“Co-Conspirator”
“Co-Conspirator” - created August 5th, 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: #51
This mandala unfolded in a delightfully surprising way. I’ve created two ways for you to engage, either through this video story or if you prefer, the written words and images beneath.
The 2½ minute video is a fun and dynamic telling, and I hope in the hearing you’ll be as enamoured with this little amphibian as I was!
As this project/experiment/exploration has continued to unfold, many a time my “plans for the day” have been side-tracked by spending two or three unexpected hours engaged in creating a mandala. I rarely set out with the intention of making one but because it’s in my consciousness, if I’m called, I answer.
One of the things I love the most about this one was that I was very much in the mindset of, “I am not making a mandala today. I'm just walking 5 minutes to the top of the street to drop off my garbage and coming home for breakfast.” Don’t want to get sucked in, want to get on with the day. That is definitely the plan.
And then as I was returning home, this little frog hopped out of the grass onto the sidewalk about a foot in front of me.
Part of why this was so special is because I've lived in the mountains for 30 years and in all that time I have seen perhaps 10 frogs. Not a common sighting in the mountains, at least not for me, so I was captivated by this frog’s presence.
I lay down on the sidewalk eyeball to eyeball with it for 5 or 10 minutes, fascinated by its markings and its eyes and its so-adorable little feet.
Then I got up to carry on home and was about five feet away when the call stopped me in my tracks, “Mandala”.
Wow, really? I looked back to check and my new friend was still there, just hangin’ out. Almost like he was waiting.
And I thought, “I wonder? I wonder if this little frog will stay that long?”
There was an abundance of summer daisies along the walkway, so I gathered a few and went back, putting one down and taking a photo really fast…just in case.
But he stayed put, apparently quite content to be part of this creative venture. I continued placing the circle of daisies around him, took five or six photos, and Mandala #51 came to life.
And then he hopped to the edge of the circle, paused for just a moment, and made his way off into the rest of his day.
I am so touched that this mandala has at its centre a being with a living heartbeat. I’m pretty for sure that this frog was a willing collaborator, a co-conspirator in creativity expressing itself.
More than any that had come before, this mandala embodied the spirit in which they’re being made, and the magic that is activated when we show up for the call.
With almost every creative thing I've done in the past, I have a plan. I'm going to do a painting, write a piece of writing, make a podcast episode. I have my plan.
There is no plan here. There's just what's happening now, what's wanting to happen next, and choosing to trust that life is an endless invitation to play in the field of emergent possibility.
Want to collaborate to create some magic in your life?
*Note: Scroll within the box above to see the full list of episodes.
“Flow” - The Mandala Project: #55
Flow is what you feel when you’re holding a stable, steady centre while the currents of the universe are swirling around you with infinite possibilities of disruption.