Dot Your Minds

The vision of Dot Your Minds is taking shape. It is through walking the path as a student to this ancient Indian art, that I plan to teach the world its immense benefits as a tool to self assess the state of your mind. Resolve the conflicts within yourself. Create a sacred space to reflect and connect with yourself with Dot art as your foyer.

Today as I kicked the laziness out the window to take up a new creative challenge to kick start the day, I had already won the day. It might be a cliche , but I am no expert yet or will ever be as the learnings one can gain in this universe are limitless. I will never be done learning. What I hope to and am experiencing through the journey through this art is the possibilities it is opening up for me and in turn the many around me to learn wise nuggets for the everyday modern life from history, learn from a culture so rich that balance with nature seeps through its every custom. Rangoli or Kolam Dot Art ritual is just one of the many. Every dot I place and every dot I connect strengthens my will to place this art as a tool in the hands of the young and the old.

That said, what is so special about today? It is all about New Beginnings. Today is one of India’s first festivities called Makar Sankranti( as called in southern India, the part I am from. It is called by different names in different parts of India. Check out the link 2 in sources below) Celebrated every year on the 14th day of January.

I re – learnt in the wake of finding the perfect Rangoli Dot Art to make for today, that it is a Harvest festival. Also today is the day when the sun begins its movement away from the Tropic of Capricorn, towards the Northern Hemisphere.

So, I began the journey even before the sun’s first rays hit my front porch. It was all about dotting my mind or making up my mind to start the day off with a challenge just like dotting the X’s and the T’s as you prepare for that presentation. The excitement to take on this huge Rangoli was also accompanied by the fear of what if this turned out to be a herculean task I could not finish? But again I had given myself a head start.

I was now at the doorstep already and the twilight was just about peeking out. Luckily I had already planned what I was going to create. Yesterday from my teacher @Lotusshakti. It helps that India steps into the new day 11.5 hours before us and I get a fresh dose of Dot art work every day from Hema if I choose to put myself through this everyday.

It all began with a smile the first few rows of 18 dots, as I teach in my Online Mindful Meditation sessions (Link 3 in Sources) The chill in the air did not matter as I was all bundled up. It’s that excitement of the new beginning. As I reached my 14th row of dots, my mind would now start travelling to the anxiety creeping up reminding me that the dots I was placing would need to be all connected. Was I really up for it? Should I be changing paths and pick an easier one?

Yet my Mindful mind persisted and I continued to place my dot grid with a much stronger determination. The sun was now shedding more light. With the grid being so huge, the foundation had to be strong. The doubts still kept hanging around in the background . Like the hum of the refrigerator in the Kitchen.

Questions from within asking me are you sure you got this in you, similar to many times during the day at work, the mind does not stop casting its evil negative shadows. The art of learning to let go of those not so helpful thoughts is the key. Ignoring the self doubt I started creating the bottom left corner of the art work.

As anticipated I made a mistake . I knew this was going to be a challenge to get through this art today. So, I erase and start over. Now the voice within saying you are not an artist or good enough had gotten louder. Yet the reassuring thought that I knew however the art would turn out it would be mine and I would own it, kept me going.

Giving up tends to be the easiest thing to do. Anyone can give up. But persisting through the journey, keeping it all up , not quitting when the going gets tough is the key. So, there I was keeping up the promise to myself that I would see this Dot art through. The art that now represented the harvest. The bounty of food. The decorated pot filled with rice. The bounty of the Sugarcane harvest. The toppings of coconut,sesame and jaggery sweet balls. All made the art a bit raw yet sumptuous to look at. As I wrapped it all up and added a few colors to the art, it was a sense of victory. Victory of the bright sunlight over the darkness that just got left behind the art I had created. All there was, was a list of possibilities for the day.

In the end what matters is whether you manage to keep standing and keep going. The end is just a stop, before you begin all over again to look for a new challenge, new experience.

That is exactly what the mindful journey with Dot Your Minds Dot art sessions, kits and experiences are. It aims at creating this space to self introspect, or gauge your clients of their current status of mind or get your teens or kids to focus and let go of the modern world distractions. So, come join me for my monthly classes this year to create this Mindful journey for yourself or your friends or family or Clients. We will together explore the beautiful journeys our minds can be on. All you need to do is register here and create the space for your Mental vacation with DOTURMINDS!

Special Thanks to @Jana my @IntegrousWomen partner to have inspired me to think about new beginings during our Connect for Impact yesterday.

Sources:

1. https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/difference-between-uttarayan-and-dakshinayan-1547464065-1#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Hindu%20scriptures,is%20winter%2C%20spring%20and%20summer.&text=Dakshinayan%20comprises%20winter%2C%20autumn%20and%20monsoon.
2. https://www.indiatoday.in/information/story/pongal-kolam-2020-check-out-some-beautiful-rangoli-designs-1636704-2020-01-14
3. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mindful-dot-art-meditation-tickets-126027490617?aff=erelpanelorg