Dot Mandala Stone for a Wind Phone Booth

At a show last fall, I connected with a woman who spent quite a bit of time at my booth searching for just the right dot mandala stone. As she browsed, she shared a bit of her story. She was recently widowed and learning how to navigate her new normal. One thing that had been bringing her comfort was visiting a wind phone in a park near her home in North Carolina.

Until that moment, I had never heard of the concept of a wind phone booth as a way to process grief. Having spent ten years working for a hospice, facilitating bereavement groups and guiding participants in making commemorative stones, the idea immediately captured my interest. A little digging into the origins of the “phone of the wind” revealed a moving story. In 2010, Itaru Sasaki created the first wind phone as a way to process the death of his cousin. He placed an unconnected vintage phone booth in his garden, surrounded by nature. There, he could “call” his cousin, speak from the heart, and imagine his words being carried away on the wind. What began as one man’s personal ritual has since spread around the world. Today, there are reportedly more than 400 wind phone booths in 17 countries.

Back to my client. We talked about the idea of leaving a dot mandala stone in the wind phone booth during one of her visits. There were some clear pros: it would be a beautiful way to leave behind a small work of art in honor of her husband. But there was also a possible downside. Since the booth is in a public space, there was no guarantee the stone would still be there the next time she visited. How would she feel if it disappeared?

After thinking it through, she chose a different path. Instead of purchasing a finished stone, she bought one of my dot mandala kits. Her new plan was to learn how to make her own dot mandala stones, creating one to leave in the wind phone booth each time she visited. I loved that idea. It transforms the act from a single gesture into an ongoing ritual of remembrance and creativity.

Have you ever heard of a wind phone?

Collaboration