This is the companion to my book.
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Why are they there, and what do they mean?In the last couple of years, I've discovered zentangling - a way of using a few basic shapes to create abstract designs. It is often used as kind of meditation, a way to practice presence, and it can be very relaxing. I've also learned about using art to express emotions, to give them somewhere else to live other than in my body. I applied both of these things and that's how I arrived at the doodles you see in the book. For the first ten chapters, I sat with the emotional palette expressed in each chapter and allowed it to express itself in a doodle that could represent it. While allowing each doodle to be an independent expression, I saw some progression, a contrast, between the Chapter 3, Identity Shock, and Chapter 8, Widow, doodles.
The former shows a well-defined path, with the areas off the path being rocky and uninviting. The footsteps show the traveler wearing shoes, indicating an adherence to social norms as well as a lack of contact with the ground itself. The last visible footstep is a partial one; the traveler stepped right off the edge of the cliff into a vast unknown, seemingly unaware that the path had come to its end. There's a sense of preoccupation here, and an inability to alter the present course. The latter shows two bare feet, standing still and in direct contact with the earth. These footprints appear to be on the other side of the cliff that our shod traveler stepped off of. This traveler has stepped across a stream of flowing water, and arrived at a new area which is untrodden, and there is growth all around. The stillness of the traveler's footsprints would indicate that they are observing this new place; perhaps contemplating where their first fall might be, or maybe looking for other footprints. There is a sense of freedom here, the opportunity to forge a new way, to choose the direction and timing of their own steps. I will admit that some aspects of these two particular designs were influenced by the other. but they each still accurately represent how each of those points on my journey felt to me. |
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