3 minute talk about my mission – TEDxAmsterdam Women
On 8 December 2010 I had the opportunity to tell the world about my mission at TEDxAmsterdam Women. The video is spoken in Dutch. You can read my story in English below.
I would like to tell you a short story about a little girl that draws mandalas. But first, what is a mandala? The word mandala comes from the Sanskrit language and means circle, polygon or diagram and it often has a core in the middle.
A mandala represents wholeness, the essence, the universe, a holy circle, but can also be seen as a circle of community, of trust, of confidence, or a circle of excellence. It can have a healing effect. Mandalas have been made for ages by the Tibetan monks as a ritual to connect with Buddha. Drawing a mandala gives focus and shows the essence of your being, of your soul, of your unconsciousness. When designing and coloring a mandala you use both hemispheres. It can give insight and it can be used as a form of meditation as well.
You can see mandalas everywhere. They have been used for dancing and rituals since mankind. You can find mandalas in nature, for instance: ice crystals, the rings of a tree, or fruit cut in two pieces, flowers, the world itself and other planets, or in your body, like your cells and your eyes. So the mandala is integrated in nature, in every culture and eternal.
Now about the girl. The first three years of her life she was raised by her mother. Her father didn’t want a child at first and her mother decided to keep the child and raise it herself. When she was 9 years old she learned how to create mandalas. From then on she often drew mandalas, however she wasn’t fully aware of their healing effect.
When she was about 20 years old she was asked to draw her future for the next five years. She drew a mandala with paths on a mountain, like a path for finishing school, getting a job, travelling around the world, finding a place to live on her own and meeting her boyfriend. So far so good, but then she thought about a missing piece in her life: she had never met her biological father and although she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to meet him, she drew a man with a hat. Finally she drew some question marks, because she didn’t know what to draw after these five years. When time was up, she took the mandala home and put it somewhere in a cabinet and practically forgot about it.
Seven years later she moved to another place and she saw her drawing again. She was shocked… Everything in her drawing (mandala) had happened for real. She finished school, travelled, found a place to live on her own, met her boyfriend and got a job. The question marks were clear now, she had a break down and she didn’t know what she wanted in life anymore. She even met her biological father at the age of 23 and at their first meeting, he was wearing a hat!
Well, this is not just a story, it is my story. I just thought I was drawing for fun, but now I know a mandala really contains the essence of my being. Drawing mandalas continues to be a source of comfort and guidance for me.
I want to share this great experience with the world. My mission at the moment is to show people how to use their own creativity and inspiration to create their future with the help of mandalas. Every time I ask people about their real dreams in the future, it is about love, peace, happiness, joy, nature etc. So why not use this as a way to create a peaceful and beautiful world. This concept is also useful in the business world. For example by drawing your vision of your company. The mandala gives a perspective about the future, like using it as binoculars or like a mirror of your soul.
Albert Einstein once said: “The best way to predict your future, is to create it”. Not only the goal, but the process towards your goal is very important and should be fun. In my opinion everybody is creative and even though they think they cannot draw, I am convinced people can make a beautiful mandala about their future. Other than the benefits it is really nice to see people having fun while they draw and just being the innocent child for a moment.
I offer workshops to people throughout the world and teach them how to create their future in a mandala. I collect the mandalas and place them on a website, because I want to follow these people to see what has happened after 5 years.
I gives me great pleasure to share this idea with the world and let people know that all this creativity is within you. You are the only one who can create your own future! So have great dreams and use your creativity to be who you want to be and do what you want to do.
So spread the word and let people know that I would love to show them how to use mandalas in creating their future!
Please contact me for more information: info@jorinspiration.com.