It’s August.  I hope you’re staying cool.  Perhaps it’s a good time to meditate or make art (or both!)

Teams of Tibetan monks make mandalas from dyed sand.  They work together for several weeks to pour tiny amounts of sand into amazingly intricate shapes.  When the mandala is complete, there is a destruction ceremony where the mandala is dismantled to represent impermanence.  The sand is put in a jar and released into moving water to send healing energies into the world.   

Not me!  I dyed the fabric for this mandala and made sure it was set.  I cut the pieces from the fabric, first fusing them onto the black background and then sewing them as well. These critters are not going anywhere! There will be no destruction ceremony for this mandala!  I understand impermanence, but that doesn’t mean I have to embrace it!  (I’m afraid I would make a terrible Buddhist.)

I think my fusing and stitches are my attempt to cling to every shred of beauty and happiness I can find. But despite my attempts to keep it here, it doesn’t stay.  There are dark times, difficulties with family, health, and community.  At those times, I need the healing energy of someone else’s creativity.  Today, though, I am offering my mandala to you in hopes that its energy will help you through your day.