Small stones are a way of incorporating both writing and awareness. Writing small stones is a lovely way to bring presence into our experiences through writing. They are short pieces that reflect a moment in time. They can be very enriching, and they certainly do not have to reflect only peaceful and happy moments, they can reflect any experience. I like to see them as a flow of words describing the present moment, rather than a poem. Once you try to structure them or analyze them, they begin to lose their magic. They are not meant to be critiqued or changed (although they can be polished), let them reflect the moment, in that moment, and let it create itself. More information about writing small stones can be found here.
"Only After the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."
~Cree Indian Prophecy
Love and money should properly have nothing to do with each other.
I'm getting ready to visit the Iowa countryside where I grew up.
I'm seeing visions of a time when I used to sit with my great grandparents and the rest of our family and listen to stories from the Great Depression and what it was like to live on cornmeal and all the different things you could make out of it...what it was like to make less than a dollar a day...what it was like to depend on others for survival...My great grandparents were amazing people and I was lucky enough to be in their presence all the way through most of my 20's. They were married for over 65 years and I've never since witnessed a true love quite like theirs. I learned so much from them, most notably, how to live simple, laugh, love, watch wildlife and play music. I remember fishing with grandpa on the river at the cabin and how he would pay me a quarter for every grasshopper I could catch and bring to him. Great grandpa Brown brought the guitar and harmonica out at every family gathering. He would play and sing for hours. In those moments of music, nothing else mattered, grandpa's music was like a spell, bringing you entirely into the moment, and that moment only. Every song told a story of what life was like so long ago, and many were quite humorous as well. How I miss those days. I will never forget his voice. Greg Brown carries on a piece of what I experienced growing up. Our families overlap and his songs, his voice and even his demeanor at times are so reflective of grandpa. Listening to him brings me right back to the old, warm living room where my great grandparents lived, listening to grandpa sing. It's amazing how much Greg sounds like him...
One of the coolest things is that one of my favorite singer-songwriters, Jack Johnson, is also a Greg Brown fan and has covered Greg's song "Spring Wind." I've only been able to find the entire song (Jack's version) for streaming: http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/06/18/jack-johnson-spring-wind/
A part of it is incorporated here:
When I stumbled across this years ago, I had no idea Jack Johnson was a Greg Brown fan. It's significant to me because Greg often sings about life in Iowa and a time when things were so much more simple. A time when our relatives played music for hours within the vast expanses of midwest farmland. That a touch of that has been incorporated into Jack Johnson's music is completely awesome to me, and it's almost like a touch of Grandpa and our other relatives are up on stage with Jack when he sings that song, the roots of which came from the prairies of Iowa and the music that was shared together as a family.
I posted these links with a few words about capitalism today on my Facebook page. It started an interesting conversation. First, I must say that I value everyone's opinion greatly, even if it is different from my own. Any argument that any one makes is a learning experience for me. I think it's funny that I got accused of being a Marxist and a Socialist. Or, then again, maybe that was simply my own perception. But here's what I had to say...
I need to live on a planet where there are no social, economic and political systems because it is all flawed in my opinion. Maybe on this planet, I would be considered a Socialist or a Marxist. I would just like to live in a place where everyone’s basic needs are met and if you want more than your basic needs, you work for it. I’m not going to go march on Wall Street, but I admire the people who are voicing their opinions and exercising their right to try and live how they want to live. In my opinion, we all have a right to live how we want. We all have one life and we should have the freedom to live this existence how we would like. It’s just too bad that there are so many of us on this planet that it isn’t possible to live that way without being forced into some kind of system or intentionally or unintentionally hindering the way in which others would like to live. People who believe in capitalism and want to live in a capitalist society should be free to do so, but I should also be free not to.
I'm tired of working my ass off only to put money in some rich banker's pocket, and the only thing I can do is totally change my lifestyle and live as far removed from the aspects of the system that I don't believe in. I just feel that human beings have so much good and potential in them and that we can do better than we have been in regards to how we relate to each other and the Earth. I just don't like seeing all the unnecessary stress, violence and suffering that people go through just because of the mighty dollar. I enjoy seeing people fight for what they believe in, which is why I posted this in the first place. :) "Be the change you want to see in the world"
