Some Thoughts about Stress

"Stress is when your [heart] says NO, but your mouth says YES." 

--Unknown, on a gas station reader board 

“Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down.” 

--Natalie Goldberg 

I have been feeling a little stressed out this week. There is a lot going on in our little corner of the world, most of it good stuff, but still it has left me feeling like I just don't have enough hours in the day to get it all done!

The Universe, in its infinite wisdom, sent me these two quotes this week to help me think about the stress I am feeling. 

The first came from the reader board at our local gas station. Usually their quotes are more "punny" than deep, but this one struck me as somewhat profound and I asked myself, "What am I saying YES to, that I would like to say NO to?"

As I thought about it I realized that I am happy to be doing everything I am doing. It is not WHAT I am doing that is stressing me out, but HOW. I am trying to do everything to other people's expectations as I perceive them and to the standards of my perfectionist self. 

Instead of staying in the moment, taking things as they come and doing the best I can in that moment, I am making lists and laying out plans and creating the future in my head and then trying to live up to the perfect fantasy future I have created as if it were pre-ordained instead of just one possibility. And this is where my stress is coming from.

Thus I am eternally grateful for the second quote, which put me quite neatly in my place: "Nothing is that important. Just lie down.

So I did. For ten minutes. And when I got up I picked up my laptop and did the next thing to the best of my ability in that moment. Thanks for reading it.

The Luckiest Girl in the World

"Do you know how lucky I am just to be sitting in this room on the wrong day? There are millions of actors around the world, in this country, who would love the opportunity to just sit in this couch on the wrong day and not see Ryan Murphy. Just to have the script of Glee in my hands. I was able to have a nice drive with my wife today, she's lovely, a good companion and now I get the opportunity to have a nice drive with her again tomorrow. The way I figure it, I'm the luckiest man in the world."  

--Stephen Tobolowsky from The Tobolowsky Files, episode 16 "Dating Tips for Actors" 

I think it's safe to say that I am hooked on The Tobolowsky Files at this point. I listen to at least one episode a day and write down multiple quotes from each episode. I could write for the rest of the summer using only quotes from Stephen Tobolowsky if I didn't think you would get sick of hearing about him. 

Nonetheless I am writing about him today because I loved this quote so much. He is writing about a day in which he went for an audition for the part of Sandy Ryerson on Glee only to discover when he arrived that he had been sent to audition on the wrong day. 

Instead of getting angry and taking it out on the PA whose job it was to inform him of this fact he turned it around and looked honestly, objectively, at his situation and found that he had more to be grateful for than not in this seemingly negative situation. 

I often feel the same when someone around me is lamenting about how bad things are. We live in one of the best neighborhoods in one of the best cities in perhaps the best (in terms of standards of living and opportunities) country in the world. 

The past few years have been rough on us, and on many people we know financially, but we still have our house, we still have our health, we still have our landscape guy. Things really aren't that bad. 

On Sunday I got to have a "day off" from being a wife and a mother, a day to do whatever I pleased from dawn to dusk. It was a glorious day, but not without its share of frustrations as most days are. The frustrations of this particular day included going to a coffee shop, getting my tea and a truffle and sitting down on the comfy couch only to discover that their internet connection was not working.

Nonetheless I have decided to follow in Stephen Tobolowsky's footsteps and see the blessings in the midst of this frustration. 

Here's my version of this quote: 

Do you know how lucky I am just to be sitting in this coffee shop with the broken wifi? There are millions of people around the world, in this country, who would love the opportunity to just sit in this coffee shop, on this couch and not be able to connect to the internet.  Just to have a Macbook in my lap. I was able to have a nice day today. I went to yoga and no one else showed up so I got a personalized yoga session for $8. I got my toenails done in a lovely shade of red. I went shopping for a new comforter and some candles. And now I get to go home and get on my own wifi. I get to write a blog entry or two, I get to kiss my husband and my children goodnight and then I get to go to bed and get up tomorrow and do it all again. The way I figure it, I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

What's your version of luckiest girl/guy in the world? When have you been able to view a potential frustration as a signpost to gratitude instead? Try it this week and see how it goes!


[This week on Dear Soul Sisters....we answer a father's question about his kids' faith.]

Dropping into my Heart

"Either everyone is raised up or no one is."

