Molly writes...
When someone asks me about the Zentangle Method, a few things come to mind. I usually talk about how it is a step by step approach to pattern drawing and then, depending on who I am talking to or what the circumstances are, I talk about some of the philosophy behind the method. Practicing Zentangle is the best way to understand these philosophies. I think every artist that practices Zentangle brings their own interpretation to its definition and that adds to the overall meaning. One of the most valuable and important aspects of the Zentangle philosophy for me is the “No Mistakes” philosophy. It took me years to understand fully what that meant for my practice. When we say there are no mistake in Zentangle, it is not intended to mean that there will never be an unintended stroke, spill, rip or a just plan “ugh”. What we mean is that when it does happen our reaction is not to react with disappointment, anger, or discouragement but rather to embrace it and see it as an opportunity.
This is a major shift in perspective that requires courage and trust. Once you trust and welcome that every stroke on your tile has purpose, beauty, and potential, you start to see your work differently. This can be hard at first. How can you say that what clearly appears to be a mess as potential beauty?
Well, sometimes, it takes time away from the work, sometimes it takes creative ideas for change and sometimes it takes a decision to go in a new direction. Once you open up your mind to this viewpoint you will also notice a new creative flow state. A creative flow state can only be achieved if there is nothing in its way. When an artist gets stuck on perfection, distracted by things that come out not as expected or if one places expectations on themselves that are so specific, you narrow down your success of finding a flow state in your creative process.
However, when you approach your work with openness and welcome all parts of your creative process, you start to understand their purpose and role in the bigger picture. If you believe that each stroke of your pen or mark of your pencil plays a role in all the marks that follow you start to see them differently. You see opportunity and potential. You learn to trust the creative process and embrace the humanness that makes it special. You can start to embrace how this new perspective allows you to focus on the present and then pushes you forward to the next step. Once you implement the “No Mistakes” philosophy in your artistic process you might start to see and feel it trickling into other parts of your life.
Today, we find ourselves in days of “uncertainty”. While this might be true, and this might be part of our reality, what if we took this opportunity to focus on some of the beautiful things that are emerging and all that we are grateful for. I, for one have found gratitude in the extra time at home. I have particularly enjoyed the extra snuggles with my children, discovering a new trail in the woods, spending extra time around the dinner table, working on a jigsaw puzzle, watching a movie, and drawing. I am also finding gratitude in just stopping to take a huge metaphorical breath. Sometimes the world seems to be moving so quickly, and there is so much focus on what is next that we forget to focus on where we are. These past few days, I have appreciated not having any plans. I believe and know that we will eventually return to our busy lives, but as for today I am feeling grateful for this opportunity to rest and recharge. I am trying to take note of how powerful this feeling is. I am feeling grateful for this opportunity to just take a break from it all … and knowing that I am not alone doing it. This experience will change a lot of things for a lot of people, and although there will be difficulties and challenges, there will no doubt will be beautiful things too. There will be discovery, renewal, and awesomeness …. You just have to look for it.
Updated: May 13, 2022...
It is no coincidence that many of the blogs that we are revisiting during Mental Health Awareness Month were written in the Spring of 2020. This was a time when we all were realizing just how important our mental health was. Molly's words from two years ago ring just as true today as they did then.
Updated: April 16, 2024...
One of the great things about celebrating Zentangle's 20th Anniversary is many times, we have already found the right words to say what we want to say, which is why we will be revisiting more of our older blogs this month. But, make no mistake, these thoughts are anything but outdated.
Mary Ellen F. on
😘❤️❤️❤️
Sandy Kelley-Jones CZT on
The “No Mistakes” philosophy has been something I have had to work hard to embrace. The journey to get there has been very good for me though. On this journey I learned just how much I liked to control things. I needed to be in control of my outcomes and when something happened to threaten them, I didn’t cope very well at all. By learning to release control (and with it, my expectations), I have been opened up to a world of creative freedom. There really are no mistakes in Zentangle, just opportunities for creativity. When we come to KNOW this as truth in our hearts, we soar….. not only as Zentangle artists, but as people.
Chrissie Murphy on
Marsha Mathias on
Marsha Mathias on
Thank you for putting words to the no mistakes concept. Sometimes I find it easy to go with the flow, sometimes not. The idea that no mistakes opens the door to creativity was a lightbulb moment! Yes, I have to think out of the box when something unexpected appears. Sometimes an answer is immediate and other times well, it takes a while. When I don’t know which way to go I get stuck. When I think No Mistakes, then I know that I have to take a risk, a chance, to move forward and trust that it will be ok, both in drawing and in life.
