January 3, 2025

Hello Rick and Maria,

The start of a new year is exciting and refreshing, but often filled with daunting expectations and lofty goals and resolutions. Our best intentions can sometimes overwhelm us.

Starting a new year is much like starting a new Zentangle tile. You have this crisp, clean, untouched surface. The possibilities are endless, but so are the choices. Will you use the dot, border and string to help you guide your choices or will you skip the string and just see how your tangles grow with one another?

No matter what choice you make or what you want to accomplish, you can’t get there without making that first, deliberate stroke. Bijou reminds us to start this year (and every year!) with a blank tile. What is next is up for you to decide, but just remember to take things one stroke at a time.

Tangle of the Year 2025

What started as a fun way to acknowledge the new year, quickly turned into conversations and reflections about where we have been, where we are going and most importantly, where we are in the present moment. The Zentangle Tangle of the Year is one that represents not only the Zentangle Method, but our intentions for the year.

For 2025, the Tangle of the Year is a legend in its own right. It is strong and bold and stands on its own as originally drawn, but offers opportunity and encouragement for exploration, growth and creativity. Much like a string, this tangle creates a framework for our tile and our creative journey, and we are excited to see how it weaves in and out of our year.

If this tangle is one that is already in your tool box, we invite you to lean on it throughout the year. If this tangle is new to you and you're feeling intimidated... fear not! It is all bark and no bite.

The Tangle of the Year 2025 is huggins!

Huggins is a pattern that was originally shared to us in the early days of the Zentangle Method by Martha's mother-in-law, Nancy Huggins. Nancy told us a wonderful story about this being a pattern she drew as a child. In honor of Nancy, we call the tangle huggins.

When drawing huggins, you explore the technique of "Take off and land" to really capture the magic. Once you have mastered that, you can embark on an adventure of weaving and shading.

As you are tangling your way through the year, we encourage you to embrace huggins in all of its forms and incorporate it into your practice. It can be a tangle in your back pocket that is always there when you need it.

It has been said that an isolated segment of this pattern is called a hug. It can be there for you just when you really need one! Or, of course, if you want to give them away.

2025 Journal Project

We received such wonderful feedback about the 2024 Journal Project that we decided to keep going this year. You can continue in your current journal or start a new one for the new year. Throughout the year, we will give you prompts and ideas to provoke thoughts, reflection and of course, tangling.

To start off the year, we are focusing on huggins of course! Open to a new page in your journal and label it "2025." Fill the page with the tangle of the year. Settle into the rhythm of take off and land and then use shading, embellishments and other tangles to bring huggins to life.

Share your journal pages with us on the Zentangle Mosaic App with the hashtags #MyZentangleJournal and #TangleoftheYear2025