NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Desire” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome. Desire: Empowering “yes” and “no” Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder The poet Stanley Kunitz asks the question, “What makes the engine go?” and his response is “Desire, desire, desire.” Desire is what motivates us to find food when we are hungry, drink when we are thirsty, warmth when we are cold, sleep…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Curiosity: Reviving the cat” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Curiosity” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome. Curiosity: Reviving the cat Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder In my many years of formal education, from elementary through graduate school, no teacher ever suggested that I pay attention to curiosity. Not one, not even once. I was an empty vessel, waiting to be filled with Knowledge. Following my curiosity was strictly…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Fear: Moving on” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Fear” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome. Fear: Moving on Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder John F. Kennedy once said, “When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” Kennedy’s interpretation of the Chinese word wēijī was inaccurate, but his concept is the key to overcoming fear. Some…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Courage: The Hero’s Journey” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Courage” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome. Courage: The Hero’s Journey Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder There are many forms of courage. There is physical courage, the inner force that allows us to face danger or perform daring feats of strength and agility. There is the courage to defy convention, to dance, as Henry David Thoreau put it, to…
Flower Mandala Buttons!
This Just In: Flower Mandala Buttons! Flower Mandalas are now available for purchase online as 1″ round pinback buttons created by Cosmic Giant. You can get them here: http://cosmicgiant.storenvy.com/collections/146382-flower-mandala-series-i Cosmic Giant is a start up company focused on promotion of artists through the manufacture and distribution of small artist-designed products. Products are distributed via repurposed gumball, sticker, and cigarette vending machines. They can be found at record stores, book shops, cafes, and art…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Connection: Metamorphosis” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Connection” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome. Connection: Metamorphosis Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder I am a person with a big heart and a deep need to be connected, but I grew up alienated and insulated from others and from myself. The arc of my life has been to move from disconnection to increasing connectedness, both internally and externally.…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Compassion: From both sides, now” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Compassion” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome. Compassion: From both sides, now Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder During my first year of therapist training, for three consecutive days each week I commuted to Boston in heavy traffic, worked all day as an unpaid intern at Massachusetts College of Art, took a three-hour class each night, and drove home, arriving…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Change: Be the change” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Change” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome. Change: Be the change Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder I came of age in the late 1960s, the time of the first man on the moon, the war in Vietnam, Woodstock, free love, the Age of Aquarius, the War on Poverty, civil rights marches, and the assassinations of iconic figures including Robert…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Caring: The languages of caring” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Caring” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome. Caring: The languages of caring Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder In my work with couples, I’ve observed that we each have our own ways of showing we care about one another, and that these ways are also, most of the time, how we want love to be shown to us. I think…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Boldness: Genius, might, & magic” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Boldness” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome. Boldness: Genius, might, & magic Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder I started full-time private practice as the Great Recession was just getting underway. Although this was arguably the worst period in recent history to start a new business, attracting clients took relatively little time. Many of my clients came because they had…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Balance: Gyroscopes and personal flywheels” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Balance” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome. Balance: Gyroscopes and personal flywheels Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder My first therapy supervisor once remarked, with only slight hyperbole, that every psychologist begins as a child psychologist – as a boy or girl who, to survive a less than optimal childhood, develops the requisite skills for psychotherapy. I have been actively…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Awareness: Breaking the Spell” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Awareness” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome Awareness: Breaking the Spell Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder In August, 2003, I attended a five-day, mostly silent retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh (and 900 others). I thought of it as “Buddhist boot camp.” We awoke at 5:30am, did brief exercises led by Thich Nhat Hanh or one of his monks or…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: Attachment: ‘There is no spoon’ (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Attachment” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome Attachment: ‘There is no spoon’ Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder Meditation and other mindfulness practices encourage us to focus on the present moment and to let go of clinging attachment to outcome. Toward this end, I have engaged in meditation and related practices since my early college years. But the sharpest, clearest…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Atonement: Release, Reconciliation, Redemption” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Atonement” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome Atonement: Release, Reconciliation, Redemption Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder On the first Yom Kippur after my near-death experience I was living in Albany, New York, in a house owned by an elderly couple who had survived the Holocaust. They had taken me under their wing, apparently seeing in my nightmare experience something…
News Flash! Free Flower Mandalas meditation app
News Flash! Free (for now) Flower Mandalas meditation app Owl and Elephant Design, a mobile application development group, has created a new meditation application that uses 21 of my Flower Mandalas. They are making the app, which normally sells for $2.99, available free from now through Sunday, October 21st. The app uses these Flower Mandala images: To download the app, go to the app’s web page, http://owlandelephant.com/meditations, and click the “Available on the…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Apology: Mending the Rift” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Apology” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome “Apology,” Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder Apology: Mending the Rift Prior to undertaking therapist training, I took a short course in community mediation. Most of my mediation experience was as a volunteer in small claims court. We mediators helped conflicting parties try to reach a mutually satisfying agreement rather than simply letting…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Anger: Heaven and Hell” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Anger” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome “Anger,” Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder Anger: Heaven and Hell As I emerged from a childhood depression, the first true emotion I felt as a young teenager was Anger. I remember listening to Jimmy Hendrix, loud, a foot away from the speakers so the music rocked my entire body. I remember breaking…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Action: Sometimes Insight is the Last Defense” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Action” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome “Action,” Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder ACTION: Sometimes Insight is the Last Defense The complexities of the mind and heart are endlessly fascinating, and as a therapist much can be learned from following subtle thought patterns, uncovering missing pieces of personal history, assembling it all into the Big Picture of how…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Acceptance: It’s Already There” (first draft)
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Acceptance” essay in my forthcoming book Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. This essay will likely conclude the book. Responses and comments welcome. “Acceptance,” Copyright 2012 David J. Bookbinder ACCEPTANCE: It’s Already There I see Acceptance as the ability to be present as who we are, in each succession of present moments, without (as the poet John Keats put it) “irritable reaching after fact or reason.” Acceptance is…
Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: “Awakening: A Long, Strange Trip” (first draft)
NOTE: The writing part of my Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas book project is going more slowly than I had hoped. I have rough drafts of each chapter, but have been, until yesterday, feeling stuck around completing them. Then I realized lack of an audience was what was holding me back. What follows is a first draft of the first chapter, “Awakening.” My intention is to publish, here and on my blog, Facebook, and Behance.net project pages,…
