There's a light ...

When my husband and I were planning our "wedding" we wanted to pick a special song to play as we entered the ceremony. It just so happened that during the months working up to our special day, one of favorite bands came out with a new album. It seemed to be the soundtrack of our life for a couple of months and there was a particular song that described so much of what we felt about entering a new part of our lives together that we decided to make it part of the ceremony. 

We don't listen to that album as much anymore but when we do, I smile and remember how important the words are to me. 

I heard this song on the radio the other day ... they never play it on the radio, so I took it as a sign.

 

If you feel like singing a song

And you want other people to sing along

Just sing what you feel

Don't let anyone say it's wrong

And if you're trying to paint a picture

But you're not sure which colors belong

Just paint what you see

Don't let anyone say it's wrong

I took it as a sign to wallow in the feeling that the lyrics and melody inspired. Luckily that feeling lingered long after the song was over and I continued my day with a smile and a recharged confidence in myself and paths I have traveled ... and an optimism to all the journies ahead.

I am including a Zendala I just finished that seemed to speak these thoughts to me and also a tile my Mom did a while back that I just loved so much that she gave it to me. I have had it on my refrigerator for over a year and every time I see it ... it just makes me refocus for a moment. 

 

Because there's a light (what light)

Inside of you

Smiles,

Molly 

A little smile in every tile ...

I think I got it this time. I had a lovely time with this tile. I especially liked the part of the Diva's post about her son's smile. Sooooo powerful and his smile is beautiful and such an amazing story of overcoming the odds. Smiles have always been a huge part of my life and am so happy that they are a part of his too.

I run. And I know how fortunate I am to be able to do this. So I have this thing that I say to myself, "a little smile in every mile". That little smile usually turns into a bigger one, until sometimes I am outright laughing on the side of the road. I don't know ... I think it is therapeutic. 

Lately I feel the same way about Zentangle. How lucky I feel to be able to sit down and create. I often find myself at the end of a tile looking and admiring it and giving it a little smile. So in a way I am putting "a little smile in every tile".

Enjoy the weekend!

Smiles,
Molly

Comfort Zone and Challenge #111

A couple of years ago a very talented Certified Zentangle Teacher started a blog called I am the Diva. One of the features of this blog is a weekly Zentangle challenge. This challenge has become an inspiration and a community for so many creative minds. I have followed and admired her blog for years. I have watched how she has touched and inspired so many. I have also participated in many of the challenges, but I have never submitted or shared my results, mostly because of technical reasons.

So this week I decided I would begin taking part in challenge and make an effort to learn how to submit my work(still learning). So I read the challenge for week #111. I thought what a great challenge. I set a goal of taking on the challenge and created two tiles. After they were complete,I went back on her blog to learn how to submit my work and upon doing so reread the original post ... HA HA HA ... I had totally misinterpreted the challenge. Not a deal breaker, but actually pretty funny.

For some reason in my head I had originally read it and came out with the challenge being choose a tangle that is outside your comfort zone. I loved the idea of this. The diva mentioned that Mooka was her tangle that she for one reason or another avoids. And I agreed that I also tend to ignore that particular tangle. So off I went to creating. I decided I would pick two tangles that I had considered outside my comfort zone and would create one tile with each.

The first being Poke root. 
I thought if I went crazy with it, I could find some way to love it.

And then on the second tile I picked Mooka.

Well, come to find out that was not the challenge. Not sure how I missed that one. But it worked out in the end in couple of ways.

• For one, the challenge actually was to use all Mooka on one tile. Which I ended up doing anyway. So yay ... awesome.
• This process of choosing a tangle outside my comfort zone was enlightening and fun and through this whole journey I have decided to move both Poke root and Mooka into my comfort zone. I have learned that there sometimes there is benefit and discovery in challenging or pushing yourself to try something new or go in a different direction.
• And lastly ... this situation has taught me to slow down and read things with a little more focus. 

I so look forward to participating in future Challenges and it is already Monday ... time to check out what the new one is.

Smiles,
Molly