Not Bad Thing: sacred

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Thursday, May 13, 2010

Unbroken Circle

I found this old photo of me taken by my father in the fall of 1969, when I was fifteen. I am in my basement in Warwick, RI, working on a mandala for my 10th grade art class. I think it's the only one I ever designed. Both of my daughters, Kaitlyn and Lisbeth, make mandalas now. Ah, the circle of Life. What goes around, comes around...

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Lisbeth's Blue Bird Angels Mandala

My daughter Lisbeth suffered a traumatic brain injury when she contracted a viral illness in 1988 at the age of six, and she continues to be challenged by multiple difficulties including uncontrolled seizures, behavioral disturbances, learning disabilities and developmental delay. Despite these challenges, Lisbeth's mighty spirit and creativity are remarkably intact. She creates extraordinarily beautiful cut paper snowflakes - hundreds of them (it is ironic that a cluster of seizures is called a "flurry...") and like real snowflakes, each one is unique. Lisbeth sometimes refers to her creations as "brains," which is poignant, for in the making of each snowflake/mandala, it is as if she is recreating her brain. Lisbeth sees figures, animals, and objects in the cutout shapes of each one of her designs, and says that these are what the brain is thinking!