A long distance friend and a fellow heart hunter
celebrated a birthday last week. I
thought I would send her a little gift.
One of my heart shaped rocks from Sedona. As I reached my hand into the brown paper bag
containing my treasures I pulled out a perfectly formed heart shaped rock. It
reminded not only of my trip but of a peacefully connected morning I had spent
in Boynton Vista.
Each of Sedona’s rock formations, vistas and
canyons are breathtakingly beautiful. If you have been there you know that each
one holds its own feel and its own energy.
My friend who introduced me to Sedona wrote this about Boynton Vista.
“The
center of oneness, the perfect balance of shadow and light; love and fear. It is here where you touch the deep love of
earth with violet rays from the sky, simply knowing you are part of All That
Is. Much like self-love, the short
uphill hike is rocky yet accessible to everyone. It takes a little strength to participate and
accept you are worthy to receive. It
takes a little faith to know you are part of All That Is simply because you
were born.”…Dorinda Gay.
I spent
that June morning in Boynton Vista hiking the trails, taking photos, resting
and reflecting at times along the way, picking up heart shaped rocks and absorbing
the feelings that my friend had written about. As I was hiking back down I
encountered a gentleman heading up the trail.
I recognized him from my first trip to Sedona in 2011. He is a local who hikes the vista
regularly. He climbs to the top of one
of the spires and sits upon the rock and plays his wooden wind instrument. The notes and tones bounce from rock to rock
and they seep into your soul like the warm southing rays of the sun. When our paths converged he put his hand in
his backpack and handed me the perfectly shaped heart rock. He said.
“This is a gift for you from Mother Earth.”
Today while
holding the perfectly shaped heart rock along with one that I picked up during
my hike I couldn’t ignore the message they contained. The rock that I picked up was definitely heart
shaped but it came into its shape naturally.
It began as part of a bigger rock that had broken off from the
formation, in its travels it rolled along the mountain side, bounced around
from one plateau to another, been stepped on, rained on, and settled under a juniper
tree where I spotted it. All of these
conditions and circumstances nicked it and molded it into the heart shape that
caught my eye that day.
The
perfectly shaped heart rock began much the same way. It was part of a larger
formation that broke off, traveled on its own.
But this rock at some point was picked up and lovingly carved into the
perfect shape that was handed to me.
Isn’t that
how we live our lives? We are part of a
larger formation, a family, but the time ultimately arrives when we break off
and travel in our own direction. There are
instances when we simply follow the flow of life. Wherever the path leads we follow. We get
bounced around a bit and experience nicks our beliefs and thoughts. All this movement serves to shape us into who
we are and defines our life purpose.
Then there
are times when we have to take out our carving knife and whittle away at our
life with the intent of shaping its path.
Loss has a way of impeding the natural flow. The loss of a loved one, a job, a home,
health or a relationship creates confusion.
The result of the upheaval pushes us to carve a distinct form in our new
found reality. I would love to say that
this carving process produces a perfectly shaped life. It doesn’t. But it does move us more in
alignment with our desired outcome.
Following our natural existence and the
carving of one overlap and intertwine and create our human experience. Some of us may follow the flow more often,
while other keep their knives sharpened at all times and are ready to meticulously
form their desired outcome.
The past few years my friend had to vacate the
natural flow approach and begin carving out her life within a new reality. May this gift be a reminder to her of the
strength, grace and resilience that she possesses. When necessary she picked up the carving knife
and created success from adversity.
I’ve decided to send my friend both of these
rocks. I know I am such a big spender! But there are times when gifts that have no
monetary value contain unimaginable worth.
