An Evening Kaleidoscope

Reflections on Creativity, Community & A Living Botanical Mandala

Remi Tomasulo deep in the creative process.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Live Botanical Art Installation at Artmosphere last month. It was an incredibly moving experience and such a beautiful reflection of creativity, meaning-making, and community.

The early evening started out hot and breezy. I spent a lot of time chasing banana leaves as they slid around the mandala. Frustration soon turned to comedy. I realized how much fun the wind was having playing with them, and engaging me in a dance around the circle.

The sensory “buffet” of natural treasures turned out so beautifully.  It was a feast of colors, textures and scents with flowers, leaves, shells, stones, and more!

I loved watching everyone interact with each other, the buffet, and the mandala. As the sun set, the wind died down and more guests arrived for the show. The installation continued to unfold and grow - shifting directions, highlighting various materials, creating an evolving kaleidoscope of delight and wonder.

I loved hearing from so many of the participants. It became an unexpected gift to them, a luscious experience or expression. Participants noticed how grounding and relaxing it felt. Many were surprised by how it pulled them in, not only to the experience, but to their own calm center.

Watching people build and create reminded me of the incredibly rich and diverse ways we approach life. Some created on the perimeter. Some traveled deep to the center to place their treasures. Some people worked together, and others created solo. One mama placed her treasures while her sweet husband stood back, holding their young child. She maintained her connection with them while she worked. Two friends collaborated together to allow their creation to express the depth of their friendship. Some created once while others returned to add more, allowing their work to deepen in the process. We use all of these ways to connect with ourselves and others as we move through the world.

I talked to one guest about the struggle of perfection. Our conversation arrived at an understanding that we have to surrender that struggle to allow the beauty of Being to shine. After all, creativity is both chaos and order.

I marveled at the birth of so many mini-wonders - organic, exquisite, fragrant, tender, clever, unusual, or heart-centered. A nursery of wondrous constellations orbiting an expanse of 200 square feet of green sky - born of whimsy, intention and delight.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/14495d_606899b4af4e423c9e7635707e7c7170/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Widening one’s vision and taking in the entire installation was yet another gift. By the end of the evening, viewing it actually made me a bit weak in the knees. You know that feeling? You are completely taken over emotionally by the sheer beauty of something. It was so breathtaking, my heart overflowed. These moments are so healing, we just have to pause long enough to have them.

I feel a tremendous sense of gratitude for the opportunity to create space for all of this to happen. I am honored, and know that I was part of the deep magic that is still to be had on this earth.

She provides us with so many gifts. She offers beauty and a feast for the senses that continually invites us into relationship. Flowers, leaves, shells, seeds, textures, fragrance, color. Again and again, the natural world calls us into connection. Perhaps that is why these experiences feel so good, so right, so fulfilling. We recognize something familiar there. We just forget and remember a thousand times over in a single day, but that's okay. The earth is not keeping track, but it does matter. It matters to our hearts and spirits. It matters to our community, and the truth of it shapes our future in unseen ways.

We closed the circle and the evening by gathering at the mandala and traveling around the circle to appreciate all the beauty and diversity to be found there. I invited participants to allow places that called them to become a portal - to be able to enter the mandala visually, take it into their heart, or allow their body to rock and sway in response to it. I spoke of the power of our own admiration. Admiring the beauty of nature opens up the lines of communication between us - inviting insight, truth, and universal wisdom into our lives.

It felt good to gather and feel the flow of positivity and goodness in the group. This evening, we remembered who we are - made of the same tiny bits as flowers, leaves, shells and beans. We glimpsed our wholeness and kinship, and I suspect, healed tiny pieces of our hearts.

Morgan, Rachael, Sunny & Margherita

Themes: Community, Creativity, Nature, Wonder, Belonging