My rock
I am instantly asleep each night when my head hits my pillow. But I am troubled all night by anxiety dreams of tax returns I can't finish, of clients unhappy, of to do lists I can't get to. I'm trying to retrain my mind to go to a neutral place, if not a happy place. Something that I can refocus on besides the anxiety.
So I've chosen this rock. It's one I picked off my closest beach to my cottage in Maine. It's smooth, it's got interesting features, and it's palm-sized. Sort of flat, not round like my "intifada rocks" I collect to put near my downspout at home (I live in Massachusetts, that's pretty much all our population will have to combat armed invaders with) and it's not slim enough for skipping. Just a worry stone for my worries. (Googling "worry stone" just now I discovered both a wikipedia entry AND that they are for sale on eBay and Amazon. Of course they are.)
It's a form of meditation, I suppose, to bring this rock into my mind's eye. But it's also a way to get to my happy place in Maine, because the rock is linked inextricably with the memory of walking on the rocky beach collecting pretty rocks. I have many piles of pretty rocks. Besides as last-resort defense for TEOTWAWKI and for drainage under downspouts, I use them as heat sinks in southern windows and as door stops and as book-ends and as tactile things to do in my office.
Here is a picture of this particular pretty rock. I carry my smartphone when I don't have my rock, so this picture will serve as a proxy when I need to put down my worries and pick up my rock.
Rock
So I've chosen this rock. It's one I picked off my closest beach to my cottage in Maine. It's smooth, it's got interesting features, and it's palm-sized. Sort of flat, not round like my "intifada rocks" I collect to put near my downspout at home (I live in Massachusetts, that's pretty much all our population will have to combat armed invaders with) and it's not slim enough for skipping. Just a worry stone for my worries. (Googling "worry stone" just now I discovered both a wikipedia entry AND that they are for sale on eBay and Amazon. Of course they are.)
It's a form of meditation, I suppose, to bring this rock into my mind's eye. But it's also a way to get to my happy place in Maine, because the rock is linked inextricably with the memory of walking on the rocky beach collecting pretty rocks. I have many piles of pretty rocks. Besides as last-resort defense for TEOTWAWKI and for drainage under downspouts, I use them as heat sinks in southern windows and as door stops and as book-ends and as tactile things to do in my office.
Here is a picture of this particular pretty rock. I carry my smartphone when I don't have my rock, so this picture will serve as a proxy when I need to put down my worries and pick up my rock.
Rock