Timely Messages from a Kind Universe

I felt a tug today to visit the ocean. I don't surf or do much swimming or sun bathing, but a walk at the edge of the Pacific helps my soul connect with nature in a big way. While there, I spotted these rock cairns. I've been seeing these little intentional rock piles everywhere lately: from motifs in art and pictures in magazines, to actual cairns in nature- around my neighborhood and some wilder areas.

Today they really stopped me in my tracks, these five well-balanced pillars. I got the sense that they might represent something special for me, and I liked their silhouettes against the pale gray sky. So I sat with my knees in the sand, bent low to photograph them. The beach was fairly busy, but I felt a stillness and peace sitting with the cairns. I felt more grounded than I have in days.

Hikers often use rock cairns for marking trails or defining paths- that much I knew. Whoever left these cairns on the sandy cliff overlooking the beach may have just been playing with the rocks they found there. Once home, I decided it was time to do a little research on the symbolism of cairns, since the universe has been intent on presenting them to me so consistently this summer. What I found spoke to me- big time!

According to Amy Solomonson at Infinity Foundation, for thousands of years, these "spiritual journey markers" have represented the strength, history and endurance that is available to us as we contemplate the next step on our own personal journeys. [They] "symbolize how ultimately the puzzle pieces of our story will balance with faith, patience and time."

Ah yeeees! So maybe I'm reading into it, but it feels like a nice foothold of hope for the state I've been in this summer- unsure of my next step in my creative life, feeling a little lost about which direction to go in, and trying through it all to be patient and trust that it will all be revealed to me in due time.

I think being open to the messages the universe sends us (both the grand and the subtle) is very much about spotting the signs and perhaps reading into them a bit. When we are open to it, the universe reveals what we've known deep down all along, right when we most need it echoed back to us. Today that affirming message brought comfort. I am reminded that my creative life is a journey. Journeys do not imply clear destinations. Even from this stuck point, at least I know I'm on my path, and I feel hopeful that the pieces of my story will come together.

I've decided that I'll start erecting little rock cairns along the way, to pass on the symbolism for some other traveler in need of a timely message from a kind universe.