THE STONE

I recently wrote a post about a semi-conscious image that intrigued me enough to write a short “poem” posing an important question. The image was based on the notion of whether I believed I was best represented by a stone, a rock or a mountain. I wanted to use the imagery to make me think about how my current journey through life might be seen and therefore where this journey might lead me from here.

The more I thought about the three elements of this image the more I realised each one had something to teach me and so I thought I’d see what lessons seeing myself as a stone, rock or mountain might open up to me.

“The stone is a mountain that stays on the move
At the mercy of weather and wind
Facing no set direction it goes with the flow
Every turn is where it will begin.”

Unlike plant or animal life that start out small and over time grow larger, a stone, in fact, started out as part of a larger entity and over time eroded to a point where it gets smaller and smaller. In effect every stone began as a mountain.

Most people start out as part of a bigger unit, a family, and over time we either add to that family or drift away from it. One way or the other as we grow up and grow older we move through stages of greater independence and the ‘self’ becomes more important to us. If we turn that self loose it can become like a rolling stone gathering no moss on its way through life. The idea of a rolling stone going where the ebb and flow of life takes it is often seen as a negative, but if freedom is what you want and you believe your life should be focussed on the next adventure, then you are a stone. The thing to beware of is the danger that you could end up not chasing the next adventure but wandering aimlessly through life until you eventually wear away.

Are you a rolling stone gathering no moss or an adventurer following the winds of change?