Hi, and welcome back to the Chrissie Murphy Designs Blog where I am always exploring. Recently, while updating my website, I wrote a simple sentence that stopped me in my tracks.
“It’s why I tangle every day.“
The words came easily. However, afterwards I found myself thinking about them…Why do I still tangle?
After all, it has been more than a decade since I first discovered the Zentangle® Method. Since then, I have become a Certified Zentangle Teacher, completed a Diploma of Visual Arts, and explored many different art forms.
Yet despite all of that, I still reach for a pen almost every day. So today, I thought I would share a few reasons why I still tangle.
Why I Still Tangle: It Helps Me Notice
One of the greatest gifts Zentangle has given me is the ability to notice.
Before I began tangling, I often rushed past small details. Now, however, I find myself paying much closer attention.
I notice patterns in leaves. I notice textures in old buildings or the way shadows fall across a surface. And I notice things like shapes, lines, and details that might otherwise go unseen like form or dimension.
Because Zentangle is built one stroke at a time, it naturally encourages observation. It asks us to slow down and look a little closer. As a result, I think I notice more beauty in the world than I once did.
Why I Still Tangle: Small Things Matter
A Zentangle tile begins with very little. A few lines. Some basic tools. A simple string and a handful of patterns.
However, those small elements gradually become something much larger. Over time, tangling has reminded me that many worthwhile things grow in exactly the same way.
Creative skills grow one practice session at a time. Relationships grow one conversation at a time. Artworks grow one mark at a time as well. Because of this, tangling has become a regular reminder that small things matter in the bigger context.
Why I Still Tangle: It Creates Quiet
There is no shortage of noise in today’s world. There are notifications, headlines, opinions, and endless demands for attention. Tangling doesn’t remove those things. However, it does create a small pocket of quiet.
For a little while, my focus narrows. Instead of thinking about everything else, I am thinking about the next line. The next curve or the next pattern. That shift may seem small, but to me it’s become everything. I have found it to be incredibly valuable. If you’ve read my post about contemplation before creating, you’ll know how important those quiet moments have become in my own creative practice.
A Quick Question for You
Before I continue, I’d love to know:
What activity helps you slow down and quieten?
For me, it’s tangling. For you, it might be something completely different. Feel free to share in the comments below.
Why I Still Tangle: It Still Surprises Me
This may be the reason that surprises me the most. After all these years, tangling still feels fresh. I still discover new combinations. I still experiment. And after all this time, I still look at a tiles and think, “I wonder what would happen if...”
Projects such as Magnified Fragments reinforced this for me. Many people could begin with the same fragment. Yet every result would be different. The possibilities never seemed to run out, and neither did the techniques.
Even now, I continue to find new ways to explore familiar ideas.
Why I Still Tangle: It Helps Me See Beauty
If I had to choose one reason above all others, this would probably be it. Tangling helps me see beauty.
Not necessarily in grand moments. Not necessarily in extraordinary experiences. Instead, it helps me see beauty in ordinary things. Things like a simple pattern. An interesting shape. A combination of lines or a quiet creative moment.
Perhaps that is why Zentangle continues to be part of my life after all these years. It gently reminds me that beauty is often closer than we think. Sometimes we simply need to slow down enough to notice it.
Final Thoughts
When I first started tangling, I never imagined it would become such a lasting part of my life. Yet here I am, more than a decade later, still reaching for a Micron! Not because I need another finished tile and not because I need another pattern.
But because tangling continues to help me notice, create, reflect, and appreciate the beauty around me. And in a world that often feels hurried and noisy, that feels like a gift, now more than ever.
I’d genuinely love to hear from you. Have you found an activity that helps you slow down and notice the world a little differently? Perhaps it’s tangling. Perhaps it’s gardening, walking, reading, painting, or something else entirely.
Leave a comment below and share your experience. Your perspective might encourage someone else who stops by to read this post.
Until my next blog post, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” Ephesians 4:1.
In peace always
