Mandala #66–jumpin’ the line.

Couldn’t be contained. The one-post-a-week math added up to ‘it won’t go live until November 2022’–and it was way too excited to wait that long.

I love the rogue leaf on the bottom right making a break for it. To me this one is a story of both the beauty within order, and the possibility inherent in breaking out of a pattern to discover something new.

It came to life last week, and was a convergence of several things:

• the increasing disorder of Mandala #60 (built in late August) catching my eye when I passed that way

• my first attempt at rebuilding something new from its remains, which then morphed even further

• a collection of scarlet leaves and cobalt juniper berries enthusiastically waving from the sidelines

• and as always—the endless mystery of a Mandala emerging into whatever it wants to become

Been diving into some great talks lately on the physics of the creative field—I’m intrigued by the nature of potential becoming actuated, then dissolving back into potential and becoming actuated again; as a unique and new expression.

This branch of science and philosophy lines right up with what happened in this chapter of the Mandala Project.

First, a bow of gratitude and acknowledgment to Mandala #69. It was an awesome one—can’t wait for you to see in a few months :-). It was built right on the edge of a path I walk by most days with Lily, so I was witness to its ongoing dissolution.

Mandala #65.5

It’s rare that I come back to a mandala and rebuild something new from it, but there were some great raw materials still in place, the location was charming, and one day last week I just felt the urge to start moving the scattered rocks around until they began forming a new pattern.

Enter Mandala #65.5

While I quite love this little stone spiral just as it is, I was also captivated by what could be if I brought the stunning fall leaves and berries that had been sparking my curiosity into the mix.

Here’s a shorthand version of how it unfolded:

1) The ‘red only’ version had some wonderful colour, but it seemed a little flat to me.

2) Once I added the leaf calligraphy at the top and the blue spiral it got more interesting, but it still wasn’t quite a “yes”.

3) Landed on the idea of the circle of blue berries on the bottom, and the one red berry in the center of the violet spiral, and it fell into a sweet spot that felt “right”.

What I especially love about this one is if you sit with the smaller thumbnail version of it, squint a little and let it work on you—it begins to glimmer. Almost like it’s alive.

(Placing it here again so you don’t have to scroll up.)

The primary challenges with this one were:

• rolling berries

• wind blown leaves

• cold fingers

…and interestingly, a woman talking on her phone and walking a young, high energy dog who, upon arriving where we were, said hello and then, rather than continuing to walk, stood five feet from us and carried on with her phone conversation for 15 minutes, occasionally pulling on her dog’s leash when it got in Lily’s face or came a little too close to the work in progress. Pretty sure she had no idea what I was up to.

It was a little distracting, and a lot fascinating. So curious why she stayed right exactly there, for that long.

The beauty of a 15 year old fur-friend is that she’s down with chillin’.

Lily had pretty much given up on a walk all together at this point, because…2+ hours, and we were only a block from home. Sorry friend.

A few days later:

Lots of wind, some squirrel traffic (signature cluster of pine cone chips left in his wake), and a curious dog or two, and that was the end of that.

THE MANDALA PROJECT

I’m posting one new Mandala every Monday with a few words about how it came to be, and the challenges that arose or insights that emerged in its creation.

Check back here to see the new ones, or subscribe below if you’d like to receive them directly.

< Mandalas 1, 2 and 3, and the story of how the project came to life

< Mandala #15