A Journey Into Joy
Step 1 — Week 3: You Are Here
Step 1 is about taking an honest assessment—just the facts, without judgment—of where we are right now in the different areas of our life (health, personal life, work life, retirement, home, leisure, play, education, family, community, and so on). In order to move into joy, we must know where we are right now.
To join in on the journey, visit the MandalaoftheMonth.com to download the mandala and learn more about this step.
Here’s my journal entry for week 3: The Mandala Lady
When I first started creating mandalas (1999), it was purely for myself…we had returned from an amazing trip to Egypt and I just knew I had to make them. As people started to see them and highly compliment them, my gears shifted into being in the art business.
One day a woman said to me “Oh, you’re that mandala lady” and thankfully at the time (~2003) I was able to scoop up the domain names: TheMandalaLady.com and MandalaLady.com. I began doing things a person in business does along with continuing to create mandalas. Only now, I added a layer of pressure to each piece I made: will this sell?
I self-published 20 different coloring books before that adult coloring craze took off…unfortunately, it passed me right by. People who knew me or followed me loved them but they just never went beyond that.
Around 2005 someone told me that I would be doing readings (intuitive, psychic, etc) for people to which I said “I don’t think so—that’s what other people do” and let that idea go. Late 2010 I woke up one day and decided that I _can_ do readings for people. Thus began that phase of my “Mandala Lady” career.
Over the last 25 years I did art fairs and psychic fairs. I built several websites and blogs and signed onto social medial to accommodate all the ways I created mandalas: mandalas to color, mandala meditation stones, mandala readings, mandala art, and then the “Mandalas of the ______” (day, week, month, year) series. I think over the years I created over 1,000 mandala designs…and more keep coming to me. Yeah!
Over the last year I’ve been working through a limiting belief that “I have to make a living as an artist in order to be considered successful”. As a matter of fact, it’s that belief that has held me back creatively more than anything.
The other limiting belief holding me back now is the idea that “no one is interested in what I have to offer so why try anything new”. Some of this ties in with the aforementioned “success” belief…”if people were interested in my offerings, they would buy them.” Since people aren’t buying then they mustn’t be interested. (Intellectually, I know this is bullshit…I have sold pieces over the years and people do “like” my art on social media)
Here’s what I would like to create for myself: to reach a bigger, broader audience so that the art and their messages reach and help more people. This idea intimidates me and requires me to move through all the beliefs that hold me back. Actually, if I had to sum up all the beliefs into one it would probably be something like: “I’m not good enough”.
(As I started to finish up this post, I “heard” this: “It’s not about something being good enough, it’s about the intent behind it. When I focus my intention on authentically helping people through my offerings, then my offerings will be good enough.”. … well, that’s interesting.)
Where Do I Go From Here
- Determine and work through the limiting beliefs that keep me from reaching my full potential as The Mandala Lady.
- Embrace the idea of feeling the fear and doing “IT” anyway
- Work more closely with my Cosmic Team to receive their insight and guidance on how be to move forward.
That’s it for now,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
inspiring and encouraging creativity, curiosity, and play through the art of mandalas
ABOUT “A JOURNEY INTO JOY”
With all the anxiety and stress in the world right now, focusing on joy may seem a bit counterintuitive. Mais contraire mes amis. We actually need more joy in our lives…now more than ever. And it starts within each of us. It’s been my experience that when in that higher vibrational state of joy, it helps raise the vibration of those around us as well.
Brené Brown defines joy as “an intense feeling of deep spiritual connection, pleasure, and appreciation”. Of late, I mostly experience only moments of happiness and on a rare occasion, joy…thus my desire to journey into joy.
My quest throughout this year is to explore, experience, and express this state in a variety of ways, including following a variation of the hero’s journey, as professed by Jospeh Campbell.
Care to join me? Here’s how…
MandalaoftheMonth.com: On the first of the month, I’ll create and post a mandala for coloring. Each month we’ll take another step along the “journey into joy” by following a modified version Joseph Campbell’s a hero’s journey. Included in each step will be a description of the step and prompts for coloring and/or journaling for the month. You’re welcome to color them as well…they’re free to download.
MandalaoftheWeek.com: Each Monday I’ll be posting my coloring of that month’s Mandala of the Month, which will produce 4-5 colorings of that design. With each one, I intend to dig deeper into the message of that month’s mandala. You’re welcome to color along as well.
Mandala of the Week 