JUDITH on
Joanne C on
I have a hard time with this. I am a perfectionist, and if my work doesn’t look good, I have a hard time being appreciative. I’ve only been doing zentangle off and on for a year, and have a very hard time not erasing/ fixing my work because it doesn’t match what it should look like in my mind. I’m too impatient, I think. I really need to try to embrace the “no mistakes” philosophy…
Melinda on
Lisa Wick McLean on
Robin R-S on
My ten-year-old summed it up perfectly in my eyes the other day: "Mum, do you know what I love most about Zentangle? That there are no mistakes. I think it takes a lot of pressure off people. You can just draw. " Children are so wise. ♥️
Claudia F. (aka RoseRed on SM) on
Laura Anderson on
No Mistakes is an interesting proces in which I am only at the beginning. Still at the phase where I think: oops I made a mistake. How can I integrate it in my zentangle. Not fully embracing it yet. But interesting to observe myself in the process.
Monique on
Marwa Gally on
Always worrying about doing things perfectly as they are imagined takes away the welcome mat for happy accidents. Life needs happy accidents. They become shining gems in life.
Zentangle is teaching me that art doesn’t have to be hard. One stroke … one little mark … one little baby-step at a time brings forth a thing of beauty. It opens a whole new world of creativity.
The soul hungers for that spark of creativity. And the soul could become so discouraged when the creative project doesn’t end up looking like what was in the imagination. (Full circle)
No mistakes = happy accidents.
Thanks so much for showing us all that we have a safe creative outlet.
Tari on
The “no mistakes” concept is freeing to me. I am not OCD in all parts of my life — just some areas. When I started the Zentangle method of “creative relaxation” I felt my OCD tendencies coming to the surface. Nothing was perfect enough! I wanted my work to look like been doing this for 30 years and was stressed because it didn’t look that way at all. One day while I was working I could almost hear my sweet teacher, Diane, say “there are no mistakes!” And it instantly calmed me. Now whenever I work I start my session with that reminder. I don’t stress over a tangle that doesn’t look quite like I want it to….instead I just make it into something else. Thank you, Rick and Maria, for creating this wonderful way to relax the mind and body!
Linda on
Always worrying about doing things perfectly as they are imagined takes away the welcome mat for happy accidents. Life needs happy accidents. They become shining gems in life.
Zentangle is teaching me that art doesn’t have to be hard. One stroke … one little mark … one little baby-step at a time brings forth a thing of beauty. It opens a whole new world of creativity.
The soul hungers for that spark of creativity. And the soul could become so discouraged when the creative project doesn’t end up looking like what was in the imagination. (Full circle)
No mistakes = happy accidents.
Thanks so much for showing us all that we have a safe creative outlet.
Tari on
Thank you, Molly, for helping me stop, breathe, relax, and revisit creative outlets that I had pushed away because I thought “what difference does it make?” Well, it makes a huge difference. It makes a difference in how I feel about myself and my personal little world. I find myself turning again and again to Zentangle to get away from the noise of this sometimes crazy world and that no matter what I create, it’s for me. If I am not happy with my creation at first, I step away and come back to add to it. It benefits me, my zen, and in turn I’m sure benefits those who I share my life with. :)
Shell on
No mistakes > creative flow > healthier & happier me <3
Long Haired Lori on
Maureen on
Debbi Smith on
“No mistakes” is a beautiful philosophy, I have to work on.
Before I was falling in a depression, 5 years ago, I had a lot of things, I liked to do.
One of them was tangling. But when I saw the tiles of others, I always thought, the other tanglers where real artists.
Their tiles where so constant, the circles so regular, the strikes so straight….
I always saw, how defective my tiles were.
The statement “no mistakes” gave me a sort of comfort – at least, when I was tangling.
Something could be ok how it was.
And I could be ok, how I am.
I think, I still have a long way in front of me, and I’m happy, tangling is a “part” of this, my way.
It reminds me, that things can be ok, how they are. And that there’s always a possibilty to continue.
I am able to change things.
From “I don’t like it” to a “wowww!”
It’s a little progress and I really hope, I can, step by step avoid to “search” always the mistakes I make.
In the tangling process but also in my daily life!
Thanks a lot for the opportunity to see “no mistakes” in little dimensions and to carry this experience. step by step, in the entire life!
Britta on
Thank you, Molly, for such an insightful look at the “No Mistakes” concept of Zentangle. It has been life changing for me to have a daily Zentangle tangling hour (or three) since a friend introduced me to your philosophy and methods in 2009. I suffer from chronic pain, depression and anxiety, which Zentangle has helped me manage over the years. The no mistakes component is very freeing and opens a world of possibilities in a positive and healthy way in my life and art. I am so grateful for Zentangle, Maria, Rick, Molly, Martha, Julie and the whole family of tanglers, or should I say the lovely “Penchant of Tanglers”.
Ruth Ann on
Joan Mitchell on
I found evidence for the no mistakes philosophy in the birth of my son. To me, it is clear that leading up to his conception were a series of incidents that could have turned out vastly differently. And most of them involved seeming mistakes or poor choices I had made. Yet looking at how miraculous the birth and life of my son has been, there is no way that a mistake had occurred. My son is proof that God will make anything that happens into the stuff of learning and miracles. How can I even imagine that I made mistakes in rearing him? That would insult him, in his perfection and amazing-ness.
Kirsten Olsen on