Renewal of Our Presence

We have to try to get rid of the notion of time. And when you have an intense contact of love with nature or another human being, like a spark, then you understand that there is no time and that everything is eternal.~ Paulo Coelho

I have walked along the seawall hundreds of times in English Bay; my invisible footsteps intermingled with a thousand other souls. Depending on my mood, I am always drawn to a particular object- sometimes it is the Inuksuk sculpture that captures my attention, other times it is the simple layers of ocean waves, licking at my toes. Last weekend, it was a man that is a local metaphysical wizard of rock balancing.

John Shaver has enthralled people with his mind-boggling ability to stagger, balance and suspend rocks along the beach front. The eye-catching images that are sprinkled along the ocean, have delighted throngs of those who attempt to figure out how he does it? 

I was fortunate to speak with John and soon we discovered a common thread between us- for him, his beloved mother who had passed away and me, my daughter, Shayla. I told him of The Heart Pebble Movement and he shared a special memory of a passage from the bible, connected to his mother in a unique story.

From the onset of our relating to one another, I found John to have a calming presence to him. In speaking about the rocks he balances, John explained how everyone can interpret what he does, to their own lives. As the forces of nature smash against each one in the continual waves, it can represent our losses and tragedies. Yet the beauty is that with the beginning of another day we have the opportunity to write a brand new, happier ending. 

As Shayla’s mother, I embrace the notion of nature being smoothed through the ripples of water, tumbling along in constant energy. Uniformly, it is much like my grief that knows how to come in levels of crushing emotions.

Regardless of the demands of my anguish, the formation of joyfulness takes a rock-solid shape… with every pebble placed in the world.

What I value the most about what John does is that he reminds us to remember our place amongst nature. To welcome the mystery his creations stir- while in search of life’s effortless bliss- to see ourselves in fragments of ocean rock. 

By T.L. Alton