My Secret Mission: what I’m really after with this project

One such moment happened for me when I was finishing college. My mother wanted me to come home and help with the family (there were lots of kids). I wanted to help my mother, but something inside me craved a very different future. Feeling desperate and wracked with guilt, I poured out my feelings to Brother Anthony Marinacci, the beloved pastor of my Italian Pentecostal church (my family wasn’t even Italian! – but that’s another story). Then I waited with dread, thinking I’d hear a gentle reminder about my duty to my family.

But Brother Marinacci shocked me. He said, “You are being called to do something different. You need to follow that call.” I was flooded with relief and I felt my spirit soar.

In that moment I understood that I had been given an inner wisdom that I could listen to and trust to keep me going in the right direction, even if that direction was at odds with what was expected of me.

That inner wisdom has served me well over the years, and led me through many callings, including Artbeat, the creativity store and studio that I ran for 25 years. All of my endeavors have been related in some way to helping people express themselves.

And it has led me to my present focus on mandalas.

I believe it is time for mandalas to take center stage in our human consciousness.

The mandala is an ancient symbol, used by our ancestors the world over, and a reminder that we are all one.

At a time when society is fractured, we need a way to understand that our differences don’t need to tear us apart. That it’s okay for us not to agree. That we are part of one big circle of humanity that needs each one of us in order to survive. Mandalas can do that.

At a time when our psyches are splintered, we need a way to express every outlandish piece of ourselves and see those pieces come together as one whole self. Mandalas can help us do that.

At a time when our young people are struggling to define themselves and feel their very existence is threatened, they need to find their own inner wisdom and connect to their rightful place in the world. Mandalas can help with that.

Mandalas have the power to help us understand ourselves better. They can help us connect with each other in a shared experience.

More than ever, we need ways of connecting, ways of understanding each other, a new language. Let’s make mandalas our language. Let’s roll our angst and anger and sadness and worry all up into one new focus and make mandalas together. Together we can help heal the world.

WILL YOU JOIN ME ON THIS MISSION?

There are 3 WAYS we can get started.

The first is to share the resource you’ll find at the bottom of this page. It is a downloadable mandala that anyone can use to begin their journey of self-knowledge through mandala making.

The second is through our Personal Sand Mandala Kit. Use the kit to experience sand mandala making for yourself. Then share it with your friends.

The third is by supplying school programs and community groups with affordable mandala group activity sets. We’ll be able to start doing that once the kit is here. 

I think of this as the Million Mandala Movement, my secret mission to change the world. With your help we can do that, one mandala at a time.

DOWNLOAD MANDALA & INSTRUCTIONS