Mandala Rock Painting

Our Middle Mondaze events are providing space for mindfulness to anyone older than 13 years.  This program is aimed towards Middle School students, but adults are loving it, too!

Dots all Around

Dictionary.com tells us that a mandala is "a geometric figure representing the universe in Hindu and Buddhist symbolism." or "a symbol in a dream, representing the dreamer's search for completeness and self-unity."   Using that definition and this visual tutorial to host the program, each student began their first ever mandala.

Personal Property

According to the tutorial, each rock needed a dark color base, with a border.  Once that layer was down, we were instructed to place a dot in the center of that base.  From there, concentric dots were formed around the original dot.

Taste the Rainbow

Some students painted a base color on their rock before coming to class. This one looked sweet, like a burst of Skittles candies.

Soul Burst

As each rock revealed personality traits of the artist.  These dots are Flo's "Soul Burst."

Protection

We saw themes of protection.  This rock revealed an Evil Eye talisman to it's designer.

We discovered a landscape and sunset on this rock.

Freedom from constraint was revealed in this rock.

Dedication to the process shined through this rock.

And this little rock is headed to New Zealand.

Each artist left with a piece of themselves painted brightly on a chunk of sediment.

Simple processes like these help us all see the light from within and find our HAPPY place!

Stop over here in April to see how our our BuJo efforts have progressed since January.

See you soon,

Erica

Bite the Bullet Journal

Have you tried to BuJo?  BuJo is the shortened tern for Bullet Journaling, an analog system of organizing your life.  Ryder Carroll, the creator of this system has developed a website to further inform the novice Bullet Journaler.  Check out the Bullet Journal website for a lesson.

The Gear

I sourced several blogs and Pinterest pages dedicated to all things BuJo.  Many seemed overwhelming and complicated.  Drawings, tons of color, debates upon which pens MUST be used are all details that had this project on a back burner for over a year.

Once I discovered the simplicity of this system and this starting video created by Ryder Carroll, I knew I hit the jackpot.  Like this video states, start simply and simply start!  The sooner you hit the book, the closer you are to organized.  Get a notebook, anything will do.  Get a pen or pencil, anyone will do.  Avoid the complex blogs of women who agonize over the color pen they used for recording their water intake and just get started!

There are a few books in our library collection regarding journals and just one "Bullet Journal for Beginners," but this and the "Start Here" video gave enough inspiration and clarity to the program attendees that any preparation I did beyond that was unnecessary.  This project becomes very personal, so less is more in beginning your system of organizing.

Aside from the books and video instructions, I found Amanda Rach Lee, BuJo Guru.  You can follow her bullet journal journey on her website, Tiny Ray of Sunshine.  With Amanda, discover how to organize areas in your life other than the day-to-day stuff.  I made sure of getting good quality notebooks (the dotted kind) and Staedtler Triplus Fineliner pens to start our bullet journals as a group. After several hours of researching, putting these pens to use proved them to be my favorite!  Try a few pens to know what's best for you.

We put the 3-D printers to work by printing stencils for every participant in the group.  This made it easy for the less-than-artsy folks to create beautifully planned pages with a professional edge.  These files can be found on Thingiverse and are free to use.

These Middle Mondaze are a chance for Middle Schoolers, ages 13+, to set aside some time for Mindfulness.  Bullet Journals help get you organized.  Mandala Painting will surely relax your mind and get you closer the core of your heart.  Join us on Monday, February 19, from 2:30-3:30 for a colorful, calming experience.

If you missed the first round of bullet journaling, join us for Bite the Bullet Journal (take 2) on Monday, April 23.  Your busy life will thank you.