"Intention's Journey"

Intentions - a Haiku:

Our intentions are

the atomosphere in which we

live our truth out loud

~Cheryl Finley

For more on this mandala click here.

"Ultimate Center"

"The cyclone derives its powers from a calm center. So does a person." ~Norman Vincent Peale

"I am, indeed, a king, because I know rule myself." ~Pietro Aretino, 10 May 1537

For more on this mandala, click here.

"Life...a richly textured journey..."

"...and when you get the choice to sit it our or dance... I hope you dance" ~Lee Ann Womack

From her song I Hope You Dance...which you can enjoy by clicking here.

For more on this mandala click here.

"Ode to the Mustard Seed"

"I tell you with certainty, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. "~Matthew 17:20

"Faith is a passionate intuition." ~William Wordsworth

"Faith is spiritualized imagination." ~Henry Ward Beecher

"Faith is courage; it is creative... while despair is always destructive." ~David S. Muzzey

"To me faith means not worrying." ~John Dewey

"Faith is putting all your eggs in God's basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch." ~Ramona C. Carroll

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." ~Martin Luther King Jr.

For more on this mandala, click here.

"Powerful Beyond Measure"

The Magenta Path in this mandala...is it a fork in the road...or... a merging? - Our awareness of where we are with that question is but one ingredient that has the potential to make each one of us fully conscious...that we are...Powerful Beyond Measure.

So...are are you "forking"...or "merging" on your journey right now? For more insight on this, and on embracing being Powerful Beyond Measure click here.

"Peace.. blooming out all over"

My heart (and face) smiled when I came across the quote below. Surely..it's an ideal recipe for peace...to bloom all over! Here are a few recipes for peace...

"Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn't go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination." ~Robert Fulghum

"Let there be peace on earthAnd let it begin with me."
~Seymour Miller & Jill Jackson, "Let There Be Peace on Earth," 1955

For more on this mandala, click here.

"Spiritual Insight"

"The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light..." ~Luke 11:34

This mandala spontaneously took shape while I was listening to an inspiring message on CD from Rev. Michael Beckwith of Agape Spiritual Center. Ahh...what an affirmation that the mandala outpictured the gift I was receiving from him... "spiritual insight"! To read more of my story about this mandala and this insight click here.

Inspiration: Anne Frank

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

This warms my heart and makes me smile...for I know this is the truth. When we improve ourselves... our home, our body, our consciousness..our world; the Ripple Effect of that makes the world a better place.

It reminds me of one of my favorite songs...that improves the way I feel whenever I sing it, or hum it.. "Let there be Peace on Earth...and let it begin with me."

Have a wonder-filled week!

Creatvity Prompt: "Explore a Practice"

Making mandalas is a practice for me... as is: journaling, blogging, SoulCollage® as well as making jewelry. They are all practices that stir up creative bliss and fulfilment in me; especially while I'm listening to instrumental music, scored for the ocassion. Sharing these kinds of ideas with kindred-others is also a practice which is satisfies my soul...and we do a lot of that at the Mandala Oasis Yahoo! Community.

The website, Spirituality & Practice, has an entire section called "Explore a Practice" at their right-hand sidebar. There are lots of subjects that could very well resonate with where you are currently on your journey thorugh life. One of them might even inspire a creating a mandala, or an inner-shift you've been wanting. Recently I realized that more and more, the mandalas I've made have been a - "storyboarding of wisdom" - guiding me to a new awareness... and prompting me to take heed. - I love that about this intuitive creativity that always steers me to where I need be, what I need to do..or not do.

If you do decide to partake of one of the practices, or tell us about an exisiting one...you are invited to share it with us at our very kindred online community, The Mandala Oasis. which you can link to at the top of this site, or at the link within this post.
Abundant blessings to you...
~Cheryl

Click here for the Spirituality & Practice website.

Note: All purple text is a linkable

"Blooming Butterfly"

I smile when I look at this...thinking...

Surely, this is what a butterfly looks like

when it lies on it's back...right?