--The Universe to me in a reading with my friend CF in 2006

At the time I received this reminder from the Universe I didn't really have any idea what it meant. I knew it was somehow pointing out my tendency to judge and exclude, to put myself on a pedestal above others in intelligence, spirituality and common sense, but back then I still thought that was where I deserved to be. 

Everyday since has been a wake-up call in that department and I think I am starting to realize that I really don't know much. No one does. At the same time, we know it all. We have inside of us the potential for everything in the Universe if we can just allow ourselves to access it. Sometimes we can; more often we cannot. Such is the life of a human being. 

But sometimes, if we are lucky, we do get glimpses of the all-encompassing Oneness of the Universe. I got one such glimpse last week on the day of my "ah-ha" moment about heart vs. head. 

Once I understood that the answers I am looking for are in my heart and not my head, I started to work on dropping into my heart to see what I could find there. For some reason that day it was pretty easy to get there. 

I took three really deep breaths and I focused on my heart. All of a sudden it was like a room opened up in my heart that I could rest in. I sat down and got comfortable there. 

The thing I noticed first was that there was a lot of love in this place. A lot of love. And it wasn't head love; it was the real deal, heart love. 

Head love is the love we normally feel, the love that is talked about in books and in movies. It comes from what we have been taught about who is worthy and who is not, what is attractive and what is not, what is to be desired and what is not. True love, real love, pure love comes from the heart and it is universal, eternal, unstoppable and does not discriminate

I put this love to the test. First I thought about those I say I love in the world outside the heart - my husband, my kids, my family, my friends. Yep, I loved them in my heart too, but it was different. It was a purer kind of love, a love that did not depend on what they did or how they treated me or what kind of a mood I was in that day. It just was. 

I decided to go one step further. Was there love in there for people I did not like, had bad feelings about or was still holding grudges against from the past? I thought about a few of these people. People who had hurt me. People who had wronged me. People who had ignored me or made me feel less than. Yep, I loved them too. 

I kept on going. Could I find love in my heart for the most heinous of criminals, the wrong-doers, the evil ones of this world? I thought of kidnappers, child molesters, Hitler. And, yes, there was even love in there for them! 

When I dropped into my heart I finally understood what the Universe was trying to say, what other spiritual teachers have said, that no one is irredeemable, no one is excluded, no one is outside of the love of the Universe.  

Doing this and feeling love for everyone - those I love, those I hate, Hitler AND Ghandi - felt like a glimpse into the heart of the saints and masters. They LIVE in this place. They are somehow able to find this room and stay there so that when they go out into the world everyone they meet feels this love. 

That, to me, is what it means to be enlightened. 

I have been trying for the past few days to get back there. I have not succeeded. But I am determined to keep trying, to keep dropping into my heart until I find a way to stay.

Heart not Head

"The Universe is tricky...it speaks to your heart not your mind." 

--my friend Loretta

The Universe and I have had a few tough days this week, I have been wondering if quitting my job is the right decision, wondering about what is next for me, wondering if I am really hearing the Universe or if I am making this shit up in my head. Sometimes the Universe sends conflicting messages.

Last week I got the idea to call up an old roommate of mine to see if he wanted a desk that had been his. He and my sister and I lived together in the late 1990's and they were a couple for a brief time. During this time he bought an old desk from the university and completely refinished it. He worked on that desk for HOURS. Stripping it, polishing it, making it shine. He gave it to my sister for her birthday that year and she kept it until she moved a few years later, at which time we inherited it. 

It is a beautiful old desk and we have loved having it, but as the boys have gotten bigger and we need more space, we have realized that it is time to let it go. 

I got the idea to call up the Big Man (as we called him) and see if he wanted it. I was so excited. Maybe we could get together and catch up, renew our friendship, hang out (the Big Man had always been the "one that got away" as far as brothers-in-law went for my husband and I)!

I got on the internet and found his email address. I sent him an email and waited. No response. 

Let me tell you something that it has taken me years to learn: no response is a NO. Once in awhile the person is on vacation or has just changed their email address or has a broken computer, but for the most part, a non-response means the answer is NO, to whatever it is you have asked. 

I, however, was not deterred by a lack of response and on the day we were to get rid of the desk I picked up the phone and called him.

My first clue that all was not going to go as planned was when I had to tell him who I was, even after using my first and last name to identify myself. 

