal.

I also started studying for an Autodesk Certification.  I completed my B.A. in Visual Effects and Animation about 3 years ago and had almost forgotten how much I loved 3D Modeling.  So to brush up my skills and (hopefully) find a job doing what I enjoy a lot, I need to focus and get this done.

Meanwhile, to stay in touch with Zentangle (which I also love just as much), I will try and complete 1 ZIA a month.  Since I took all of January figuring my life out and getting organized, I will end up with eleven ZIAs this year (optimistically).  I will try and fit the 12th one in there somewhere. But I’m not going to obsess over it. I’ll take it one day at a time and do how much ever I can.  For now this is all the wisdom, composure and practicality I can muster up thanks to a book I’m currently reading: Buddhism Plain and Simple . It’s a wonderful book and I would highly recommend it if you’re into that kind of thing 🙂