Skip to content

Ecce Signum

Immanentize the Empathy

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Published Works and Literary Matters
  • Indexes
  • Laboratory

Mandalas and Rings

2002-12-19 John Winkelman

To build a mandala is to practice non-attachment. A thing of beauty is created, cherished briefly, then destroyed. While it is being created those who are working bear in mind that the mandala is a transitive thing. When destroyed it is gone, but the event is now a part of history and nothing will ever change that.

The ring (yes, That Ring ) is the opposite. Created of hard metal to last forever, coveted by all who come into contact with it; none moreso than its creator. Everyone wants it but no-one enjoys it. It traps the act of creation into a spiral which does not allow the possibility of creating anything else.

This is a good thing to bear in mind when handing off a project to a client. We built it, we cherished it, now it is gone, and now it is time to move on. A project is a mandala. To treat it as a ring is to continue work past the point of diminishing returns, until we are full of resentment and burned out.

The things we build are not our own. They will not last forever. Best to do it right, then let go.

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Posted in Life

Post navigation

MIA
Preparations

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Personal website of
John Winkelman

John Winkelman in a diner in San Francisco

Archives

Categories

Posts By Month

December 2002
S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Nov   Jan »

Twitter Feed

Retweet on TwitterJohn Winkelman Retweeted
swordsjewTalia Lavin@swordsjew·
18h

republicans: we openly want a tyranny of the white minority and will enact violence to cement it, we've been consolidating power for decades

democrats: we believe that anyone who runs a small business in a disadvantaged neighborhood for 5 years deserves a tax cut on baby formula

Reply on Twitter 1527340504094232576Retweet on Twitter 1527340504094232576861Like on Twitter 15273405040942325764676Twitter 1527340504094232576
Retweet on TwitterJohn Winkelman Retweeted
SenDuckworthTammy Duckworth@SenDuckworth·
9h

Every Senate Republican—the majority of whom don't have uteruses themselves—voted against protecting Roe v. Wade and your right to decide what happens to your own body.

Reply on Twitter 1527469474038808580Retweet on Twitter 1527469474038808580203Like on Twitter 1527469474038808580887Twitter 1527469474038808580
JohnWinkelmanJohn Winkelman@JohnWinkelman·
12h

Marked as to-read: Dream or Nightmare by Stephen Duncombe https://goodreads.com/review/show/4733884194

Reply on Twitter 1527421442752712706Retweet on Twitter 1527421442752712706Like on Twitter 1527421442752712706Twitter 1527421442752712706
Load More...

Links of Note

Reading, Writing
Tor.com
Locus Online
The Believer
File 770
IWSG

Watching, Listening
WYCE Electric Poetry
Writing Excuses Podcast
Our Opinions Are Correct

News, Politics, Economics
Naked Capitalism
Crooked Timber

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

© 2022 Ecce Signum

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: x-blog by wpthemespace.com