A Tale of Two Hearts

 

  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.