“I saw that everything, all paths I had been following, all steps I had taken, were leading back to a single point - namely, to the mid-point. It became increasingly plain to me that the mandala is the center. It is the exponent of all paths. It is the path to the center, to individuation.” -Carl Jung
My Returning to the Center altar, created in my Morning Altars Teachers Training course.
The times in my life when I’ve felt numb, isolated, and lost were the moments when I was disconnected from my center for an extended amount of time. Finding my way back to my center returned me to a place of balance, order, and rhythm. But it’s not about remaining there. Life is a continual dance between departing and returning.
In creating this piece, I noticed how it’s the rippling out from the center that creates the patterns and ultimately, beauty. The maroon mums near the edges of the circle signify a return to the center in an expanded way. It’s not about always staying in the center and not leaving. It’s about departing, expanding, and then finding center again.
What represents the ‘center’ in your life?
What does it mean to let something emerge from your inspiration and ripple out, without losing the heart- the center- of who you are in the process?