It soon became clear that "happy to hear from us" would not accurately describe his reaction to our blessed reunion. Confused might be more appropriate as in, WHY are you calling me? 

Needless to say he did not want the desk, did not want to get a beer, did not really want to deal with taking this phone call. 

When I got off the phone I felt crushed. Disappointed. Sad. It was hard to realize that for him we were not a happy memory as he was for us, we were barely a memory at all. 

So I started down the road to WHY.

WHY had we been given this desk if not to return it to its rightful owner? WHY had it been so easy to find him on the internet if we were not meant to reconnect? WHY had I felt the urge to call him if this was not to be? WHY? WHY? WHY?

I was telling my friend Loretta about all of this and that's when she spoke these words of wisdom: "The Universe is tricky....it speaks to your heart not your mind."

And that was my "ah-ha!" moment. 

I had been in my head this whole time. Making up stories about how it had been and how it would be, living in some fantasy-land of my own creation and taking it as a message from the Universe. 

But how then to know when the Universe is speaking to you for sure? 

I think the answer can be found in these words of wisdom. It's a heart vs. head thing. 

When the Universe speaks to you, you can feel it in your heart. You just KNOW, even if you don't know the details or HOW it is possibly going to work out. Like quitting my job. It was not what I WANTED to do, or even what made sense to me in my head, but I truly felt it was what I was being led to do by the Universe. 

Because we live in a head world there were "signs" on both sides of the argument - there were signs for staying and signs for going - some speaking to my heart, some to my head. In that case I was able to sort through them and make the heart decision.

In the situation with the desk I became so enthralled with the fantasy in my head I forgot to look for the heart signs and I missed the true message altogether. 

The good news is that this situation has taught me something important and has put me more deeply in touch with my heart. I want to talk more about this next week so stay tuned....


In the  meantime, have a great weekend and may your heart speak to you loud and clear!

The sacred enclosure has been breached today

"Your mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Moment Before Zero

“If zero is the place where the physical world begins then the moment before zero is the place of angels and demons, the starting point of the soul...Finding and returning to zero is a skill that cannot be underestimated...”

--Stephen Tobolowsky, "The Tobolowsky Files," episode 42

I am obsessed with a new (to me) podcast I discovered last week called "The Tobolowsky Files." In it legendary character actor (you probably won't recognize his name, but if you have ever gone to the movies, you WILL recognize his face) Stephen Tobolowsky tells stories from his life and career, but with a decidedly spiritual twist. 

It was episode 42 (entitled "The Moment Before Zero") that made me fall in love with this podcast, and just a little bit with Stephen Tobolowsky. 

On one level he is talking about acting. How the actor must always "return to zero" after every take so as not to display the naturally ensuing emotion of the scene before the action takes place. On another level he is talking about nothing short of the creation of the universe. 

Let me see if I can get this right: according to Stephen, if the Big Bang Theory is correct and there was a moment in time in which the Universe and everything in it (or at the very least the potential for everything in it) was created then there must have been a moment BEFORE that moment - the moment before zero. 

This is the moment, he says, "of magic and imagination" and "the place of angels and demons." 

As I sat there listening for the first time I had no idea who this man was or even what his name was, but all I could think was, "I am in the presence of genius." I was so enraptured with this idea that it was, very simply for me, a moment before zero. 

This is the place that I am searching for. The moment BEFORE the mind kicks in and starts THINKING about things, the moment of pure experience, true joy, unadulterated living. 

It is that moment in meditation when you forget yourself, "the gap" that sometimes opens up in your mind when you are in that pure state of just BEING. 

The moment before zero is a holy place, a sacred place, a place of angels and demons and sometimes, if we are very lucky, of mere mortals as well. 

I encourage you to try The Tobolowsky Files and see what you think. I also encourage you to find your own "moment before zero" as often as you can.

[Tomorrow on Dear Soul Sisters we attempt to answer the question, "Why are we here?" And talk even more about Stephen Tobolowsky and "the moment before zero." ]

The Tao of Parenting

"If you always compare your children's abilities 

to those of great athletes, entertainers, and celebrities,

they will lose their power.

If you urge them to acquire and achieve, 

they will learn to cheat and steal

to meet your expectations.

Encourage your children's deepest joys, 

not their superficial desires.

Praise their patience, 

not their ambition.

Do not value the distractions and diversions

that masquerade as success.

