Thursday, April 8, 2010

Sand Painting

Mandala sand painting is a beautiful and sacred art practiced by Tibetan lamas.  On the first day, an outline of the mandala (a concentric diagram containing spiritual and ritual significance) is drawn on a wooden platform.  On the following days (or weeks), millions of grains of sand are precisely placed on the board.  Once completed, the painting is destroyed as a metaphor of the impermanence of life.

As a stay at home mom and housewife, I feel like my life is a series of sand paintings.  Once I complete a project - decluttering a countertop, washing all the dishes in the sink, putting away the last of the washed, dried, and folded laundry - that fleeting sense of accomplishment and closure is immediately undone with another pile of papers, sippy cups and snack bowls, and dirty pajamas.

Perhaps the universe is telling me to embrace the impermanence.  And keep my cleaning lady.

No comments: