Today’s card is not a Tarot card (shocker, I know.) It is my own doodling using a pattern created by Erin over at The Bright Owl blog. She puts out challenges every week. And once a month she throws in a twist. This time it was to do the whole thing with just one pattern.

EEP! I’d never even tangled one of her patterns so what was I thinking?

Well, I was thinking that the beauty of the Zentangle method is that you don’t worry about the mistakes. You just improve on them.

How often have you made a mistake? No, don’t count. We don’t have that much time. If I counted mine, I’d be here a while. LOL But consider the times when you took the “mistake” and turned it into something more? When you learned from the error and grew.

It’s a great feeling, isn’t it? To look back and say, “Yep, I screwed up on that one but I got better.”

We all have meltdowns and hissy fits and show our ass in public. Grin, you can find mine embedded in the annals of the internet if you look carefully. And I am STILL embarrassed by many of them.

One of my best things was to verbally shred someone for being stupid. I was really quite good at it. I’m not as proud of that as I sound. Now when I see someone else doing what I did, I think about what a heinous bitch I was. How could I take pride in being mean?

It was a long road for me but I’ve learned how not to do that. I’ve learned how to let joy replace the bitter ugliness of that life.

I’m still struggling with not attacking someone when they attack me or someone I consider part of my tribe. That’s a tough one. Sometimes I vent in private to friends (and a shout out to my friend who wrote to me asking me if I needed support…that’s what friends do!). Sometimes I try to go the other route by working on the positive things that need to be worked on . Like building community.

What do you do? When someone attacks you or someone you care about, how do you respond? Do you throw fire on the wood (yes I meant it that way)? Do you try to douse your flames by swallowing them? Do you go to a private, members-only campground where you can toast marshmallows while you vent?

What’s your most productive response?

Remember that when someone shows their ass, they are often sad, scared and/or sick. Compassion is hard to maintain sometimes, but it is the most humane response to some. I also advocate the avoidance technique.

So? What’s your method?

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Zentangle, Arwen Lynch, all rights reserved