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Maria YuJanuary 17th, 2007

My voice teacher of five years ago, Mr. Burgess, shared with me his revelation about human existence the other day. His revelation was: Self-Expression.

He said, “Self-expression is the drive that is hard-wired, contained within the DNA.” He continued, “Every other drive we may have is subordinate to the desire/passion for total, complete, full expression of oneself. That is, there is only one drive ruling humanity: the drive/passion for total, complete, full self-expression.”

I pondered upon it and thought he’s got it right.

When God created human, He created human according to His own image - expression. God created human in His self-expression. So now we got the DNA in our blood, we are co-creators and we desire for self-expression.

Examining those great minds in the history, I found the reason for their success was the manifestation of their self-expression. Painters, sculptors, photographers, architects, singers, composers, musicians, explorers, dancers, designers, Olympians, writers, film makers, sports players, and on and on. They all succeeded in self-expression.

Even it was a short life for Van Gogh, he succeeded in self-expression. From today’s point of view, he was a great artist.

It seems when self-expression is allowed, honored, admired, applauded one becomes flourished, and more self-expression and creativity come out.

The secret is to find out what do we want to express and manifest it in this life time.

It’s like a burning flame, once it’s ignited it keeps burning magnificently until the end.

I think that’s what “life purpose” is all about. When we manifest our inner expression we feel fulfilled and we bloom. It is like our life is full of meaning and we don’t feel lost or empty anymore.

Now it becomes simple. Our life is to find out our unique expression, that inner treasure embedded in our essence, our DNA.

Only when we can self-express fully then our existence becomes meaningful and complete.

We can then rest in peace and liberate from the cycle of life and death.

So, it’s that simple.

            Poplar mandala by Maria Yu

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Maria YuJanuary 14th, 2007

Today I activated my web site for posting memorial for our beloved beings, human and animal.

It is so hard to lose someone who is dear to us. Nothing can ever comfort us. They are just gone and we could never again see them, hear them, and touch them. That sorrow and emptiness is so difficult to bear. Our world is never the same.

Life is to love and to be loved. Our love bonds us, death has no power to separate us.

Maybe death is just a transformation, spirit goes on. Our loved ones do not cease to exist, they become alive in a different state or form.

I like the symbolism of mandala as a transformation from material existence to ultimate enlightenment. Mandala is an offering and prayer to the universe. Mandala is also art and assists healing, meditation, and inner self-discovery.

I thought I could create mandalas with the picture of our loved ones or their favorite pictures.

These mandalas will have the essence of our beloved.

Then we offer the mandala of our beloved to the universe with love, blessings, and thankfulness.

We send forth our beloved to their journey - a beautiful voyage to the Light.

We pray to the universe to guid and protect.

This web site is: eternalexpression.art-life-spirit.com

Today I posted mandalas of my beloved rabbit Snowball and cat Poplar.

You are welcome to send me pictures of your loved ones, human or animal, or pictures of special meaning to them or to you.

I will transform the pictures into mandalas and post the mandalas with your prayer, poem, or words.

I will post the mandalas every Sunday morning and I will say a prayer when I post them.

These mandalas will be a memorial to our beloved and ourselves that our love will never pass.

eternalexpression.art-life-spirit.com

          Snowball Mandala by Maria Yu 

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Maria YuJanuary 10th, 2007

It was either last March or May, some long time after Christmas, one day some “special” cookies appeared on my last company’s kitchen counter. I couldn’t help but try a couple. They were good. So I found the person who brought in the cookies and asked where she bought them. She paused a bit then with “armed confidence” she said, “my sister gave us a lot of them for Christmas and we froze them.” Needless to day, these cookies were way back from Christmas. Food in my freezer does not stay over one month - I only wished I could empty my stomach at that moment. After that I never ate anything form that company’s kitchen counter.

Then I recalled something someone said in the previous company before the last. That company had a big counter outside the kitchen. Someone had said that if you have something left over at home just bring it in and put it on the counter and someone will eat it.

It seemed that putting food on a company’s kitchen counter is the easiest way to get people sick.

Some years ago when I listened to an audio book of a known holistic MD I was stunned by what he said. He said, “Electrical blankets are not good for your health because they generate magnetic fields, if you have one, give it away to somebody.” Now, if electrical blanks are not good for my health how could they be good for other people? If I know electrical blanks are not good for health then the first I do is to tell my family and friends not to use them, I would never give them something I know is not good. I never believed that MD anymore.

When I first started working in Vermont I didn’t know anyone. One day a lady in the company kindly asked me to join her and her friends to go to a movie on Friday after work. She didn’t finish her popcorns during the movie, so when we were lining out she offered her popcorns to me. I didn’t like popcorns but out of politeness I grabbed a couple. Right away she turned to her friends and said, “these popcorns are so oily,” and dumped the whole box of remaining popcorns in the garbage can. I just froze right there with popcorns tightly tucked in my hand. Soon after we departed I threw these popcorns in garbage. I could not understand what she did.

The one thing I learned when growing up was “Don’t give to other people what you don’t want.” I might be following it ingenuously as well as other “golden rules” so I have been kind of swimming against the stream in the world of “business practices.”

Just yesterday I read a story about a lady who was given a Dali’s painting by her sister. This lady hung the painting in her house for ten years even she was not comfortable with the painting. Finally she couldn’t stand it anymore so she sold the painting and she felt relieved. She then discovered that her sister gave her the painting for the same reason.

Why would people give away their something to somebody because they don’t want it? Would that something be beneficial to that somebody?

“The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran talks about Giving:

“Then said a rich man, Speak to us of Giving,

And he answered:

You give but little when you give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

…

There are those who give little of the much which they have-and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all.

These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.

And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtues;

They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.

Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.”

“My Sister’s Garden” - pastel painting ny Maria Yu

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