Polly Wolly Doodle All the Night

I am finding that my Zentangle doodles are definitely art therapy, even though there's not much of the calmness (OR enlightenment) that I thought zen promises. But the degree of agitation, anxiety, despair and irratation with ALL THIS SNOW does diminish. 

Thinking of a word on which to meditate was useful a couple of times.  I read a book called The Happiness of Pursuit:  Finding the quest that will bring purpose to your life.  Unfortunately the author's idea of heartfelt quests never resonated with me. I'm still mulling it over, though.  I do feel rather lacking as far as "purpose" or mattering what with the overwhelming freedom of retirement.

 This  Pinterest quote made more sense to me.  I think because it is "only" a daily goal and could change day by day. 

 Considering how tired I am of snow, there's a fair amount of spring-time color in this chilly meditation.

 Then it I got mad.  What would help?  GRIT.  Apparently trying to teach grit in school is a trend these days.  It's not one of my strongest characteristics. If you have ever deliberately increased your grit quotient and remember how you did it (besides the Biblical test of trials and tribulations), let me know.

 I'm not sure my hybrid of Zentangle patterning and an imagined still life is of much interest.  I did incorporate a new set of markers, though.  And it inspired me to buy yet another set as well as some new colored pencils. 
When in doubt, buy art supplies!!

 Even though the cat is blue, look what showed up in my drawing:   a (relatively) blue bird, the vision that the ground might be something other than white, the sky something other than gray, and bits of things could begin blooming.

When in doubt, remember Camus:

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.
And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.”

Hope you find your invincible summer if it's been lost.