My Sacred Life - Growth

Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure

nor this thing nor that but simply growth,

We are happy when we are growing.

William Butler Yeats

Universities are considered sacred places of learning for good reason.

However the learning and growth I am referring to can be as simple as finding the meaning of a new word in the dictionary, working out html so you can add that new element to your blog, experimenting with a new food combination to delight your senses, finding a quote that makes you think in a different way. Sacred little spurts of growth every day.

Reading all the different perspectives on sacredness and spirituality posted by the "My Sacred Life" participants has been a stimulating experience, giving me plenty of opportunity for growth.

Learning how to create and use mandalas has been my latest spurt of growth. I have discovered that they both clear your mind and stimulate creativity, as well as giving you an insight into your psyche, so here's a couple more.

P.S. Mandalas are often, but not necessarily, symmetrical and often, but not necessarily use a limited palette.

My Sacred Life - Creativity

Being able to express myself creatively is one of life's essentials to me and even if I only had my finger and a patch of sand, I would feel the need to create something there.

If you are a "My Sacred Life" participant, you may have seen Cheryl's blog Art In Every Day where she has been posting some amazingly colourful and creative mandalas and listing some interesting links to mandala sites. As you can probably tell, mandalas have captured my imagination. Here are a few of mine.

About Mandalas;

"Mandala is a Sanskrit word, meaning circle. It represents wholeness and is described as a cosmic diagram that reminds us of our relation to the infinite, the world that extends both beyond and within our bodies"

"A mandala is an integrated structure, organised around a unifying centre"

"Tibetan monks considered that mandalas should consist of five excellences:

the teacher; the message; the audience; the site; the time".

Mine shown here are pretty basic, but I am working on some more meaningful ones. Mandalas are incredibly satisfying to make as well as look at and they exude loads of energy. To see some gorgeous and intricate examples of mandalas from around the world, take a look at the Mandala Project, where you can join in and post your own creations.

My Sacred Life - memorabilia

There is no doubt that family photo's are important, but equally important to me are all the special memories of my children I have collected over the years. I am still collecting them now. I don't know a mother who doesn't have a box or folder filled with finger paintings, baby shoes, locks of hair, notes and cards, small gifts made in craft class etc. In our cupboard upstairs is an archaeological dig, with layer upon layer of our lives recorded in photographs and memorabilia. These are some of the special ones.

This little pink love bear was made by my son in kindergarten. He brought it home on a day when I was particularly unhappy and I unfolded it to reveal a heart he had drawn. It simply melted mine.





These "notes" were made one night when my son and I were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen counter. I was preparing dinner and we decided spontaneously, just for fun, to write instead of speaking out loud. (just to put you in the picture, I was tending a rash that I got from some plant in the garden. It also might help to know that my son's affectionate family nickname is "Moo") So we were pushing the pen and paper across to each other. It was the kind of conversation we have often had, and still do, always ending with; "Love You" and "Love you too".

And finally, these are my daughter's hand prints to remind me of the many days we would set out the paint pots and paper and glue and glitter on the kitchen table, immersing ourselves in play.

Precious times.