After a semester of practicing the art of mandala of making, it is now the end of this assignment, however for me my personal project is not over. I hope to continue the practice of mandala making because it has been very relaxing and to my surprise has had an impact on me. I am going to continue to make mandalas and create a portfolio to gather my designs in one place.
During this project I struggled to find meaning within each of my mandala designs. While I do not think there was a theme throughout all of my designs, I think the meaning of each mandala was oriented around finding a deeper significance of what true peace really means. Throughout the course of our FYS, we explored the reasons as to why nonviolence works and why, in comparison to violence, it is the better choice. Prior to this class, I thought that the possibility of the end of war was not practical nor feasible. After exploring different perspectives surrounding this theory, I still believe in my initial thought that war can not be completely eliminated from society. However, while I do not believe war will come to a complete end, I do believe that it is possible for us towards a more peaceful and safer society. I think mandala making help me come to this conclusion because as I drew each mandala I thought about what peace really means and thought about ways in which society can change, so that we can move closer to a society that we all want to live in. At first I was not sure what I would get out of my personal project, however I can happily say that I am satisfied with the results.
Hi, Jordan.
The significance that you describe that came from you making mandalas is something that really impresses me. I’ve never been much of an artistic type but the way you describe the peace you felt from truly focusing on the meaning of what you were creating makes me consider giving something like this a try. I know that this wasn’t easy work, but I’m glad it yielding great results for the way you felt. I hope that this feeling isn’t something that goes away.