They will learn to hear their own voice

instead of the noise of the crowd.

If you teach them to achieve

they will never be content.

If you teach them contentment, 

they will naturally achieve everything.

It may be interesting to ask,

"What limitations have I, unthinking,

taken upon myself?"

It is very difficult for your child's horizons

to be greater than your own. 

Do something today that pushes

against your own preconceptions.

Then take your child's hand

and gently encourage her to do the same."

--William Martin from The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents 

I don't want to say too much about this one. I just want to let it sit with you and resonate throughout your life as it has mine. I feel like it explains so much and points the way forward for me as a parent. 

It explains for me why I have struggled all of my life with limiting thought patterns. I was raised by a safe people. Risk-taking and putting yourself out there was not encouraged and I clung to this safety with all I had. How much of the wonder and joy of life has this need to be safe hindered me from experiencing? If the sinking feeling in my stomach is any indication, a lot. I don't want to pass that on to my children. I want them to know wonder and joy every day of their lives. 

It explains for me the kid we know who is widely considered to be the smartest kid in his class - if not the whole school - who consistently lies, cheats and runs other kids down. I have struggled mightily with this child. I do not want to condemn or ostracize from our family any child in our social circle, but his behavior has hurt my son at times so deeply that it has been hard to find my compassion. Now that I know "why" I am finding it a little bit easier. The pressure and failure he already feels must be overwhelming. I don't want to put that on my children in hopes that they will get into a "good" college. 

It explains why I always feel most content when I am in gratitude, recognizing that all I have is already enough and that I need nothing but "right now" to be happy and fulfilled. Contentment is a gift of immeasurable value. I just hope it's not too late. I hope I haven't already taught too many of the wrong things, emphasized the wrong things, pointed them in the wrong direction - the direction that our society says is the path to success.

There is a well-known question in the self-improvement field right now, "Would you rather be happy or right?" This quote brought a new question to mind: "Would you rather be successful or content?"

I think I would choose contentment every day of the week, for myself and for my children. At the very least I hope to make it possible for them to choose it for themselves.

BLOCKED

"The only thing blocking you is worry, and fortunately, the angels will relieve you of this stress if you ask for their help." 

--#646 from Angel Numbers 101 by Doreen Virtue 

I have been struggling with a decision this week and it has left me feeling blocked. Blocked from writing mostly, but also from making a decision, from moving forward, from living. 

I have been too busy worrying, and THINKING, and pondering. And even though I have known I am doing it and have reminded myself to STOP, to breathe, the STAY IN THE MOMENT, it has been difficult. 

This despite the fact that I have been getting a lot of guidance and instruction from the Universe. 

The above quote for instance came to me as I was walking to my computer to start my post for today. I woke up with the word "blocked" in my head as the best way to describe what has been going on with me this week, but this was not the original post I had intended to write today so I was confused. Go with the original, or switch to blocked?

I walked into the kitchen, fed the cat and picked up my phone. The time was 6:46. I decided to check in with the angels and see what message they had for me: "The only thing BLOCKING you is worry..."

I guess I am writing about being blocked today. 

And it has been that way all week - the angels sending me messages just when I needed them. 

The thing I have been struggling with is quitting my job. 

I love my job, we need the money right now and quitting feels a little bit like taking an unnecessary leap off of a tall building, except: I am not comfortable with my kids' "free" day care situation for the summer and I can't continue to send them there for the next 8 weeks with a clear conscience. It's just not worth the risk of all the things I imagine might happen. 

But there's more to it than that. I am also wondering if this isn't the Universe telling me, "It's time to move on." And here's why...

While struggling with this decision I have been looking for signs that will point me in the right direction and all of the signs are pointing straight ahead, into some future opportunity I can't quite see right now. 

Last week I checked in with Reverend Sheri Kozdron who has free angel readings on her website angelmessener.net. My reading couldn't have been more clear; the four cards I got were as follows:

Celeste - "A happy move to a new home or place of employment is in the works. This movement will usher in positive new energy."

Serephina - "A happy change or addition is coming to your family."

Ready, Set, Go! - "Now is the perfect moment to dive in and embrace your heart's desire."

Vanessa - "To make your decision, ask yourself, 'Which way brings me closer to my Divine purpose? Which way takes me away from it?'"

