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Winning a Marathon

Winning a Marathon

Rick writes:

In 2007, we started BLOG Zentangle and began our enjoyable series of conversations within our Zentangle community.

In reading through these blog posts with their insightful comments, we decided to bring a few of them to your attention from time to time. It is easy, for me anyway, to sometimes think of old information as stale information. But these insights and conversations are anything BUT stale!

Today, on Nancy's birthday, we invite you to revisit this post from 2015 (with update at the end)...

                     Begin previous post . . .                  

 

Maria writes:

​When Zentangle appeared to​ us in late 2003, we knew immediately that it was important. When we started telling people about it, they thought we were perhaps working too hard, or starting to lose a bit of our minds, but we kept right on spreading our story.

I knew the importance and comfort of creating, and Rick. . . well he usually knows everything, but he especially knew the impact of the relaxed focus of meditation. But how could we have foreseen the directions that Zentangle has taken all of us. I personally feel more confident, extremely content and open to new possibilities, besides for a bunch of other changes in my life.

Recently, we received the most beautiful and fascinating letter. It is from one of our Certified Zentangle Teachers (CZT 16). I remembered Linda, and was happy to hear from her. We asked her if it was OK to share her story with all of you, and she graciously said yes.

Our gratitude to Linda and All of You who take the time and effort to tell us your heartwarming and moving stories.

Here is Linda's letter in its entirety.

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The Story of One CZT's Marathon 8/28/2015

Hello. I’m Linda Dochter from CZT® “Sweet 16.” Friends call me “Doc.” Back around the time I was in Providence, I was in the habit of walking several miles around my neighborhood a couple times a week (unless there was a convenient excuse not to walk). Too rainy, too cold, too tired, too hot, too busy, too lazy, too boring, too this, too that. Then I had an unfortunate trauma accident that left me with a broken back – one that required extensive surgery and landed me in a brace and a wheelchair in a rehab hospital for awhile.
In rehab, physical therapists worked with me daily to get me back to walking again. After a period of working on strengthening and balance exercises, PT Jim took me into an unobstructed hallway outside of the gym and gave me a walker. My assignment: To walk as far as I could with the walker with Jim following with the wheelchair. When I reached my limit, I could sit down in the wheelchair. As I collapsed into the wheelchair, Jim asked, “How do you feel?” “Like I just ran a marathon,” I responded. PT Jim measured the distance I had covered as 30 feet – about the distance to walk around a car with a walker and some difficulty. PT Jim recorded a note on my chart.
The next day, PT Jim and I ended the therapy session in the gym back in the same hallway with the same walking assignment. Again Jim asked, “How do you feel?” “I’m training for a marathon,” I responded. PT Jim measured the new distance as 43 feet. I had made it around a slightly bigger car, again with a walker and with difficulty. “A new personal best,” I declared. Again, Jim took notes.
Then the germ of an idea sprouted. This really was like training for a marathon. Had I not been encouraging others in my fledgling Zentangle® business– “Anything is possible – One stroke at a time™.” Could one pen stroke represent one step? Put one foot in front of the other. Cover a short distance. Record the result. Put one foot in front of the other. Set a new personal best. Record the result. Just keep putting one foot in front on the other . . . Make forward progress. . . . One step at a time. Yeah. Anything is possible, one stroke at a time . . . Anything is possible, one step at a time.
Days later, I set a goal to walk a real marathon (26.219 miles). Not in one shot, mind you, but by counting all the bits and pieces of PT exercises, walking to and from PT sessions, walking here and there around the rehab hospital. I recorded any distance where I put one foot in front of the other and made forward progress. The rehab therapists cheered me on every day.
On an occasional afternoon, I held basic Zentangle classes for other patients from those who need occupational therapy for hand dexterity to individuals who were confined to bed with nothing else to do except watch daytime TV. My only teaching resources were an Apprentice Classroom Pack and a burning desire to encourage the discouraged to keep on trying – just one stroke at a time. Some ambulatory patients just came to watch the class. Since everyone in class was in a wheelchair, the mosaic became a “passing of the tiles” so everyone could appreciate the work of others. The change in the attitudes of my students and the onlookers from the start to the end of a session was palpable.
Four weeks after setting the goal to walk a marathon, I returned home from rehab and continued working with physical therapists in an outpatient program. I had almost completed the first mile of my goal.
August 28, 2015 marked the day when I returned to the gym in the rehab hospital to cross the ceremonial finish line of my marathon. Elasped time: 66 days. I was cheered on by the physical therapists that had cheered for me at the start. They told me that tiles left behind from the occupational therapy classes are still on display in the community lounge.
Now I walk because I’m grateful to be able to walk, armed with a story that “Anything is possible – One stroke at a time” as I make my way into the earlier_than_ expected retirement phase of my life . The Zentangle Method and occasional teaching assignments will surely be a part of my plan.



Update October 2024, from Linda: Since this story was first published, I've just kept walking - one step at a time - and at a considerably faster pace. I've now completed a couple more marathons, including a super-marathon and an ultra-marathon. Don't ask me the times. I don't track them. It's just one step at a time. Thank you to the Zentangle community for your love and inspiration.

