Shine Mandala - (Meditation Card series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - rhododendron blossoms
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We have magnificent brains, but we use a great deal of our brilliance to keep ourselves stuck and ignorant, to keep ourselves from not shining. We are so afraid of our beauty and radiance and brilliance because it scared the adults around us when we were children.
~ Patricia Sun
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In 1989, during a time of great change and uncertainty in my life, I wrote a poem about the hurt I was allowing myself to feel. The poem ended "if I unwrapped myself, who would I be?"
It has really been a life long journey for me to discover and embrace the answers to that question. Today I encourage people as best I can to follow their hearts and do what they love. I think I read somewhere that being creative is almost a primal need. Too many have had that desire bullied out of them by well-meaning parents, insensitive art teachers, society at large. I view creation as a joyous and sacred act.
I choose the mandala form because it is a container for healing. Carl Jung said that a mandala symbolizes a safe refuge of inner reconciliation and wholeness (from The Mandala Project). Who doesn't need that from time to time?
Do you feel that creating art gets you closer to your center? Just how do you feel about being an artist? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject.
Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas
p.s. you can read the lyrics to the Todd Rundgren song Healer(today's music pick) here
7 comments:
Glorious image - away from computer most of all day....usded the cherry.
Your new card is beautiful,it has a watercolor quality that is so illuminescent.
This quote is so true. We should all move on with our thoughts especially if their negative ones.
I try to work on some art project every day. It is what feeds my soul, work does not feed my soul.
I carry a large canvas bag to work with a tidbit of art supplies so that I can work on some project. It's my daily meditation.
I long for more creative time. It's truly my lifeblood. If a week goes by without touching my creative side, I get depressed and anxious.
This is a wonderful post.
Thank you for sharing and I hope your journey continues to be blessed with new discoveries and more answers.
Sue, I love these last two mandalas, especially Breathe. They just make me feel better when I look at them.
I love this post. You said very well something I have felt to be true for many years, that creativity is a primal need. I can't count the number of people who have had that stamped out of them, and their souls and bodies are suffering because of that lack.
I do feel that creating art brings me closer to my center, lets me get in touch with my essential core. Sometimes I am creating with rock and plants, other times I am creating with paper, still other times I create with words. All healing, and like you say, a primal need.
I love the softness of this mandala!
Yes, creating within the eternal circle does affect me, bringing me closer to my centre! I couldn't imagine life without creativity, it gives such richness and depth and it is such a shame that some people have never developed this ability to the fullest.
Creating art is such an important part of my life, it is the expression of my inner yearning or spiritual aspiration. I keep the process going with small projects all the time and do not only express myself in mandala form but have a diversity of forms and methods that I love to use. Being an artist is a way of life, I live and breath for it! Yes it is a primal need!!!
Your mandalas are beautiful. I really enjoy your blog.
Engaging in different forms of self-expression enables me to better get-to-know myself. Choosing words and writing or communicating differently adds meaning to my feelings and visions. This adds new levels of clarity while it clouds my truth. Its up to me to sift through it.
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