Letter begins...
Thanks for the information and thoughts about mental illness. I am considered to be mentally ill. I’m bipolar and have a borderline personality disorder among other things. In the past (11 years ago) I attempted suicide and ended up homeless in a mental hospital.
I didn’t know about Zentangle eleven years ago. But all my life I have been an artist so inside the hospital I wasn’t allowed to leave, I attended every art class and open time. I used to color a lot for over a month. Spent Christmas in the hospital. It was a big loss not being able to live with my family and miss out on Christmas totally.
When I got an apartment and was released from the hospital, I was emotionally exhausted. My mom still talked to me and she thought I might enjoy a couple of art books about Zentangle. I needed time to heal from the trauma and Zentangle became part of it. I started drawing and bought pens and paper tiles too! Zentangle brought me so much comfort. For eleven years I have been creating all kinds of fun art projects.
Zentangle gave me a safe place to exist mentally while I was still recovering from domestic violence as well. From my family. I had never been so alone, and I was 34 years old by now. I’m on disability and don’t have much money but I went to garage sales and bought every kind of paper I’d run into so I could make some tiles. Zentangle brought me peace that I desperately needed after being sent away. The artistic part of my brain loved and thrived on all the challenges etc that I’d find online. Zentangle bridged a big gap from being incarcerated at a mental health treatment hospital to finding a new home.
I’ve sat doing Zentangle for hours throughout the past eleven years of being alone and rejected. I owe a large part of my recovery from trauma and mental illness and domestic violence to Zentangle art. I still Zentangle now in 2022. It became a calm meditation for me. I’m sorry to go on but I was touched by what you wrote today, and I had to say thanks. I’m in a good place now, stable, and ending my life is not an option ever again.
Best wishes and thank you for sharing your talents and knowledge and happiness.
It saved me.