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In the beginning on this month, we asked you to share your One Stroke at a Time stories and we are honored to share some of them here with you today.

I started my zentangle journey in 2020. My sister introduced me to the process and we took an introductory class together from a local CZT. I was hooked. I kept working at it during the pandemic and it saved my sanity during that time!!! Then in 2021, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. During months of chemo, radiation and surgery, I couldn’t do a lot because of the fatigue. Zentangle saved me again! I am still tangling almost every day. I am now cancer free. Thank you so much for this wonderful art form. I love it every day.
-Lisa

A blank paper or medium has always overwhelmed me. The thought of drawing something perfect and decorating it so that it looks beautiful and amazing each time certainly added to the anxiety. I realised that this used to happen when I was drawing or painting for ‘others’ eyes. When I became a CZT, I started to look forward to blank tiles, mediums, etc. As all I needed was 4 corner dots to own it and make it mine. Then the little journey of one stroke followed by another takes over. One forgets about perfection, because what comes out in the end is absolute beauty, relaxation and my creation. It always feels good. That is the sense of satisfaction I have with the Zentangle philosophy of ‘Anything is possible, one stroke at a time’. It’s like you building your own blocks step by step. Thank you Zentangle for everything, I feel so grateful.
-Shivi K.

The “one stroke at a time” philosophy is not just a Zentangle approach, it is a context for healthy, peaceful, powerful, and joyful living. It creates a space for love and joy in spite of circumstances and even in the midst of suffering. My Zentangle practice is one of several things I do to live a healthy life.
-Rosemary B.

Five years ago this month, I unexpectedly lost my adult son to a form of leukemia. The initial devastation was hard but it was the lingering grief that paralyzed me in my daily life. I had a friend who had done Zentangle for years and when a beginning class was available, suggested I might like it. So, three months after the loss, I learned about this art form that worked on the principal of "Anything is possible...one stroke at a time". By having my thoughts and my brain focus on this, at times, fascinating and frustrating art form of Zentangle, I was able to move through the grief that had paralyzed me, " one step at a time". I only truly recognized what Zentangle has done for me when, about a year later, I realized that although the grief was still there, it was manageable. On days when it rose up again, I would sit and work on a tile to help myself cope. And, much to my surprise and delight, I found I was creating works that were (in my estimation) beautiful. So yes, "Anything is possible ... one stroke at a time".
-Anonymous

Julie Willand

7 comments

  • I found zentangle on 12th February, 2012 .! Since then, I have honestly worked on at LEAST one or two tiles per day and I have done that ever since, and now it is 2024 ! I am lost without Zentangle, the mantra of one stroke at a time has seen me through the worst of horrors and the best of moments. I thank you all.

    Sue Zanker on

  • Thank you all for the inspiring Zentangle stories . I am truly happy and grateful to be introduced to this wonderful art form during the Pandemic and since then, I had been truly hooked . I always have my tools with me and I tangle while I wait for an appointment. I made a point to tangle a thank you card for the doctor during the waiting time . It’s priceless to watch the doctor’s expression every time I hand over the card and say thank you . At the back of the card I wrote zentangle.com. Hopefully I can help to spread the art of Zentangle this way . Meanwhile I tangle most of my free time if my aching back allows me . Take care my tangle friends .

    Poh Yen Ho on

  • What wonderful heart-warming stories of “one stroke at a time.” I’ve been tangling and teaching Zentangle for the past 8 years and love the process. And, mostly, I’ve applied the “one stroke at a time” philosophy to my art practice. However, several months ago I had a sudden serious illness. That Zentangle philosophy became a part of my everyday life: walk a little further, lift a bit more weight, and smile a little more. Life is a little bit different but lovely!

    Gale Sherman, CZT23 on

  • Zentangle began for me in 2013. I found a book at the bookstore that intrigued me, not Zentange but a nice book anyway. I began drawing the suggested patterns in a sketchbook and when I finished that book I went back to the book store and found Beckah’s book ‘One Zentangle A Day’ and I was on the road to what I thought would be a great pass time while waiting for something else to happen. I was so hooked by the book that I became a CZT and have taught any and every one who asked. I’ve never charged a cent but have become all the richer for it. Zentangle has been a great and unexpected gift to me, my family and friends.

    Kathy on

  • A Zentangle haiku …

    To teach gratitude
    I share drawing patterns
    Calmly Zentangling

    The elegance of limitations has become a daily mantra. As an art instructor, quilter, gardener, mother and grandmother the lessons I have learned and adopted from the Zentangle Method have improved my productivity and brought satisfaction to all aspects of f my life.

    I am so grateful.

    Ann Baum, CZT36 on

  • Also since the winter of 2010-2011 I am tangled to tangling :-D Now a CZT9 I love to teach basics in any place: events, classes or in private, everytime it is great to see and hear the effects Zentangle drawing has on people. At events in big halls I always have the quietest table in the busy surroundings. And next to that I still love to tangle the night away ;-)

    ArjadLH, Elefantangle on

  • since 2011 i have practiced the method of zentangle almost every day. as a czt i am proud, honored, and delighted to share, what i call, pen-to-paper meditation. ❤️

    izzi on

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