Just Keep Tangling

Julie writes…

I think I say this after every Zentangle Project Pack, but the latest one, No. 23, might be my favorite. Even though I was part of the tangling team, I still followed along with the videos on my own and I loved every single day – even when things did not go quite as planned.  

On day 8, I listened and tangled as Molly led us in filling the points around the circle. I even heard her remind us to alternate the points as we filled in the first tangle, but I got so into the flow that I forgot to alternate. "Oh no, I messed up.” was my first reaction.  

I felt that initial feeling of, “Oh no, its ruined". Then I heard Bijou’s little voice whisper in my ear, “no mistakes.”  

The No Mistakes philosophy is not about mistakes or missteps not happening, it is about how we handle them. There was a time in my tangling journey where I would have started over. But I had already put so much time and effort into this project, I felt I owed it to myself to see it through and to honor the method and the work I had already done.  

In that moment, I chose to pause. To breathe and to leave it be. I left the remainder of that circle untangled for several days. I finished the rest of my template, shaded, and added all the love before I went back. During that time, I rarely thought about how I would continue. I glanced at it every so often but for the most part, continued on.    

When I was ready, I went back to that and looked for other ways to finish it that were unique to my piece. Which tangles did I want to use and how? Like Molly said, I just needed to make a decision and keep going.  

When teaching, I always tell my students to keep going and when they are finished, they won’t even notice the “mistake.” When I finished my template, I thought to myself that it looks exactly like it was supposed to look like.  

I was not sure if I was going to share this story – as we have told many like it before, but then I saw this comment on our Instagram page when we announced that April’s theme would be No Mistakes.  

I am looking forward to this as I feel like one of the sections pack 23 is just all wrong. I don’t know how to fix it and struggling to go back and finish it.  

My advice to you would be just keep going. Finish the rest of it and revisit it when the “mistake” is not so new. Can you add other tangles or dramatic shading to change it? Can you add a Bronx cheer? Maybe, when you finish the entire piece, that one spot will not even feel “wrong” anymore.  

And, remember... Breathe. Take Your Time. No Mistakes.