Download the June 2010 Mandala of the month [~700k]
All morning and while creating this month’s mandala, I’ve had Sam Cook’s “A Change is Gonna Come” song in my head. While it talks about some serious issues, the song reminds us that change is coming.
What is it about change that we as individuals and as a society resist so much? We resist it when people want to change things. We get comfortable and used to things the way they are. We’d rather go with the devil we know than the one we don’t. Remember when Coca Cola introduced the “new coke”? People were so upset about it, the company wound up taking it off the market.
The irony of all this is that most of the time we are dissatisfied with the way things are in our lives/country/world that we often wish that things/people would change. This too is ironic because things are always changing, we just usually fail to notice.
Probably the worst part is that we seem to be waiting for others to change, failing to look in the mirror to see what WE need to change. Gandhi said it best when he said “be the change you want to see in the world.” Want peace? Be peace. Want love? Be love. Want truth? Be honest.
Many years ago when I was in therapy, I had a particularly upsetting session and was quite pissed off about my parents and how horrible they were. I said to her “why do I have to change…why can’t my parents change?” It seemed quite unfair at the time. She brilliantly responded with “because you can.” That was the beginning of healing my relationship with my parents.
So the time has come for us to look at how we can change our lives for the better. Waiting for others is futile and a waste of time/energy. I truly believe that it’s also the root of much of our suffering. Instead, let’s ask ourselves “am I living my best life?” If not, let’s figure out what we can do to make that happen. Whatever obstacles (real/imagined) that are stopping us, let’s change our perspective so we can see it in a new light. It could also be that the obstacles are there for a reason and maybe the change that needs to occur is that we need to change directions.
The serenity prayer states it best: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
From an astrological perspective… we’ve been going through a 5-part saturn/uranus opposition which started election night 2008 and ends July 26, 2010, which interestingly enough is considered the annual day out of time in the mayan calendar system. Saturn represents structure and the traditional way of doing things; Uranus represents the new and sudden changes. Also this summer Pluto squares this opposition creating what’s called a “cardinal t-square” Pluto is all about transformation, whether you like or not and always for our own best interest. Now is an excellent time to release that which no longer serves us (bad habits, clutter, relationships, etc) and to create new structures and new traditions that transform all of us for the highest and greatest of all.
Happy Coloring!
Maureen, The Mandala Lady
I would love to see your colorings…Upload them to Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/groups/mandalas/
Mandala of the Month 