These intricate continuous-line patterns, called kolam, are fromTamil Nadu, in Southern India. While there in 2008 I was enchanted by the symmetrical dot and line designs drawn daily by women in rice flour on the ground. This ancient meditative/devotional practice of “painted prayers” has deep roots in mathematics and spirituality. Drawing kolam becomes a mindfulness practice by letting each dot stand for a concern and using the line as a way of acknowledging those issues. In this way you model how you will move through the challenges of the day in a beautiful way and end up at last where you began, whole and complete. Kolam represent for me the universal human impulse to create beauty and order.