If I Was This Rock

Last weekend, Ellen and I took a mushroom-induced trip by Boulder Creek. Things went very well as we drank tea by a small waterfall, stared in awe at the sun as long as our eyes could stand it, practiced yoga, and rejoiced at how beautiful Boulder was and how much we were enjoying our lives.

I decided to take a swim and changed into my classy one-piece. I wandered toward the top of the waterfall and sat down on the edge. Feeling the water rushing around and by was a fantastic sensation and I called to Ellen with a laugh, "If I was this rock, I don't think I'd be moving either!" Her giggles filled my ears and my smile turned to the rocks around me.

It was then that I thought I saw - on a submerged rock - a human face. I smiled at him and was reminded of a lyric from Disney's Pocahontas:

"But I know every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name."

I realized I was witnessing an actual manifestation of this particular rock spirit, and was grateful it had revealed itself to me. So, I named it - Jeff.

An idea struck me, and I started naming all the rocks around me. Not making them up myself, but asking the spirits for their titles and listening to my heart for the answer. Then, a revelation struck like fire:
If we started giving all living (animate and inanimate) things around us human names, it would create a more personal bond with such things, and just maybe we would respect them more and see them as the divine energy they (or, we) all contain within. We would no longer see them as simply mundane objects of the everyday, and would therefore be less likely to take advatage of them.

So, whoever you are reading this, I urge you to go out and look for the spirit in all. I guarantee that with an open heart and mind, that spirit is hard to miss.