Nature Mandala: Thresholds
Thresholds
There are moments in life when we find ourselves standing at a threshold.
A threshold is a place of possibility. It is the space between what has been and what is beginning to emerge. Sometimes we recognize these moments immediately, a new season, a change in direction, an ending, a beginning. Other times, we simply feel that something is shifting beneath the surface.
We may not know what comes next.
We only know that we are standing at the edge of something new.
“Thresholds” is a nature mandala about these in-between places.
It is an invitation to pause at the doorway of change rather than rushing through it. To notice what we are carrying with us, what we are ready to leave behind, and what might be waiting on the other side.
Created from begonia petals, bleeding heart seed pods, Solomon's seal flowers, columbine flowers, and leaves of black cohosh.
Each element carries its own shape and character.
Placed individually, each piece is beautiful.
Together, they create a passage.
As I worked on this mandala, I was drawn to the idea that thresholds are not always clearly defined. There isn't always a door or a line that tells us, You have arrived at the next chapter.
Sometimes the crossing happens quietly.
A realization.
A release.
A new question.
A feeling that something inside us has changed, even though nothing outside us looks different yet.
And sometimes we stand at the threshold for a while.
We wait.
We wonder.
We gather the courage to take the next step.
There is wisdom in that pause.
We live in a culture that often encourages us to move quickly, to make decisions, find answers, and keep going. But nature does not always work that way. Seeds spend time beneath the soil. Flowers form before they open. Leaves emerge gradually. Seasons transition without asking permission from the one before them.
There is a time for becoming.
There is a time for opening.
And there is a time for simply standing at the threshold, listening.
The butterfly
As I looked at this mandala, another shape began to reveal itself.
A butterfly.
Not placed there intentionally, but appearing within the arrangement of the natural materials.
I love these unexpected moments in creating nature mandalas. Sometimes the individual pieces come together and form an image or suggestion that wasn't part of the original plan. The mandala seems to offer its own little surprise.
And the butterfly feels especially fitting here.
A butterfly is one of nature's most beautiful reminders of transformation. It emerges from one form into another, moving through a period of profound change before entering a new stage of life.
It reminds us that transformation does not always look beautiful while it is happening.
There are quiet stages.
Hidden stages.
Stages when nothing seems to be happening at all.
And then, eventually, something opens.
Perhaps that is what thresholds ask of us.
Not to have everything figured out.
Not to know exactly what is waiting on the other side.
Only to trust that change can be part of becoming.
Standing at the threshold
There may be a threshold in your life right now.
Perhaps you are beginning something.
Perhaps you are ending something.
Perhaps you are simply sensing that an old way of being no longer fits quite as comfortably as it once did.
You don't have to rush across.
You can pause.
You can look back with gratitude for what brought you here.
You can look forward with curiosity toward what might come next.
And you can stand in the uncertainty without needing to immediately turn it into an answer.
The threshold itself has something to teach us.
It teaches us that endings and beginnings are not always separate.
That change can contain both grief and possibility.
That uncertainty does not necessarily mean we are lost.
Sometimes uncertainty simply means we haven't arrived yet.
Look closely at the “Thresholds” mandala.
Notice the layers.
Notice the spaces between the flowers.
Notice the butterfly that appears within the pattern.
Let your eyes move slowly around the circle.
And then ask yourself:
What threshold am I standing at?
What am I ready to leave behind?
What am I willing to welcome?
What might be waiting for me on the other side?
You don't need to answer immediately.
Let the questions remain open.
Like a flower waiting for the right conditions to bloom, perhaps you are already becoming something new.
Perhaps the threshold is not asking you to leap.
Perhaps it is simply asking you to notice that you are here.
May you trust the spaces between chapters.
May you have patience with what is still becoming.
May you find courage in the unknown.
And when the time comes to cross the threshold, may you step forward with an open heart.
One step.
One breath.
One unfolding.
And perhaps, like the butterfly hidden within this mandala, you will discover that transformation was quietly taking place all along.
Michelle Wallace is a visual artist based in Vermont, known for her intricate nature mandala designs, which she has been crafting by hand since 2017. Her work is available in select stores throughout New England and online through her Nature Mandala Shop.