Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Mandalas for a Time of Opening and Awakening

On Monday, June 8, 2020, DOEprojekts posted our 80th consecutive mandala (literally "circle") on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  All were created during New York City's quarantine (a.k.a. "stay-at-home" to avoid the novel corona virus, COVID19).  However, for our 80th mandala, our "tag line" changed from the previous seventy-nine; instead of "Mandalas for a Time of Quarantine," we posted "Mandalas for a Time of Opening and Awakening."   

We feel we have moved from a time of quarantine to a time of opening and awakening -- physically, socially, and hopefully spiritually.  There is a newly heightened awareness of how racism and income inequality has disproportionately endangered the lives of black and brown people, especially after the murder of George Floyd on Monday, May 25th, 2020.  We grieve such injustices -- and we strive to be even more conscious of large and small ways we can contribute to making a much more equitable and open world.   

We created our mandalas, in large part, to keep the wheels of our creativity greased and lubricated during quarantine. We were surprised and pleased that a select number of organizations asked us if they could link to, or showcase, our mandala series. 

The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture (above) is the most recent; we hope you will read their website, not only for the link to our mandalas, but also for their many theater, music, and film events.  

Another organization that featured our mandalas for Mental Health Awareness Month is the Froedtert Hospital and its Medical College of Wisconsin.  Sarah Turner, a registered nurse at Froedtert, contacted us and asked permission to print out and post several of the mandalas on their community board. We were so very pleased to be asked, and of course, we granted permission. She sent us photos of the community boards -- positively eye-catching!



To our surprise, Nurse Turner also sent us a wonderful thank you letter signed by many of the doctors, nurses and staff at the hospital! It is WE who should be thanking these hard-working and brave professionals during the COVID19 pandemic!

The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) also featured our mandalas in their "Weekly Gifts from LMCC" (e-blasts). We are looking forward to working again with LMCC to complete our SU-CASA grant at Lenox Hill Community Center in Midtown Manhattan. Our "Let's Do Modern" workshops were put on hold in mid-March.







Lastly, the mandalas were mentioned in an interview that Deborah gave to award-winning photographer John Noltner for his ongoing podcast series titled "A Peace of My Mind: How Life Changed." John contacted Deborah after he saw her Facebook post with photos she took of an empty Manhattan, during her Citibike ride on April 8, 2020, not long after the quarantine began.




We are grateful to all who have shown interest in our DOEprojekts work during this time of COVID19. We look forward to creating more mandalas (and other projects) as the world moves forward into openness and greater awareness of how all of us are connected. We send healing energies to all of you!