Mandala

(Seed of Life mandala in summer colors.)

On Sunday I decided to finally do something I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time.  I colored a mandala.

In January of 2008, after reading QuoinMonkey’s post Coloring Mandalas, I did a search for free mandala templates and found this website where I printed out The Seed of Life mandala.  I set it aside with plans to do it someday soon.  It was winter and I was sure I’d find plenty of free time to do some coloring.

In May of this year, Norm at Unmerited Gifts posted a similar version of this mandala and that reminded me that I had the same one sitting around here somewhere, waiting for me to be inspired enough (or not) to sit down and color.  Kel at the Xfacta posted an Art Attack asking you to create your own mandala that same month (you can find it here).  Not quite ready to create my own but wanting to color one, I searched for the mandala I printed out over a year ago.  No luck.  I didn’t know where I’d put it and then got sidetracked by something else.

This past Sunday I was sitting at the desk I set up for my granddaughter to use when she comes to visit.  It’s a little corner of the office area in the basement where she can sit and create (color, paint, glue, whatever comes to mind).  There is a window next to the desk that provides plenty of natural light (or distraction if you look out it and start watching the birds that like to hang out in the bush near the window).  You may recall that I bought an antique, leather-topped desk for the creativity corner back in March and it’s a place where I, too, can go if I’m feeling the need to be creative.

Getting back to my story… I was sitting at the desk, waiting for M to finish using the computer so I could do something on it (I can’t even remember what), and I decided to look through the drawers of the desk for my box of crayons.  I didn’t find the crayons (I wonder what happened to them?) but in one of the bottom drawers I did find the mandala.  A big container filled with markers was sitting there in front of me so I started coloring, figuring I’d just a color in a few spaces while I waited.

Well, one thing led to another and the next thing I knew, I’d colored it all in as you see above.  The colors are a little off in the scan.  I used three different shades of orange representing the three different orange-colored lilies that are currently in bloom on our property.  The colors, I came to realize after a few minutes of randomly choosing, turned out to be the colors that are dominating nature in my neck of the woods right now.  Summer colors.  Our orange period of summer with some of the greens and blues thrown in for good measure.  The yellow in the center are for the sun.

I’d forgotten how fun and relaxing it is to sit and color.  Coloring a mandala seems to add a meditative quality to the relaxation and fun.  The pattern kept changing as I looked and colored.  When I focused on the area I was working on and stayed in the moment, it went pretty smoothly.  When I lost focus and started thinking about the finished product (the future) or what I’d already completed (the past), I stumbled.  I didn’t bother to try to cover up the stumbles.  They’re good reminders for everyday living.

I’m looking forward to coloring another mandala sometime soon.  It’s a wonderful way to relax and free up my mind from the usual mental clutter.

I’ll be back later with today’s photo.  I have a date with the yoga mat this morning and don’t want to miss it.