Casting Stones
The Lone Star State | ©️ 2023 Alicia Kae Miller
On a recent outing, I was caught up in open space bliss when I encountered a stone stacking project near a decisive fork in my path.
While I admired the craftsmanship, I questioned how many hands were involved and if it would be acceptable for me to add my touch to the evolving masterpiece. Since the response to my question was unclear, I decided to stay my course and leave well enough alone.
As I trekked on, my mind kept returning to the joy I felt when I approached and further studied the cairn and how I wanted to be a part of what was happening there.
Soon, my pace slowed, and I was scouring the ground for the perfect stone. After finding the one, I ran my hands across the rough and smooth surface and returned from whence I came to add my offering to all the others.
After that, my initial journey resumed.
Over the past week, I have meditated on this perspective. What keeps surfacing is how acts of empathy are art forms, too, and how a desire to be a part of something bigger than myself urged me to put love into action.
As a unique human among over eight billion one-of-a-kind travelers, we all have in common that we want to be seen, heard, and understood by our fellow adventurers and for them to make a sincere effort to understand better where we are coming from.
Like any fork in the road, we choose our path.
In the hundreds of decisions we make daily, recall that empathy (something we all want) is inclusion, and inclusion is belonging; we all want to belong.
Until we meet again, be the light in a forest of darkness. ❤️
Yours in Solidarity, -akm
December 2023