Аmulet of sound mind and firm memory

From the end of the 19th century to the present day, representatives of the European civilization of mankind, having completely taken control of their lives into their own hands, nevertheless, have still not abandoned the search for its meaning. And today there is a mixture of all conceivable paths and knowledge accumulated by mankind throughout its entire existence. Among the least demanding in terms of the execution of any clear laws and rules, Europeans have singled out for themselves the doctrine of Buddhism.
And here, before us, as a flying machine, is the entire Wheel of Samsara. Well, almost whole, actually, rather dilapidated, with noticeable losses.
The picture serves as a reminder of the sad topic of the transition to another existence with a probable subsequent reincarnation. True, the author does not want to burden the viewer with this gloomy mood, and therefore, as in previous cases, tries to resort to irony, using it here in the stylistic features of the image: something between Japanese animation, book illustration and romantic realism. And the title itself balances on the verge of sepulchral humor, referring us to the once, in the century before last, standard formulation of the introduction to a will: "Being of sound mind and memory, I ...". Moreover, the content of the composition directly hints at the fact that each of us always has a free choice: to continue to rotate together with this old-old Wheel or, as in the case of "Amulet of Decision Making", to jump off into a free personal flight. The feather of a jay, an ancient totemic bird, is also the Blue Bird, the Bird of Happiness and, of course, a conductor between the worlds, as indicated by its striped coloring, seems to be held here by huge heavy chains. But this is only a metaphorical grotesque. A large anchor chain is not the kind of thing that can hold the weightless fluff of a feather. Just one slight breath of wind and the feather will carry away into the boundless distance. The sky background gives the composition a melancholy, twilight mood. The contours of the clouds illuminated by the sun do not give an exact understanding of what time of day the Wheel floats past the viewer. One sees a sunset here, another, on the contrary, a dawn, a third generally the midday hour of a bright, calm day. Peace and stillness of the present moment. Time is an illusion that disappears, as soon as you pay attention to it. And there is nothing new under the sun. And everything is within us.