Share 52 Flower Mandalas on Facebook and Share 52 Flower Mandalas on Twitter For the last several years, I’ve found myself attracted to the dead leaves I see on the ground as I walk, particularly those in late fall and winter. I’ve taken hundreds, maybe thousands, of pictures of them. A friend’s mentioning to me the concept of wabi-sabi helped me understand why. Wabi-Sabi is a Japanese term for finding the beauty in imperfection, and accepting…
Share 52 Flower Mandalas on Facebook and Share 52 Flower Mandalas on Twitter More soon on the topic of transforming the essence of one type of art into another, but both the therapist and the artist in me wanted to convey a personal example by showing how my Flower Mandalas were transformed by artist Emily Sper into line art for our coloring book, 52 Flower Mandalas. Below is part of a table I created of all 52…
Share 52 Flower Mandalas on Facebook and Share 52 Flower Mandalas on Twitter Breaking news! I’ve been finding out more from clients and colorists about coloring and it’s meditative qualities and will write another post on that soon, but some time-sensitive events are happening with 52 Flower Mandalas. Before I get to those events, though, here are two more completed illustrations from colorist C.G. Lynee, which she entitled “Arbor” and “Naos”: And now, the news.…
Share 52 Flower Mandalas with your friends! Art Bars, Coloring Parties, other audiences Now that our coloring book 52 Flower Mandalas is completed, I’d like to find more ways to get it out into the world. Marketing and promotion, alas, have never been my strengths, so I’d appreciate some advice and some help. A friend suggested that because coloring is a relaxing, meditative, but also a creative activity, 52 Flower Mandalas would be an asset to HR…
Share 52 Flower Mandalas: An Adult Coloring Book for Inspiration and Stress Relief with your friends! I stumbled into coloring. Shortly after I completed a Kickstarter campaign for my book Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: A Mediation, a friend suggested that I convert the images to illustrations and create a coloring book — not for children, but for adults. Until then, I had never even heard of coloring books for adults. Now, months later, I…
Share 52 Flower Mandalas: An Adult Coloring Book for Inspiration and Stress Relief with your friends! “Untitled,” a colorist creation by S. Everett, one of the colorists I’ve been working with on “52 Flower Mandalas.” See http://davidbookbinder/books/gallery for the latest colorist creations.
Share 52 Flower Mandalas: An Adult Coloring Book for Inspiration and Stress Relief with your friends! “Gateway,” a colorist creation by C.G. Lynee, one of the colorists I’ve been working with on “52 Flower Mandalas.” See http://davidbookbinder.com/books/gallery for the latest colorist creations.
Share 52 Flower Mandalas: An Adult Coloring Book for Inspiration and Stress Relief with your friends! Child psychologists observe that children are most creative when they’re at play. The same principle also applies to most adults. With 52 Flower Mandalas: An Adult Coloring Book for Inspiration and Stress Relief, you can return to your inner child … play. Coloring relaxes and renews, sparks ideas, relieves stress, helps work through emotions — and it’s fun! The stunning…
Just a note to let you know that something new is in the pipeline. It’s the culmination of a collaboration with illustrator and book designer Emily Sper (http://www.emilysper.com/hactiv.html). More details, and an invitation to participate in the process, coming soon. Watch this space!
I’m happy to announce that Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas is now represented by Stephany Evans, president of Fine Print Literary Management in New York City. More anon, David Buy Flower Mandala prints: Buy prints Discussion: Facebook Flower Mandalas page Flower Mandalas blog on Beliefnet.com: Flower Mandalas blog Subscribe to the Flower Mandalas mailing list Request the 15 Flower Mandalas screensaver: Fifteen Flower Mandalas
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Will” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome, no matter how brief. Will: Break on through Copyright 2014 David J. Bookbinder There are many ways psychotherapists can help people. We can provide validation, emotional support, help formulate goals, encourage, motivate, identify dysfunctional patterns, devise strategies for overcoming them, and sometimes even inspire. But often, to fully surmount difficulties, there is…
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Uniqueness” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome, no matter how brief. Uniqueness: Blooming Copyright 2014 David J. Bookbinder Recently, I had the relatively rare experience of having a movie introduce me to a new way of looking at things. The central idea of Martin Scorcese’s Hugo explicitly emerges midway through the film, but it’s implicit in every frame: Just…
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Uncertainty” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome, no matter how brief. Uncertainty: Negative capability Copyright 2014 David J. Bookbinder Perhaps the greatest fear I run across as a therapist is fear of uncertainty. This fear is great because it is so vague and encompassing. We are uncertain about how people see us; what will happen next in our relationships,…
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Trust” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome, no matter how brief. Trust: Experienced Innocence Copyright 2014 David J. Bookbinder When I was in Boy Scouts, we all had to memorize the Scout Law: “A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.” Even back then, it seemed significant that “trustworthy” was first…
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Suffering” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome, no matter how brief. Suffering: So it goes Copyright 2013 David J. Bookbinder Helen Keller once said that the world is full of suffering, but also of the overcoming of it. But it is also full of suffering that is unrelieved. I have thought about suffering most of my life. When I…
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Choice” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome, no matter how brief. Choice: Repatterning Copyright 2013 David J. Bookbinder NOTE: The opinions expressed in the following joke do not represent those held by The Management. So, there is this joke about two lawyers. One of them is walking out of a bank when he sees an old lady a little…
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Stillness” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome, no matter how brief. Stillness: Bells and watches Copyright 2013 David J. Bookbinder At a meditation retreat I attended years ago, I was introduced to the concept of the Mindfulness Bell. At apparently random times throughout each day, a monk or nun would sound a bell, and we all had to halt…
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Solitude” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome, no matter how brief. Solitude: Shiftings Copyright 2013 David J. Bookbinder In solitude, we can inhabit our deepest selves, feel intense spiritual connection, and experience self love. Or we can dwell in their contraries, finding only disconnection, despair, and self-hatred. Solitude, my refuge as a boy, felt like imprisonment for much of…
NOTE: This is the second draft of the “Silence” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome, no matter how brief. Silence: Outside in Copyright 2013 David J. Bookbinder About silence I am tempted to say, “I have nothing to say.” And yet I do. I have always had an ambivalent relationship with silence. Initially, silence was a haven. As a young boy, I retreated into silence to get…
NOTE: This is the first draft of the “Silence” essay in my forthcoming book, Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas. Responses and comments welcome, no matter how brief. Silence: Outside in Copyright 2013 David J. Bookbinder About silence I am tempted to say, “I have nothing to say.” And yet I do. I have always had an ambivalent relationship with silence. Initially, silence was a haven, although not a happy one. As a young boy, I…
