© Kathryn Tisdale and The Mandala Pattern, 2010

Whether we live together in confidence and cohesion; with more faith and pride in ourselves and less self-doubt and hesitation; strong in the conviction that the destiny of Canada is to unite, not divide; sharing in cooperation, not in separation or in conflict; respecting our past and welcoming our future.
Lester B. Pearson

My first thought about creating a mandala for Canada Day was to find a red maple tree for a source photo.  And while a maple leaf mandala might be appropriate, it wouldn’t express much feeling.  I realized I needed to go deeper, so, I asked myself, what do I want to say?  What is it that I love most about us?

And the answer was just that.  Us.  I love ‘us’.  I love who I believe we are and aspire to be.  Even when we seem to be losing our way,  I think that underneath it all most of us sincerely believe we’re all in this together and need to take care of each other.  That every man, woman and child deserves to be treated with humanity and decency – race, age, gender, sexual orientation aside.   That building a strong social net while embracing diversity best expresses our deepest social selves.

So I’ve made this mandala from a photo of a crowd of Us.  Canadians.  In this case, Canadians in Vancouver cheering on the Olympic torch as it moved through the city.  Proud and happy with flags and maple leaf mitts aplenty.  Every colour, age, and gender is present, as it should be.

Happy Canada Day.

(A technical sidebar — the challenge of this mandala was to place edges so I didn’t create any disturbing images — no heads with two faces or freakish 20 fingered hands.  It isn’t always possible and that’s why I don’t like to work with images of animals, including, especially, the human kind.  May I suggest you don’t zoom in too closely and that you click the detailed image below at your own risk.  Source photo from City of Vancouver website)

Canada Day Mandala-detail

Canada Day Mandala Source Photo - TorchRelay10