Flower Mandalas

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…

In Paris, Doors to Other Cities Here’s another example of the transformative power of art and its ability to connect us. More anon, David Store: Flower Mandalas CafePress store Book: Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas book preview (Kickstarter edition) Discussion: Facebook Flower Mandalas page Subscribe to the Flower Mandalas mailing list Request the 15 Flower Mandalas screensaver: Fifteen…

“Everything Happens for a Reason” I often hear the phrase “Everything happens for a reason” when I talk with people about their lives. The usual context is that something unexpected, often something bad, has occurred either in the distant past or more recently, and with a philosophical shrug and a meaningful look, someone says, “But,…

Another post from a reader: A Journey of a Lifetime Being stranded at the bus stop in Rosendale more than 5,000 miles from home and a random act of kindness has led to an unbelievable journey for a SUNY Ulster student from the Republic of Azerbaijan. When Gulnar Babayeva arrived in the Hudson Valley in 2008 off a…

Haas & Hahn: How Painting Can Transform Communities Here’s an example, on a big scale, of the transformative power of art! In a TED talk, artists Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn demonstrate how they built community and transformed neighborhoods by through painting — and by throwing neighborhood barbeques. More anon, David Store: Flower Mandalas CafePress…

A poem about her triumph over adversity from a reader: I could write to you about a grown up run away child that really … Loved to love- Got beat up by a man that I loved That was 2009 I went to Kauai Walked and swam Looked at beautiful things Transformed I returned to…

A few days ago I was talking with another friend about misfortune. She did what she called a “quick scan” of the misfortunes in her life and concluded that if they were transformative, the transformation must be slow. That’s often the case, and because transformation can be slow, it may seem as if it isn’t…

Sometimes, like Ray Charles I find myself feeling that “if it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.” I think a lot of us feel that way. In a discussion with a friend earlier today, a woman I’ve known for 34 years, we realized that there is no boundary we can…

Imagination and Reality This showed up in my morning email, via Tricycle magazine, a wonderful center for all things Buddhist: “Imagination draws its energy from a confrontation with desire. It feeds off desire, transmuting and magnifying reality through desire’s power. Fantasy does the opposite; it avoids desire by fleeing into a crude sort of wish-fulfillment…

Dear Readers, I’m planning to enter an essay/memoir contest and need to choose 4-5 of the Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas essays from the 58 I’ve written so far. If any of you have particular essays you remember liking more than others, I’d love to hear about it, as I have no objectivity with them. Here’s a…

More from Beliefnet and our partners