As I pondered this last question I had to admit that this job, which I used to feel was a part of my Divine purpose, has felt more and more like "work" lately. I still love it, it is still easy and fits well into our family's life, but my writing is what I really feel is my work in this world right now. It is the thing I have always WANTED to do and, once I started writing about spirituality, has felt like what I am MEANT to do. 

Really it's a great position to be in. I am leaving a job I love to focus more on a job I love. What am I so tied up about? 

It's fear, of course. Fear of the future, fear of the unknown, fear of the lack of any guarantees from my "new" career. In my present job I know my hours, I know basically what is expected of me (and I know that I can handle that), I know when I will be paid and how much, and what my benefits are. 

With this new job there are many unknowns and no guarantees. And that, frankly, scares the s**t out of me. This fear is making me feel a little bit paralyzed, a little bit stymied, a little bit blocked this week. 

At least until now. This post seems to have flowed pretty easily so maybe I have turned a corner. The answer, as always, is right there when I need it.

This morning I needed to write and the first sentences of this post were sent to me in my dreams, along with the quote I needed to go with it. 

As I walked to work on that fateful day when I was to give my notice (7/11/11) I checked Angel Numbers 101 to see what message the angels had for me. At the top of the page, right before #711 was this sentence fragment from the previous entry, "the right direction."

I guess that's pretty clear. 

And I guess I have to admit that what's blocking me is ME. So here's what I am going to do: I am going to get out of my own way and let the Universe lead me. I am going to walk my talk because it's what I would tell a friend to do (it's what I would tell YOU to do) and because it's what I believe to be the truth. 

I am being given the opportunity to put my money where my mouth is and I am taking it, baby, all the way to the bank!

Remain Aware

"Remain aware of the wonders around you."

--Caryl Sherpa, author of I taste fire, earth, rain: elements of a life with a Sherpa

My life has been so full of juicy, memorable quotes as of late that I am having trouble choosing one for today. There are so many things I want to write about, talk about, blog about, think about, that I just can't decide where to begin.

I got this quote at a book release party that I went to with my mom kind of on a whim. We wanted to do something to celebrate Mother's Day together and there were three or four interesting events happening on the evening that we chose. This one fit our time frame the best, so we went, even though we knew nothing about the author or the book.

It was an enchanted evening from start to finish.

As we arrived, we were greeted by her husband (the sherpa in the title of the book) who handed us a cup of Nepali chai. Not usually one for chai, I hesitated before taking a sip. Then, "Ah-h-h-h-h...."

The chai was hot, sweet, creamy and absolutely delicious. I drank the whole cup, savoring every sip and was disappointed to find that it was gone when I went back later that evening for more.

Next there was dancing, by some of her Nepali friends. It was not polished or professional, but it was real and sweet like the chai.

Soon after, the reading started and Caryl told us her story of travelling to distant lands in search of she didn't know quite what and finding it in a faraway place and in the soul of a man she could not have expected.

After the reading she brought up everyone who had helped her get the book published and thanked them with a prayer shawl and a gift. It was a shower of gratitude and the splatters of appreciation rained down on all of us.

She ended the evening with this quote, asking each of us to remain aware of the wonders around us. To never forget that life is full of beauty.

Soon thereafter I joined the river of stones and I have found this to be an exciting and profound experience of remaining aware. I can't wait each day to see what stone will ding the windshield of my life and I am always delighted when it hits me.

I hope you will remain aware of the wonders around YOU this week!

Holding the Light

"...[T]here is no greater gift to give another than to hold for them a vision of their highest potential." 

--Kimberlee Gorgo 

The other day at yoga I was in the shower after class when I heard one woman say to another, "I can't believe you quit so early on."

At first I was horrified. How could someone say this to another person? Someone she came to yoga with? HER FRIEND presumably? 

Then I remembered, wait: I have BEEN that friend. 

Not directly maybe (I have never been that gutsy), but subtly, quietly, discreetly. I have made side comments and off the cuff remarks that have injured others and diminished their accomplishments or pointed out their weaknesses (sharing a poem I wrote in college about how I don't drink diet soda with an overweight friend holding a Diet Coke, regaling a fellow parent flush with the high of her first half-marathon with tales of my FULL marathon, I could go on....). I have begrudged another her success instead of celebrating it with her more often than I would care to admit. And I have kicked someone when they were down by pointing it out and commenting on it. 

