Let me tell you about my tattoo…
I’ve always loved rocks. When I was a little girl, I collected them. And if I’m being transparent, I kept right on collecting them through my own kids’ childhoods. 😉 As a child I painted rocks with my brother’s leftover modeling paint; I used them in sensory bins when I taught 5K. So when my family was debating for a long time (mostly because I wanted it to have a meaningful tattoo and most of my suggestions were deemed “so middle-age lady”…well…if the shoe fits! Sigh...) about what family tattoo we should get, and my husband suggested a cairn, everything in me said, “Yes! That’s it!”
You see, for years I’ve had a cairn at my front door and in my classroom/office because they symbolize so much to me. Cairns are historically a stack of stones built as a memorial or landmark. My husband and I see them when we’re hiking sometimes.
Over the years, I’ve attached more personal meanings to cairns. To me they also symbolize intentional balance. It’s not easy to create a cairn; you must find the right distribution of weight and levelness in the rocks to steadily stack them. That’s kind of like life, right? You must reflect on events and feelings and choose behaviors that lead to a peaceful, fulfilled, and balanced life. You can’t just willy-nilly make choices and expect all to be well; intentionality is key. That’s nothing new. Throughout human history we’ve had to make decisions about how to live our lives that impact not only our life, but all those around us too.
Also of personal significance to me is my spiritual journey. The cairn symbolizes God as my rock. Rocks are a solid foundation on which to build; when I build my life on my faith in God, when I start with God, everything is more peaceful and fulfilling, even through tough challenges.
Now I have a permanent reminder of all these ideas on my forearm. I am grateful for opportunities to explain its significance when people ask about it.
The name of my Maintenance Coaching Program is BALANCED LIFE, a nod to the lessons in a cairn. People often choose to sign up after they complete my Signature Program, STILLNESS IS AN ACTION; some people choose to sign up to continue work they’ve begun on their own.
Check out the Services page to learn more about how you can achieve balance and lead a peaceful and fulfilling life.
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