I actually can't believe it's been two years, almost to the day, since I last did a blog post. Well, actually I can... Blogging has never been my forté. I often think of things to blog about, but it's usually when I'm out and about. By the time I get home, I've either forgotten about it, or I couldn't be bothered.
But today, I feel like blogging.
I have to say that a lot has happened over the last couple of years. My last blog post (February 2023) was about my word of the year. Something I don't tend to do now. It's kind of like a resolution in a way. After a few weeks into the year, I've often forgotten what the word was and have ventured onto a new path. I get distracted easily... Resolutions often result in failure, and I prefer to set myself goals and intentions.
That being said, I have always remained inspired, creative and on a steady path of art therapy practices. And if there is one thing I do with vigilance, it's focus on my mental health and how creativity does wonders for it. So my purpose, is to teach others about the importance of art therapy practices and how it can help so many people in so many ways.
During 2023, I began to run courses at the local WEA Adult Learning Centre, focusing on Mandalas and Sacred Geometry, with a little Book Binding course thrown in there too. I never expected that I would get such a wonderful response from the participants of these courses, and it made me realise that I actually love to inspire people and teach them art! Unfortunately, due to a full time job, my own terrible mental health and demands in life in general, I reluctantly put a pause on teaching so I didn't burn myself out.
In 2024, I realised how much of an impact my full time job was having on me, and how much I missed teaching. But I wanted to focus on creating art for myself again, so I created just for personal pleasure and would frequently post little video snippets of what I was doing, which seemed to get a great response from friends and followers. When I decided to take part in The 100 Day Project 2024, I rediscovered the Zentangle® Method. It was my father who introduced me to the Zentangle Method about 20 years ago. We would send eachother pictures of our creations and get caught up in new step outs and putting new tangles together, and it was a lot of fun! Over the years, many of the patterns would creep into my art works. So, as my theme for The 100 Day Project was to draw a pattern a day, I was frequently researching new patterns, and my passion for tangling was reignited. I decided at that point that I wanted to become an official Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT). I had learned that (due to Covid) you were no longer required to attend the seminars in person in the US, and could do it online. As I live in Australia, I was very aware that I would need to spend 3 long nights doing the seminar and catching up on sleep during the day, but I was determined!
I saved up for the seminar, booked the time off work and excitedly awaited for the seminar in November to become a CZT42, and in the lead up to those three nights, I met some amazing people along the way. And as it turned out, I was full of way too much adrenalin during the day whilst doing the seminar to be able to sleep. The nights were filled with so much drawing and so much information that my mind was just racing in the mornings when we would finish, and I would still sit and finish projects from the night before. I think I got through the seminar on about 3-4 hours of sleep a day. But WOW, was it ever worth it. I have to say that the seminar was an absolute life changing and unforgetable experience for me.
Fast forward to January 2025 and I've made some decisions about where I want the rest of my life to go. I've reapproached the WEA to resume my original art courses with them and am excited to introduce teaching the Zentangle Method to students now too.
I really feel like 2025 is a pivotal year for me, as not only will I be teaching in person, but I will also be starting up some new online courses as well. I'm very excited to begin this new journey, and I hope you will join me too! Maybe I'll see some of you in my workshops sometime soon!
And if you are interested in becoming a CZT yourself, just head to the Zentangle website for all the information.
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