Choices

Competition is tricky business. The world is full of it. Sure, even though we tell our kids that it's not whether we win or lose, it's how we play the game, we still set up score boards and rosters that glorify the winners. It's natural, I guess, but we do have a choice in our own perception. If we like competition, well, then by all means, participate in the game! If we feel that competition is inappropriate in a certain arena, then each person can make that choice to reconcile that in themselves.

     Just yesterday someone asked me who our new bead store's biggest competition was. My answer is, "We don't really have any." Yes, there are other bead stores in the area, and many of the big chains sell beads as well. That doesn't mean that for us there is a competition. We do what we do because we truly love doing it, and feel we have a way to serve the people who love it too. That's it. It doesn't have to be any more than that for us. We are not interested in being a step ahead of anyone else, or being first at the 'finish' line. Just as in the process of Zentangle, each day is a 'stroke', each person is an inspiration! So...

Thanks to Rho Densmore, CZT, for this week's Diva Challenge (#79!) Her message about the process is one that bears repeating. A recent post on the Zentangle blog also talks about the process of Zentangle and the personal gifts it is poised to give each of us. ...

"Would you enjoy a book better if you could read it faster? Perhaps you could read more books, but at what cost? When you can afford to read at a comfortable pace you can savor a turn of phrase, look up a new word, or gaze into an unfocused distance as you imagine a setting and see yourself in it."

I had a fun time with my tile this week. I was really inspired by Erin Olsen's take on this week's challenge, and I love the Auraknot vibe, so my interlocking circles had me deliciously dizzy with auras. FUN! 

Thanks, Rho, Erin, Laura, Zentangle, and all the beady and tangly peeps who joined in the inspirational fun of the week!