Persist, or what I learned from my shingles

When I wrote my last post, on January 12, I thought to myself, "Next week will be my 250th post!!! I'll put together a knock-out piece to celebrate!" In the week that followed, I got shingles, or le zona in French. Shingles is a virus caused by the chickenpox virus. If you had chickenpox as a child, you still carry the virus in your blood, and when you get older, or go through an especially stressful period, you may get shingles, which affects your nerve endings and causes a rash, flu-like symptoms, abdominal pain, fever and chills, among other lovely things. Every one who gets shingles seems to have a different story as to where the rash popped up, what symptoms they felt and how long it lasted. But everyone agrees: it is best to avoid it.
There is a vaccine now that is readily available. I had not had the vaccine, because I thought you needed to be 65. You don't.
So, after being away from my blog for almost two months, what do I have to share with you today?

It's definitely not a knock-out piece with my latest artwork. My energy levels, ability to focus and draw, and vision made it hard to tangle for weeks. When I first tried to go through the 8 steps of the Zentangle Method, I realized that, in step 1, I was in so much pain that my breathing was shallow. I just did breathing that day. 

"B   r   e   a   t   h   e."

Then I felt grateful, for the method, for time to slow down, for an opportunity to learn.

"There are no mistakes. Just opportunities."

Sometimes, I just took a pen and practiced the basic I, C, S and O strokes, slowly and deliberately. What if I thickened them? curved them to the left? to the right? wiggled them? made them HUGE? or tiny?

"Anything is possible, one stroke at a time."

Once I felt a little better, I faced a new problem. No inspiration. Everything seemed like a struggle. Who wants to dance in a pool of molasses? So I turned to the Zentangle community on the Mosaic app. I found pieces that I really liked and tried to do one element from a tile. Sometimes I learned a new pattern.

Sometimes I revisited a string I had used in the past.

I actually looked at my pins on Pinterest, too. (I always pin things and rarely go back to see what I have!) I found some tiles by Jo in New Zealand that had always intrigued me, so I tried a similar string with 2 tangles.

I decided to investigate tangling on metal foil, and fell into a rabbit hole! Eni Oken's "Metal Tangles" lesson helped me to safely find my way out!

"Discover."

Once I could go out again, I decided to teach my library class, which had been canceled due to my illness. I knew I wasn't up to driving and setting up the tables and chairs, so I asked my dear Lar if he would take me. He gave up his day off to do so. The love I felt and joy of seeing my students did as much to help the healing as weeks of medication! (Although I'm grateful for the expert advice and treatment I received from my dear doctor!) And I would be remiss if I didn't mention all the smiles and chuckles my students brought to my life through emails and texts of support prior to this reunion.

"Gratitude and Appreciation."

A few days ago, I finished my treatment. I have ventured out alone and taught another class. Although I'm still not 100%, I'm back from 25% to probably 88%! I still need to exercise some patience and compassion with myself. I'm a work in progress, like those tiles that we add to after we think we finished them! 

"Life is not always black and white. There are many shades of gray."

In closing, I am surprised and pleased that this post--my 250th!-- is now written and ready to post. When I started, I had no plan, just time to sit and reflect and the desire to share my experience of Zentangle helping me through my rough spot. It's the feeling we have in step 8, when we appreciate and enjoy what has come out of our pen. If you're in a rough spot, I hope that you, too, can find some solace and relief in your Zentangle practice. Just pick up your pencil or pen and breathe. The rest will follow in good time.