‘A River of Stones’ was a writing project conceived and curated by Fiona Robyn, a writer & coach, and her fiancé Kaspalita, who is a Buddhist priest. It encouraged people to write a daily small stone - ‘a polished moment of paying proper attention’ - throughout the month of January.
More than 300 people joined in the project and the river shows no sign of abating, as many of the contributors have committed themselves to continue creating small stones for the remainder of the year.
‘Choosing something to write about every day,’ they explained on their , ‘will help you to engage with yourselves, with others, and with the world. It will help you to love everything within and without you a little bit more – the dark and the light, the joyful and the melancholy, the ugly and the beautiful.’
Intrigued and excited, I decided to join the project and submitted one small stone for each day of the month. On certain days they were easy to find, glinting in sunlight on the edge of the riverbank. Yet on other days I struggled to see them, having to plunge my hand deeply into the river and rummage around before I found a stone to lift from the water.
Reflecting back, I realise how little time I was spending just simply ‘being’. It was on those days that I found it difficult to find some space to connect with myself & the world around me.
Now that I’m back in the flow I intend to make space at some point during each day to sit and experience the ‘otherness’ that we fail to recognise when we are busy ‘doing’.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Fiona & Kaspa for creating the project and for inviting me on what has been a most enjoyable & enlightening journey. Namaste.
Here are the small stones that I submitted, one for each day of the month of January:
Saturday 1 January 2011
After the whizz-bang
crackle and spark of midnight
emptiness fills me
Sunday 2 January 2011
Having gathered up the eggs I step outside and see the chickens strutting and pecking. How do you thank them? I scatter extra corn.
Monday 3 January 2011
Waking in darkness / your odour / arouses me / I brush my lips against / your invisible skin
Tuesday 4 January 2011
Alone in a lift I thought 'what if?' as I dared to imagine dying without you.
Wednesday 5 January 2011
Candleflame / a soft yellow teardrop / swaying / in a mihrab / of shadows
Thursday 6 January 2011
Dung heap / shit and straw / still steaming / the reek of malt / filling my lungs
Friday 7 January 2011
Fire-gazing / licks of orange / blue-green flickers of burning gas / deep inside the flames a cavern / where a dragon hides.
Saturday 8 January 2011
Spontaneously / we dance / the four of us / as Sting sings / Shape of my heart
Sunday 9 January 2011
An amber lamp / glowing / in the coal-black night / so far away / a stranger's place
Monday 10 January 2011
Standing / in pouring rain / echoes of Creation / boom silently / in my tears
Tuesday 11 January 2011
Holding him close / I catch / my foreverness / brimming inside / his cloudless eyes
Wednesday 12 January 2011
Staring / into a violet / cathedral of quartz / intoxicated / by its lustre
Thursday 13 January 2011
Hush (raindrops: splish splosh). Brook purls cantabile over smooth stones (churgle, babble, blooop). My soul squelches like soft moss.
Friday 14 January 2011
Street light / flickers / in amber spasms / i wonder / is it going to die?
Saturday 15 January 2011
In the backwash / of cyber-conversations /a sunbow / dancing / in spindrift
Sunday 16 January 2011
Windows lashed by storms
After the whizz-bang
crackle and spark of midnight
emptiness fills me
Sunday 2 January 2011
Having gathered up the eggs I step outside and see the chickens strutting and pecking. How do you thank them? I scatter extra corn.
Monday 3 January 2011
Waking in darkness / your odour / arouses me / I brush my lips against / your invisible skin
Tuesday 4 January 2011
Alone in a lift I thought 'what if?' as I dared to imagine dying without you.
Wednesday 5 January 2011
Candleflame / a soft yellow teardrop / swaying / in a mihrab / of shadows
Thursday 6 January 2011
Dung heap / shit and straw / still steaming / the reek of malt / filling my lungs
Friday 7 January 2011
Fire-gazing / licks of orange / blue-green flickers of burning gas / deep inside the flames a cavern / where a dragon hides.
Saturday 8 January 2011
Spontaneously / we dance / the four of us / as Sting sings / Shape of my heart
Sunday 9 January 2011
An amber lamp / glowing / in the coal-black night / so far away / a stranger's place
Monday 10 January 2011
Standing / in pouring rain / echoes of Creation / boom silently / in my tears
Tuesday 11 January 2011
Holding him close / I catch / my foreverness / brimming inside / his cloudless eyes
Wednesday 12 January 2011
Staring / into a violet / cathedral of quartz / intoxicated / by its lustre
Thursday 13 January 2011
Hush (raindrops: splish splosh). Brook purls cantabile over smooth stones (churgle, babble, blooop). My soul squelches like soft moss.
Friday 14 January 2011
Street light / flickers / in amber spasms / i wonder / is it going to die?
