The post feature three sections that work together to tell a process: The story, the why and the how (to paint the Mandala on a wall with no experiences or skills). They can also be read separately depending on what the reader wants to get out of this post.
The story
On one ordinary day when I was still a freshman in college, I was either walking to a coffee shop near my dorm, a realization was dropped into my mind: that I might just have the ability to do whatever I wanted, and I could want more than just what I had been told to want. I had heard this in hundreds of motivational speeches I listened to on Youtube, but on that day, it was different. For the first time, I felt the freedom to actually embrace the uncertainty of wanting more than just walking on the paved road.
It’s like when you practice yoga frequently enough, you would occasionally recognize muscle groups you didn’t know existed in your body before. You might have learned about them in an anatomy class but never really knew them knew them until the feeling of their existence came to you.
Looking back, as momentous as that moment was for my twenties and possibly my life, no drastic changes really happened for a long time. Maybe because soon after that lightbulb moment, I was occupied with depression, anxiety, and a boyfriend for the next 7 years.
The why
I heard from a professor once, there are three stages of knowledge:
- The first one is to know, to acquire knowledge about something
- The second stage is to do, to practice the knowledge one has learned
- The third and arguably most important one is to be, if we have done something long and frequent enough, we will become what we know and do.
I think for a long time I was stuck at stage one lacking the confidence to pursue it further.
It’s about time I take the second step seriously: the hypothesis is that if I could allow myself to want things that are bigger than I know how to achieve, and patiently work on figuring out a way to get there, eventually, I will one day become a person that has the audacity to really to listen to what my heart really desires.
I’m running a multi-project lab here, but for this post, I’m sharing about my Mandala Project. Back in October 2021, I got really tired of the white walls in my room, the room just looked like someone tried really hard to stay on trend with minimalism. Then it came to me, I wanted to have a Mandala painted on my wall. Let’s do a review of the resources I had to make it happen:
- No painting/drawing skills, knowledge, or experiences.
- No time outside of classes, rehearsals, and work.
But when it comes to things I truly want to do, I start getting this unwavering belief that there will be a way, if I just started it, I will always find a way. So I started the process.
The How
Step 1: Asking friends
- I posted on my Instagram and Facebook story below.
- A friend advised me that I can make a digital drawing and then use carbon paper to trace it on the wall, and color the Mandala after.
Step 2: Draw a digital Mandala template.
- I used the app Sketchbook to recreate a similar Mandala template of the drawing mentioned in the story above.
- Below is the final template I came up with. You can use the template to follow the steps to create your own Mandala if you fancy.
Step 3: Print the Mandala
- I knew I wanted it to be big, something around 150cm x 150cm. I talked to a few printing places and after a week of talking to several people, I had it printed on two pieces of paper and then glued them together.
Step 4: Slapped everything on the wall
- First carbon paper, then the Mandala template on top.
Step 5: Trace the Mandala
- This was a good escape from my thoughts and my crippling anxiety.
Step 6: Color the Mandala
- I found this step really fun, especially when it came to mixing colors to get the colors I want, I just kinda eye-balled the whole thing trying to match it with the colors of the original piece
- It actually came out quite ok. I got 80% of it done before my holiday was over and before I scheduled to write a blog post about it. I learned to accept it and will work on it when I have time in the future instead of pushing myself to complete the painting and not enjoying the process. Here is the semi-final product. I will update the post again once I have completed it 100%
Takeaways
- For things I want and don’t yet know how to achieve, ask away.
- Break a big project into small steps and enjoy every step of the way. It took me about 15 hours to paint the Mandala, but when I broke it down over the span of 3-4 days, I really enjoyed each painting session. It was actually a big motivation for me to get out of bed on those depressive holiday mornings.
- Being able to enjoy the process plays a huge part in being persistent with the process as a whole.
- Write the blog post at least a day before it is scheduled to be posted, so I have the mind space to write and the time to review it after.