The Flower Mandalas Project Needs Your Help!

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.
– Carl Jung

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phototransformations/the-flower-mandalas-project

As you may know, I have been making Flower Mandalas for the last several years. At first, they helped me with inner healing and self-discovery. Later, I began to share them with others. From feedback here and on my Facebook fan page (http://www.facebook.com/flowermandalas), I have seen how these images can be transformative. Now, I’m putting them into a form I hope will have both a broader and a deeper effect than I’ve been able to achieve so far.

But it’s going to take work to get there and I need your help to do it

FIFTY-TWO FLOWER MANDALAS BOOK

I’m creating a book called Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. It consists of 52 Flower Mandala images, each linked to a related concept, inspirational quote, and personal essay. The book will delve into 52 fundamental aspects of the human experience. My hope is that through this project the mandalas will reach a broader audience, promoting inner harmony and peace and inspiring others to use art as a means of healing and transformation – the primary purposes it has served for me.

This is my most important artistic project to date. Through images and words, I hope to distill and convey to a broad audience what I have gleaned from 10 years as a psychotherapist, 20 years of life beyond a near-death experience, and 60 years on the planet.

From Chapter 1, “Awakening”

The book will be square format, produced in both a deluxe 12″x12″ hardcover limited edition and a high-quality 8″x8″ softcover edition. In addition to the book, this content will also be presented, eventually, as a print/multimedia exhibition, portable electronic version, and website.

P.S. As a way of saying thanks for your support, there are tangible rewards for your help. See below.

KICKSTARTER.COM

To fund it, I have launched a Kickstarter.com project. Kickstarter is a new way to fund creative projects from private donations. Contributors (Backers) receive rewards that are related to the projects and are proportional in value to their contributions. Project creators set the contribution levels and concomitant rewards.

From Chapter 26, “Love”

Here’s a link to a full description of the project, a list of the Backer Rewards, and ways to contribute:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phototransformations/the-flower-mandalas-project

My goal is to raise $7500 over the next 45 days. The fundraiser ends September 14, 2011.

ALL OR NOTHING!

Kickstarter is a time-limited, all-or-nothing system. If the goal of $7500 is not met in the 45 days of the project fundraiser, no money changes hands.

According to Kickstarter, about 50% of their projects get funded. I want to be in that 50%!!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phototransformations/the-flower-mandalas-project

WHERE WILL THE MONEY GO?

The initial $7500 will go toward:

• Taking time to select the images, match them to concepts and quotes, and write the essays.
• Designing the layout of the book, including consultation with a book designer and selecting fonts for text and headings.
• Printing samples of the book and getting them reviewed
• Creating and shipping the Backer Rewards.

Projects can be exceed their funding goals. If The Flower Mandalas Project exceeds the $7500 goal within the 45-day time limit, I will use the additional funds to support development of the exhibition and electronic versions and to pursue getting them into healing environments. (See the project description for details.)

MORE ON BACKER REWARDS

In addition to intangibles such as my gratitude, the sense that you are helping someone do something good in the world, and the excitement of being part of the Kickstarter community (it’s a truly cool idea!), there are actual, tangible Backer Rewards.

Contributions can range from $1 to $1000, with appropriate rewards for each level of contribution. Rewards include copies of the book, as well as Flower Mandala prints, greeting cards, and screensavers. I’ve tried to make the retail value of the rewards at least equal to the contributions.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phototransformations/the-flower-mandalas-project

SPREAD THE WORD!

Thank you in advance for your contributions and support. One more request: Please help spread the word!

Remember, Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing deal. If we raise the money by the September 14 deadline, the project gets funded. If not, no money changes hands and we’re back to square one.

So, please spread the word! The more people who know about this project, the more likely it is to get funded. Even $1 contributions bring the project closer to meeting its goal.

STAY CONNECTED!

Stay connected by following the project’s updates, becoming a fan on Facebook, and/or following the project here, at Behance.net, and on the Beliefnet Flower Mandalas blog. I will be releasing mini-chapters as I create them and look forward to your responses.

Thanks again!

See you in Cyberspace,

David J. Bookbinder, LMHC