Let Your Pen Soothe Your Soul - Vol. 4

Bijou writes...

The United States has been observing Mental Health Awareness Month during the month of May since 1949. Each year, businesses, organizations, schools, and individuals dedicate this month to acknowledge those affected by mental illness by presenting innovative ideas, events, and programs to support the treatment and prevention of mental illness.

This month reminds us to recognize our wonderful CZT community that has found deep connections to the Zentangle Method through their own mental health journey, and who pass along the power of the Zentangle Method through teaching in their communities and beyond. They inspire others to tap into their creative abilities to soothe, heal, reignite, and empower... and they do the same themselves. We have asked some of our CZTs to share their stories this month and we thank them for their vulnerability in doing so. We hope these personal reflections remind our wider community how important it is to find a creative outlet and prioritize yourself.

Today, we hear from Miriam Zimms. She writes...

In 2010, I was diagnosed with my first cancer. Subsequent to that treatment and surgery and reconstruction, I got a second unrelated and primary cancer that required an internal amputation and reconstruction in a 12-hour surgery to save my life. But both surgeries left me with chronic pain, anxiety/PTS, body loss and changes, a disability, and a journey to find a mental health and well-being balance through so much trauma, loss and physical challenges that would change my life forever.

Everybody talks about how hard going through cancer is. And it is very hard on all three balance points as humans - body, mind, and spirit. What we don't talk about is life after cancers to learn how to thrive and live a productive and healthy loss after these battles. And for me, it was the hardest 7 years of my life. The toughest hurdle being the loss of motherhood and building a family together as my husband and I both dreamed. 

In 2010 I was introduced to the Healing Expressive Arts at my Cancer Center's Arts in Medicine (AIM) studio at Moffitt Cancer Center and became a Tangle Apprentice. In 2013, I was introduced to the Zentangle Art Method. And it was there in 2013 that I found my calling by using Zentangle for a daily personal healing arts practice at home, and for two straight years after my daily occupational and physical therapy rehabilitation.

I started using it first for insomnia and it is often called, "Yoga for the Mind." I feel I had found the calm in the pattern, or the Zen in the Tangle. Here I am 15 years later, two-cancers-free. I am grateful to still be alive using the method wherever I go for mental health and wellbeing.

In 2010, I became an advocate for Arts in Health. In 2015, I became a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT), and in 2019 an Expressive Arts Consultant-Facilitator and created the class "Expressive Tangling (ET)" as a result of my Arts in Health Experience; and a Board Member of the National Organization for Arts and Health (NOAH) in 2024. The method gave me drawing tools that helped me become an award-winning artist featured in 17 galleries.

I am a community collaborative CZT with local, state, national, and global partners for mental health and wellbeing, including collaborators such as the Arts4All FL (Disabilities Artist Program), Franciscan Retreat Center (Contemplative Art as Meditative Practice), Hispanic Services Council (New Immigrant Children), NOAH (Cozy Convening for Members), Temple Terrace Library (Meditative Monday’s w/ Miriam), and Operation Restore. My most recent collaboration, in April 2025, was in Egypt through the Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism in four museums, Egyptian Youth Council, Rotary Alexandria, ET Master Classes (World Psychiatric Congress), and "Wellbeing Art Life." I am someone who continues to use the Zentangle Art Method as an adjunct well-being tool for mental health wellness as a mindfulness practice and making the arts accessible to all. Thank you to the Zentangle family for creating it and allowing me and others to find a new purpose by teaching and spreading the method globally. I am grateful to have found "the Zen in the Tangle."

As a reminder, we will release a 21-day series that invites our community to find 15-20 minutes for themselves each day from May 10th to May 30th. We focus on one tangle, one tile, one stroke at a time - simple, yet healing. You can find NEW Bijouisms and new videos each day in our newsletter and on our YouTube channel.