going further

Inspired by some other intricate mandalas, I kept adding to this one. I guess, one can continue on and on until the mandala or anything for that matter is filled to the brim!
I pondered that. As I worked on this and the story of it unfolded, I saw the leaf holding a bowl. Holding it up in gratitude. It was the feeling of abundance, the dance of gratefulness for all that life holds for us...
and then this little demon crept in.. he is at the bottom. His teeth were white at the time. I didn't want him there and thinking the pink would alter him and it did somewhat.. but now I know he is there.. if I look. I can always shift my attention to the gratefulness of a full cup too.
I can do this at anytime.. just like in life.
Toying with my thoughts on this today as I have an appointment to have a back tooth, which broke, pulled today.
My mouth feels crowded. I never had any wisdom teeth pulled and one tooth even turned to make room. One front tooth is beginning to overlap.. Crowded mouth.
Crowded life.
I'm living a full life at the moment and it feels crowded.
A dream last night, remembered this morning was me cooking on a very large grill. The grill was full of stuff and I tried to find some room for the small pieces of chicken I had cut up, squeezing them in between things... containers of vegetables, other indistinguishable foods that were kind of gloppy in a metal bowl... It was a very large grill too, like a very large picnic table that I had to walk around..
Anyway, back to the idea of going further on something.. taking it one step further...
and I thought how much is too much.. like life.. how much can we take on before we say "no thank you".
Art reflecting life. Mandala reflecting mine. Do I want to keep adding, or work to simplify. You can guess where I am going with this.
If I do not take that one step, pushing the envelope, how will I know how far I can go.. how will I know if I don't take this risk and learn what I need to learn.
I altered this a bit, because my going too far in the center didn't appeal to me, so I added some glitter.
Simplify. De clutter. Release rather than add...
thanks for the lesson mandala :-)