It's "Maker Monday!"... my continuing series of posts where I feature something I've made recently; and encourage the maker lifestyle.
It's easy to get discouraged. I get it. Sometimes it's really hard to pull yourself up and start again.
One thing I was really good about doing for many years, is a series of meditation/ relaxation breaths... done before trying to go to sleep for the night, along with some simple stretches. This is similar. After moving back here to PA, I got out of the habit... and although I cannot blame my build up of stress on my not doing this... it certainly wouldn't hurt if I got back in the habit.
The other thing I do... that I've just recently started making... is designing my own mandalas.
"The word Mandala (pronunciation mon- dah- lah) means 'circle.' A Mandala represents wholeness, a cosmic diagram reminding us of our relation to infinity, extending beyond and within our bodies and minds. The mandala appears to us in all aspects of life, the Earth, the Sun, the Moon and more obviously the circles of life encompassing friends, family and communities.
Mandalas are circular designs symbolizing the notion that life is never ending. Many mandalas have spiritual significance to an individual or group of individuals. The Hindus were one of the first people to use a mandala as a spiritual tool, but the mandalas most individuals are familiar with, are ones made by Buddhists. Mandalas are used for meditation purposes allowing the individual meditating to become one with the universe." --- from this site.
To make mine, I start with one of my photographs... usually a flower, or a tree, or something scenic. I use 3 different photo editing programs to eventually come up with a design. I have made about 25 different mandala designs so far... including a couple that I made this weekend.
The mandala design at the top of this post, is one that started off as one of my photographs of a winter aconite plant, barely out of the ground; but ready to face the world. This next one (below) started off as a close-up photograph of the center if an iris.
And this last one, started as a photograph of some neon green leaves on a tree in Albuquerque, against the deep blue southwest skies.
I hope you all have a peace-filled day, and I will see you all tomorrow...