Zentangles

Since the Supreme Court gave away the farm last week, I've been feeling as powerless and pissed off as I did in the bad old Bush days. I'm pretty sure the new ebay style "democracy" is not going to represent the interests of the people. But what the hell can we do about it?

One thing is to take better care of ourselves, on all levels, because there is less and less we can count on from anywhere beyond our neighbors, friends and family. On this note, I've been learning to meditate and trying to bring more meditative activities into my life. I recently learned to do walking meditation with a Vipassana monk that comes to my son's Tae Kwan Do studio on Sundays. It's easier for me than sitting meditation, where I almost always fall asleep. This is partly because I'm almost always sleep deprived, but also because wrestling my monkey mind into quiet is really hard.

Another thing I've been enjoying is this doodling meditation technique called Zentangle. Anyone who can put pen to paper can make one. Check out this Flickr group and another one to see some. There are many blogs and how-to videos out there about them. For something that is so simple, it's generated a lot of digital space.

You basically drawa simple shape - a circle, square, amorphous shape, then divide it up into 3 or 4 or 10 or however many pleasing shaped zones you want. Then you fill in the zones with patterns. Use nice paper and pens that feel good, or whatever you've got available. The important thing is, don't think about it too much (or at all). Just let your hand move and see what comes out, like automatic drawing.

I started doing it on the big whiteboard in the dining room that we use for homeschooling. The fact that it had to be wiped off on Friday for our movie club meeting made my attachment minimal. I added to it as I felt like it for 5 days, using different colors each time. My rules were 1. no repeated patterns and 2. don't plan before touching pen to board. Here's how it came out:

 

This week I've invited the family to participate and add pieces too.

peace,
Jen

Comments

[Steve Child]

Jennifer,
I love the zentangle! I've been drawing trees for meditation purposes lately. They are slow and take me a few weeks to finish. They are large and I only focus on the trunks. I work maybe an hour every other day on them. Trees are so beautiful and intricate and I feel more connected afterwards.

I feel your pain and frustration. I've been upset and that takes quite a bit of doing when you're on anti-depressants!

For me it began with the healthcare, then Massachusettes and the last straw was the supreme court decision. Politics as usual. I still think he is the right person in there and I can't imagine anyone else who would do a better job, but I'm very disappointed. I know there were lots of expectations put on him that were impossible, even from the liberal side. Hope remains.

I like these 2 guests opinions on Bill Moyers:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/01222010/watch.html

Hope you guys are well! We miss you, Steve

[Steve Child]

Jennifer,
I've been thinking a lot about the conservative perspective. It has always baffled me that I could disagree more on almost every decision that conservatives make. How is this? We can't be that different can we? What is really behind this? There must be something deeper going on here?

I listened to Rush Limbaugh for a while to see if I could understand where they are coming from and what their concerns were. After much contemplation, I feel like I have a bit more understanding. NVC. I still don't agree with any of their perspectives, but it seems to make more sense to me. This is of course my own wild idea. I'd love to get your opinions. You heard it here first.

I think within conservatives the reptilian brain often has a stronger influence than the other areas of the brain. It may be how they are hard-wired, it may be environmental. They work from a fear-based perspective. Some of this is imagined and some of it is real. If you are a person who feels as if you are threatened and your identity and possessions are going to be taken, (even if this is not the reality, but perceived), you are going to fight with a sense of determination and desperateness that may go beyond ideas of morality. "The ends justifies the means", because this is war. Survival is at stake here. You don’t take into account others, you don’t respect the environment, those are secondary to your immediate survival.

Conservative's identity may well be wrapped up in their wealth. This defines who they are and without it...well it would be like if someone was going to take away our artwork. We would get pretty hostile about it. The thought of moving down the social ladder to have less is almost inconceivable. It means failure. It is their identity. We don't feel this way because we don't value or feel we have the same things to lose.

This reptilian brain was, and is, a very important survival mechanism in us. We were made to thrive. All creatures on this planet are evolved to thrive. We have done an excellent job. We are the cancer on the earth. We humans, viewed as the little microbes that we are, have consumed and turned living things into dead things quite well. We were progammed to do this through no fault of our own. Nature intended us to survive. But another part of our brain, (not better or smarter) has realized through self-consciousness, that our success, oddly enough, in thriving is actually harming and destroying our chances for our long-term survival. The resources will be lost and it is only through self-consciousness and a new, less-reptilian like concept – reprogramming - on our part that this will take place.

There you have it. What do you think? Steve

[Jordan Flipsyde]

Step back and brighter!