Saturday 15 January 2011
In the backwash / of cyber-conversations /a sunbow / dancing / in spindrift
Sunday 16 January 2011
Windows lashed by storms
my galleon dips, rises
in the ocean's swell
Monday 17 January 2011
I gaze up at the firmament / to all the stars and galaxies / I cannot see / and ask myself / why am I writing this?
Tuesday 18 January 2011
Up in the sky / ashes and pearls / smoking and cinerous / stifling / a lemon-drop sun
Wednesday 19 January 2011
A tree: a trilogy
one) shingles of bark / corky fibres / blue-grey / gilded with silver
two) sapwood / creamy and smooth / ivory / tinged with amber
three) huge gnarl / like a troll's eye / staring at me /pitifully
Thursday 20 January 2011
Oh irony of fox-brown feathers / floppy bonnet / bright as bacon / ancient amber eyes / lay me a speckled egg http://twitpic.com/3s1x0y
Friday 21 January 2011
Coy moon / streaked with gunsmoke / clouds tinged / with old gold / in a navy sky
Saturday 22 January 2011
Shavings / beneath a lathe / pine-scented curls / of heartwood / aesthetic casualties
Sunday 23 January 2011
Sighs of contentment
Monday 17 January 2011
I gaze up at the firmament / to all the stars and galaxies / I cannot see / and ask myself / why am I writing this?
Tuesday 18 January 2011
Up in the sky / ashes and pearls / smoking and cinerous / stifling / a lemon-drop sun
Wednesday 19 January 2011
A tree: a trilogy
one) shingles of bark / corky fibres / blue-grey / gilded with silver
two) sapwood / creamy and smooth / ivory / tinged with amber
three) huge gnarl / like a troll's eye / staring at me /pitifully
Thursday 20 January 2011
Oh irony of fox-brown feathers / floppy bonnet / bright as bacon / ancient amber eyes / lay me a speckled egg http://twitpic.com/3s1x0y
Friday 21 January 2011
Coy moon / streaked with gunsmoke / clouds tinged / with old gold / in a navy sky
Saturday 22 January 2011
Shavings / beneath a lathe / pine-scented curls / of heartwood / aesthetic casualties
Sunday 23 January 2011
Sighs of contentment
listening to flowing stream
full bladder empties
Monday 24 January 2011
Wind turbines / rising like shock troops / over the wold / spinning /symbols of peace
Tuesday 25 January 2011
Vaulted / altar of trees / blackbird sings / in the silence / of a rainstop
Wednesday 26 January 2011
Your breath ~ an opaline mist ~ on my ordinary day
Thursday 27 January 2011
Blue police domes / flash silently / a woman sits / by the roadside / weeping
Friday 28 January 2011
Goldfinch sings / in Rowan tree / its home / a moss cup / hidden in the hedgerow
Saturday 29 January 2011
Stone walls / brooding / splitting green / ancient thresholds / keepers of space
Sunday 30 January 2011
Sheep plucks grass / from wintered fields / inside her body / heartbeats of Spring / ticking softly
Monday 31 January 2011
Dip your hand in the water ~ pull out your golden moment
Monday 24 January 2011
Wind turbines / rising like shock troops / over the wold / spinning /symbols of peace
Tuesday 25 January 2011
Vaulted / altar of trees / blackbird sings / in the silence / of a rainstop
Wednesday 26 January 2011
Your breath ~ an opaline mist ~ on my ordinary day
Thursday 27 January 2011
Blue police domes / flash silently / a woman sits / by the roadside / weeping
Friday 28 January 2011
Goldfinch sings / in Rowan tree / its home / a moss cup / hidden in the hedgerow
Saturday 29 January 2011
Stone walls / brooding / splitting green / ancient thresholds / keepers of space
Sunday 30 January 2011
Sheep plucks grass / from wintered fields / inside her body / heartbeats of Spring / ticking softly
Monday 31 January 2011
Dip your hand in the water ~ pull out your golden moment
Oh Peter, the Jan 31 thought is especially wonderful accompanied by that lovely photo above. I think my favorite today (and I say today because I have the feeling given the day and my mood that different one's would resonate at different times) that the description of the three trees fills my mind with ideas. There is a park near my apartment with gnarled and knobby trees. I am convinced they are witches and at night they leap out of the park and make mischief. So your "stone" makes me imagine each tree vibrant with it's own personality quirks. Well done. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your lovely comments, Heidi. The tree with the troll's eye stands at the edge of the field in front of our house. It also has a fairy cavern at the base of its trunk (which I hope to photograph if the sun ever decides to shine again).
ReplyDeleteWitches? But of course! Witches are renown for becoming trees during the daytime.
That's such a wonderful idea. I'm going to give it a try during February. Thanks for passing it on.
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome Rosalind ... if you don't mind, please give me a shout at the end of February to let me know how you went on.
ReplyDeleteCathedral quartz can also be known as Atlantean Temple Quartz. The name Cathedral quartz comes from the stepped or layered effect, which is also referred to as lightbrary. It is a beautiful Brazilian crystal.
ReplyDelete