I'm Late, I'm Late...for a Very Important Date.

Molly writes...

As a child, I loved the story, Alice in Wonderland. It was so curious and offered many oddities. There was the perfect amount of silliness and adventure. I loved that nothing seemed to make any sense in a very normal way, of course. I have always been drawn to whimsy and imagination.

As a teenager, I continued to be drawn to the story and its whimsical art. I became more curious about the symbolism within the story and studied it and enjoyed it in a new way. As a young adult, I even traveled to Oxford, England, to walk the streets where the story originated. It was so fascinating to learn that all the different characters and their interactions had a deeper story to tell.

Of the many lessons and wisdom I became personally connected to, the story of the white rabbit is one that has stuck with me. 

Alice in Wonderland is a coming-of-age tale. As she follows the white rabbit, it is reflective of her being led into the next stage of her life. She watches and follows so naively, still viewing life through the eyes of a child, but looking ahead to something different, chaotic, and curious. The rabbit and his watch represent her adulthood and our attachment to time. Alice is viewing the rabbit as he panics himself into a fury. She is curious about what he could be worried about. Alice is still viewing the world through a youthful lens, where time is simply something that just is. As children, we live free from the worry of time. As adults, we become attached to our scheduled lifestyles just the way the white rabbit is chained to his watch. We carry layers of anxiety about when we should do things and how long they should take. We are burdened by what is next, often losing sight of where we are, just like the rabbit, being so caught up in being late. We have the pressure of time coming at us from all directions. 

What does this have to do with your Zentangle practice, you ask?

When we deliver tangle lessons or challenges, I always hear whispers from tanglers, venting that they are behind, or late, or not caught up. But the truth is, there are no finish lines or first place winners in Zentangle. There is no stopwatch timing you or a deadline to submit. Our lessons and challenges are not timed, and we purposely deliver them in a way that each person can do them at any time of day and take as much time to complete them as needed. 

As we approach this year’s Twelve Days of Zentangle, I challenge all of you not to follow the white rabbit down his hole. I encourage you to break free from the chain and the pocket watch and tangle on your own time, at your own pace. The Twelve Days series is fun and a great way to inspire us and challenge us, but it should feel good to you.

We hope that the time you spend creating with Zentangle Method is time when you can let go of some of the pressures that surround you. We hope that your tangles can make you feel nurtured by the present, and the playful ink strokes that you put onto your tile can perhaps make you tap into something with the creative zest of a child. We encourage you to tangle when you can and for as long as it works in your world, given all that you have surrounding you in this moment. We want you to feel free from judging yourself and comparing yourself to others. Your Zentangle journey is unique to you. You are a beautiful being and a beautiful artist. The way you approach a lesson, or a tile, is in such a way that only you can do it. Trust the process and your place in it. If a lesson takes you an hour or a week, allow it to. If you don’t get to a lesson right away, then know that when you finally do, it will be the perfect time. Prioritize yourself and your practice, but don’t force it. Allow it to be as much as it can in the space that you have. And when you finally do get some time to tangle, embrace it, for as much or as little as it is. Tangle at your own pace and get lost in your own tangled world. 

We are very excited about the content we have for this Project Pack, but we also realize that we have packed a lot into the twelve days. So, we wanted you all to know that it is OK to take it all in at whatever pace you need to. Enjoy it… we sure did.

If you like reading about the white rabbit and Alice and Wonderland, I found these two articles that speak more in depth about this concept … careful though, you can go down a rabbit hole on this topic.

https://www.berrypatchfarms.net/white-rabbit-alice-in-wonderland-symbolism/

https://manasgodha.web.illinois.edu/2023/04/18/hopping-into-symbolism-decoding-the-white-rabbit-in-alice-in-wonderland/