I realized then that I had far more to gain from seeing this comment as a reminder from The Universe FOR ME rather than as an opportunity to judge another.

Later that week I was given the opportunity to test my new-found revelation: at a playdate with my son the mom was talking about her new business, this great opportunity she had to create the job she has always wanted. It would include travel and writing and opportunities for big bucks in the future. 

I found myself coming up with reasons it would never work: she doesn't have time for that, does she even know what she is talking about? She hasn't done this before how can this possibly work? 

And then I remembered to hold the light for her as I would want her to hold it for me. And I did.   

Who can you hold the light for this week? 


[Don't forget to check out my new venture with my sister, spiritual advice from The Soul Sisters. Also, today is day eight of a river of stones. You can read mine at: pebbles: another word for small stones. ]

Live Happy

"Make yourself so happy that when others look at you they become happy too. "  

--Unknown, from a YogiTea tea bag

I just found a great website called Tiny Buddha. It's tagline is "simple wisdom for complex lives" and it is chock full of short articles on how to make your life just a little bit better.

One of my favorites so far is 10 Simple Tips to Live Happy Wild and Free. 

Some of the tips are great: "Talk less and when you do talk, have a noble conversation." I'm gonna try that! "Turn off the TV." Yes! 

Others are not for me: "Take a cold shower." NO. THANK. YOU.

But it got me thinking about how to live happy, wild and free and that's what I love about this site - it got me thinking....

Not every suggestion or every article is going to resonate, but in every one there may be a nugget of gold that you can take and incorporate into your own "10 Ways to Live Happy Wild and Free" list. 

Here are some of mine:

1) Get at least 8 hours of sleep - preferably starting before 10:00 pm - I just do better, look better, feel better and love better when I am well rested. For some reason sleep that starts before 10:00 pm is deeper, dreamier and more delicious than sleep that starts after that.

2) Forgo Alcohol - I am in the midst of another "year without alcohol" experiment and once again I am finding that I LOVE it. I am just happier, healthier and more grounded when I am not drinking. Alcohol lowers my vibration and gets in the way of my ability to be present and patient for my family. 

3) Eat mostly raw - A smoothie for breakfast, a salad for lunch and a small nutritious dinner with "raw bar" snacks in between feed my body the best. Anything else feels heavy and weighs me down. 

4) Exercise regularly - I realized a few years ago that I sleep better, and thus feel better, when I am getting plenty of exercise. Running has always been my exercise of choice, but as I have grown older, I have realized that I need to expand my repertoire to include exercises for flexibility and strength. (The yoga - for flexibility - I LOVE. The push ups and dips for strength I LOATHE, but I do them anyway. Well, most of the time....)

5) Meditate - I would be nowhere without my daily meditation practice. It waxes and wanes as far as time spent and seriousness (sometimes I focus on my breathing for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep at night; other times I get up at the crack of dawn and sit for a full hour doing nothing - THESE are the days!), but I do something almost every day. (One of my staples is a grounding and cleansing meditation called the Violet Flame. If you are interested in learning more about this meditation, get in touch with me and I will send you the version of the Violet Flame that I use.)

It's not a comprehensive list, but I would say these are my "top 5." I hope you find at least one that you can add to your list.  I'd love to know - What are YOURS?

FREEDOM!

"...[A]s we offer freedom, it is given us." 

--A Course in Miracles, Lesson 332

May you offer - and receive - the gift of FREEDOM today!

Small Stones

"Don't wait for the rain to stop. Climb out of your tent with your mind engaged and your senses ablaze and let the rain pour into you." 

--Kathleen Dean Moore 

Happy 1st of July! Today is what I think of as the "official" first day of summer. June is just tying up loose ends, but July is when SUMMER truly begins!

To kick it off - and hopefully make it last - I have joined an online community writing project called River of Stones. 

Facilitated by a groovy Buddhist writer chick and her husband, this project is designed to get you noticing what is going on in your world AND writing about it. 

A "small stone" is "a very short piece of writing that precisely captures a fully-engaged moment." So to write one you not only have to be writing, you have to be "fully engaging" with life. What a wonderful concept! 

If you would like more information, or would like to join the river click on the badge below to learn more. 

 

Here is a link to my "small stones" blog and my first attempt: 

http://pebblesaresmallstones.blogspot.com/