“Recomposing”
“Recomposing” - created July 9th, 2021
THE MANDALA PROJECT - How it came to life
If you know someone whose day would be brightened by this Mandala, please pass it along! Even more magical, with a love note from you!
The Mandala Project: #36
I have a challenging relationship with death. Some part of me believes it’s the thief of joy, but I’m working on changing my heart.
In my work with death doula Sarah Kerr, I’ve been learning to perceive and trust the sacred and essential nature of death.
She guided me on a visualization to meet it once: I imagined going to a clearing in the forest I walk in regularly, a small meadow about 30 feet in diameter surrounded by towering conifers. As I settled in, death appeared as a Gollum-like creature, leaping from place to place, active and on the move.
But as it became aware of my presence and sensed my aversion to it, it got still for a few moments and turned toward me with curiosity. It was completely clear and present, perceiving my stance toward it.
And then it revealed something that caught me off guard; I felt its heart break to see that I held it as an enemy.
I’ve never considered that death cares how I feel about it. This changes things.
“Conspiring With Wonder” - Day 2
The first name that came in for this Mandala was “Decomposing”, but as I sat with it a bit, “Recomposing” felt more true. I love its reflection of ‘death’ as simply energy rearranging itself in a new way.
“Beauty exists in the irregularity and unevenness of what is already in a state of transformation.” - Sara Genn
Watching the vibrancy of “Conspiring With Wonder” fade over the course of a few days, I was intrigued to see how its beauty changed when viewed through this particular lens.
With every shift, something new is added into the Cosmos, an expression that continues in an evolving, harmonious relationship with everything else.
When walking through a forest, or life, with this perspective, everything seems to be singing with the perfect resonance of its current place in the whole.
Sarah Kerr joined me on Tracking Yes for a fascinating conversation about death a while back, you can listen here:
“Creating an Empowered Relationship with Death”
"Earth Elder" - The Mandala Project: #41
Grief is becoming intimate with the immovable truth that we’re not meant to hold on to or possess that which we love.