Genuineness
“the quality of being true, authentic, or valid”
Probably the greatest deterrent to us being genuine or authentic is fear…fear of judgment, criticism, being a disappointment, being thought of as less than, and so on. At least, that’s been my experience…especially in my younger days.
For instance, there’s NO way I could do what I’m doing now when I was say in my twenties, thirties, or even most of my forties. Not because of other people, but because of my fear of how people would react to it. As it is, when I did start creating mandalas, back in my very late forties, I had people say they didn’t understand my art. One person said that he preferred realistic paintings while looking at mine. Well, okay then.
Because of my ultimate fear (worrying too much about what others think or say), I held back at times telling people what I do…especially when I started doing readings about 14 years ago.
It’s been a long, gradual process of peeling back the layers of fear. Even to this day, little bits of it pop up once in a while. Thankfully, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. One-by-one the veils of limitations are being brushed aside, allowing me to fully own who I am and what I do.
One thing I do know, though, is that when I am authentic about myself and my art, I feel so much freedom and joy. So why would I want to hold myself back from that? Why would anyone want to do that?
How about you? Is genuineness a core value for you?
BTW…here’s what it looked like to begin with …
joyfully,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
inspiring and encouraging creativity, curiosity, and play through the art of mandalas
About the 2024 Mandalas of the Day
Each day I will create and post a mandala inspired by one of 366 “value” words chosen randomly. The objective being to discover for myself which ones would best represent my core values…and by doing so, I hope it inspires you to determine your own.
Mandala of the Day 