With wings open wide to the sky...

...its heart would surely be a fragrant flower...

radiating....

blooming...

and humming

like a honey bee...

or the purr of a kitty.

I realize that I too...am blooming...

awakening...and being refreshened.

I am experiencing a renaissance.

My heart and I are

blooming...

like the butterfly...

and for that, I am deeply grateful.

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"The butterfly is a flying flower, the flower a tethered butterfly." ~Ponce Denis Écouchard Lebrun

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"Butterflies are self propelled flowers." ~R.H. Heinlein

"Chrysanthemum"

This series of mandals is dedicated my cyber-pal, Leah, and her Creative Every Day Project which keeps us mindful to be and live from our innate creativity..every day.

This is the fourth mandala created from the center - and this way of creating them does have a centering affect. I feel like it's getting me ready on the inside so I can do what I need to do on the outside. It's like Mandala Yoga, which we talked about this week at the Mandala Oasis Yahoo Community. It's amazing. I feel that by making the mandala in this way it has created an internal shift within me...and I like it. I'll continue to experiment with this method to see the effects it has on me.

And...I was curious about the chrysanthemum history and symbolism. And...what I found out after making this mandala is uncanny! For example..it's the official flower of the city of Chicago...where I reside; and that "chrys" means golden which was its original color...and I made mine golden yellow. This mandala is also a portal to that calm center inside of me...and I will continue meditate on it. What a gift this chrysanthemum mandala is!

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Note...the purple text...is a link...

"Beam me up Scotty"

I see this as an aerial view...

Depicting my daily comings and goings...

And then here comes this...thing

descending in the middle of everything to

'Beam me up, Scotty"...to make sure I'm

"living from the Center."

And..the mandorla cluster in the center

is mystical, friendly and powerful.

"Dream Catcher"

The mandorlas

keep beckoning me...

this time in a cluster...

to catch and nurture my dreams

"Slices of Life"

gratitude....love...harmony....

joy...peace...intuition....

self-compassion...Grace...

gratitude....

All slices of a well-fed life...

....with more to come...

"Entangled"

This 'entangled' energy showed up again; and..that's how I was feeling. Too many thoughts at once going on in my head..even new thoughts creeping in from outside the circle, yikes...make it stop! And...stop it did.

After making this mandala I had a great sense of release...and I was inspired to begin making mandalas from the center, outward..which I've never been moved to do that before. Yes! An inner-shift has occured! This new approach to making mandalas is a metaphor and a map for what I want to ...and must... create in my life...more order and harmony. Interesting...that was the very first mandala of the week 'Harmony & Flow'.

I continue to marvel and appreciate this intuitive creativity that informs me of...me. The mandalas that followed this one were made from the inside, out... from center, to perimeter. Hmm...that's a good way to create the order and harmony I need; from the inside, out...starting at and living from.... the Center.

"Venus Flytrap"

This week's Inspire Me Thursday prompt: Healing synchronistically corresponds to the Mandala Healing teleclass series I am hosting with the renowned Judith Cornell - click here for details.

Making Mandala Medicine, SoulCollage® , making jewelry as well as other creative expression IS all healing...from the inside, out.

Being creative, and having others to share it with has made a huge difference in my qualitiy of life on the healing front. Thank Goodness for all of the healing arts!

I made this mandala while hanging out with my daughter, Kamaria, over the July 4th holiday; just playing around with markers while we were watching a movie.

Initially I thought and saw "pea pods", but after a while, I knew it had a higher calling...

Venus Flytrap!

I see this as a vibrant, whimsical and healing image....gobbling up the old thought patterns, and old energy that no longer serves me...and transmuting it into glorious, colorful beauty...while exhaling it back into the atmosphere...imparting beauty...and exhilarating joy!

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FYI: The purple words on all posts are links.

"Harmony & Flow"

Elements of harmony....

trust...surrender...

and to...

Row, row, row your boat "gently" down the stream.

rhythm
harmony

flow