My Market Place
| The market place for A Good Dying offers art, coloring books, books, music, and goods for sale, both my own and those I recommend. |
Here we are on this journey into dying. Our own dying. The dying of our loved ones. The dying of our children. The dying of our pets.On this journey you have reached a market place. Full of colorful and inviting booths. Booths that offer art. Booths that offer books. Booths that offer music. And booths that offer other goods helpful for our journey. This precious and so important journey. I have put together a collection of goods which can assist us in making this precious journey a bit easier and a bit safer. Here is an overview of the different booths and the links to them:
Art | Coloring Books | Books | Music | Goods
The art pieces I am offering on this market place are called mandalas. The word "mandala" is a Sanskrit word meaning "essence" plus "having" or "containing". It roughly translates into "circle-circumference" or "completion". Mandalas describe any of a number of geometric designs (usually circular) symbolizing something that in itself is complete. In Hinduism and Buddhism a mandala is often a depiction of the universe. It can be used as an aid to meditation and centering ourselves. In the context of death and dying I am offering these mandalas as a tool to create peace and ease for ourselves. We can use these various designs to visually contemplate our connection with the precious subject of dying.
My Own:
 | My mandalas are created with colored pencils, compass and a ruler. I never know what wants to happen. I start with a circle and then let my hands show me what will be created on the page in terms of lines, shapes and colors. I really enjoy this process as it allows me to be in the moment. One moment at a time. One shape at a time. one line at a time. One color at a time. Click here for more of my Art Pieces. |
I Recommend:
 | This image is one of Andre Angermann's Living Light Creations. I love his ability to create layers of complex geometric structures. His crisp lines and bright colors come to light through the use of computer graphics. His mandala designs are sometimes based on mathematical formulas like the Fibonacci ratio or Platonic Solids. Sometimes they are built around various alphabets like Sanskrit or Hebrew and their particular shapes. And sometimes he plays with images out of nature like leaves, dolphins or peacock feathers. Click here for more Art Pieces. |
Mandala Coloring Books
Another way to use mandalas is in the form of a coloring book. It is more active in the sense that we are filling in the colors to our own liking, instead of being invited by the artist's choices.Mandalas to color can work well in two different situations: Either because we are sitting with a loved one who is dying and want to feel relaxed while keeping our fingers and hands busy and doodle. Or we ourselves are getting close to dying and are looking for a way to still our monkey mind. The chatter mind. The busy one. A calm mind can help us connect with our essence. Our Inner Being. Our Higher Self.
I Recommend:
$2.49
for a downloadable PDF
| The Mandala Coloring Book for Beginners contains a set of 12 relatively simple mandalas to familiarize ourselves with this style and medium. They are based on geometries which are not usually found in the traditional designs, including prime numbers and transcendental ratios. These circular designs can be used to relax, meditate and center ourselves. Allow yourself to simply play with the designs in this Mandala Coloring Book! You might discover new aspects of your magnificent self. Click here for more information and samples of the designs... |
This market place also offers books as guides and companions into the journey of our own dying. Into the journey of those ones dying around us. Leaving our lives. Changing our love.We can never have enough guides on this journey... Yes, books can open worlds for us. They can take us on an initial exploratory journeys using our imagination and our inner eyes. Because of books as our guides, sometimes we can feel better prepared for the actual experience. Books can also open our eyes to new ways of seeing the world around us. Different ways of seeing the same things. With new eyes.
My Own:
Falling Leaves: What Does Dying Look Like? Compiled by Ulla Mentzel, M.A.|
$6.99
for a downloadable PDF
| "Falling Leaves: What does dying look like?" is a 27 page booklet describing the different phases of dying a few months, weeks, days and hours before death occurs. This booklet can help those of us who are afraid of this subject to take our first steps in approaching a very important event in all of our lives. The language in this booklet is soft and gentle, the images are all fall leaves, thus making it easier to get acquainted with a most captivating subject, if we allow it to touch us. Click here for more... |
Quotes for Living, Loving and Dying: Print Version Compiled by Ulla Mentzel, M.A.|
$6.99
for a downloadable
PDF
| I have put together a collection of "Quotes for Living, Loving and Dying" which features close to 200 inspirational quotations divided up into 13 sections of quotes, such as "Fear About Death", "Forgiveness", "Gratitude" and "Irreverent". These quotes can help us integrate and remember insights we cherish. They can remind us of what is really important in these days of changes. They can make us smile when we most need it. They can stop us in our tracks when we are unconsciously chugging along on well trodden paths.
Click here for more... |
I Recommend:
How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter by Sherwin Nuland | If you want a really good book on the medical side of dying, I highly recommend Sherwin Nuland's "How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter". Nuland, a retired doctor, first describes in lay person's terms, how people who have come down with diseases like AIDS, Alzheimers, cancer etc, actually die. What happens in our bodies that leads to them shutting down. In the second part of his book he takes a critical look at Western medicine and its approach to dying. He then offers his take on how to best serve those of us who are approaching death. A both worthwhile and informative read. |
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