The Soothing Smoothness of Stones
Perhaps time could be measured in stone-years?
I’ve always liked stones. I share this pleasure with my mother. It was her love of stones that encouraged me.
My favourite? Round, smooth stones. Stones you can hold in your hand, their shape, grounding, especially if they fit snuggly in your palm. Small rounded pebbles that make a satisfying sound when you pick up a handful.
talks about holding stones to ground you. The thought of holding something that was once a part of the bedrock of where we stand, broken off and smoothed by year, weather, and water makes me realise how small I am. How short-lived.Indigenous Australians warn of taking stones away from their place. For them, stones are living—something I tend to agree with. There’s an energy in stones, sometimes calm, other times a little fiery. They’re slow. Slower than trees and fungi. Much slower than us. Their seconds last thousands of ‘our’ years. Sentient. Standing silently except for those who can tune in. Rock and stone bends, melts, and changes under pressure. With their time’s rhythm out of sync with ours.
I’ve got small pebbles and stones from around the globe, dotted around my house in piles, in jars. I once had several kilos stashed in my suitcase from a trip to a lovely pebble beach on holiday…back in the 1900s! Even a piece of meteorite I picked up in the desert in South Australia in the mid-80s. I don’t collect stones anymore. I try not to anyway. Since reading about the sorry-rocks from Uluṟu I’ve silently thanked the stones for bringing me pleasure then moved on to the next vista or moment.
Although sometimes they beckon. Maybe that’s okay, if they call to me.
One summer, during that time pre-pandemic time that seems like only a few short months ago yet decades at the same time, I was lucky enough to go to a special place in the archipelago called West Mörskär. It’s a small group of islands on ‘the edge of the map’ as they say here, and was once full of sealers and fishermen over the summer months.
So many stones! All rounded and smooth. How many years has it taken for them to be smoothed by the waves and the water, getting pushed up into small crevices, as they roll and smash each other until their jagged edges become rounded and almost soft? Coming to this island felt like going back in time. Isolated by water. We walk in the footsteps of the sealers who lived here for a few short months. Perhaps we can time travel after all? For the stones, the time that’s passed since the 1700s, no time at all.
The rocky granite outcrops that have become islands are smooth and warm in the summer months. They soak up the sun, stretching luxuriously towards the water. Lichen grows, slowly moving over the surfaces, careful not to grow too close to tumbling stones. It colours the red granite green, white and grey, providing texture, which slowly, ever so slowly, becomes a small foothold for moss, then slightly larger plants.
It takes time to grow an island from smooth rock.
Perhaps that’s what we should remember—that time isn’t just measured in human terms. Lungfish can live for 100 or more years. Some tree species live for hundreds of years—thousands even. Rock and stone that’s been bent, melted, and pushed up to make mountains, is surely another way of measuring time. We just don’t do it. Because we don’t have time.
The stones I possess, albeit temporarily in their lifetime, remind me of positive times in my life. Of the impermanence of humanity. Of the variety that exists in the world. Of smoothness and sharpness. Of contrasts. Of kindness. Soothing. Smoothing.
Are you a stone lover? Let me know. Sharing an interest is wonderful!
Stay Well,
Lisa x
🦘A former student and artist, Kat Karossy, whom I’ve been in touch with since she left school over a decade ago, has a beautiful 2024 calendar for sale. She paints Australian animals, many from a rescue shelter where she volunteers. Her calendars are only available by pre-order and international shipping is available! Check them out.
🌸 Flourish Mind & Body, my business and passion, is up and running. I’m working on online courses for women who need support in finding ways to Flourish and for ex-pats who some tried and tested activities and ways of thinking and being able to make a smooth transition to their new home. I’ve opened my calendar for a free one-on-one mentoring session for those who want to find out how I can help them and will launch my community in early 2024. Subscribe to my newsletter for updates!
I really enjoyed this. And yes, I guess stones can give us a glimpse into geological time, which, as you suggest, is very different from our usual timescales.
In the Shinto religion in Japan, the "kami" (roughly but not helpfully translated as gods) can inhabit objects, including rocks.
One of my favorite stones comes from Assisi, Italy in the garden of St. Francis. That little rock sits as a reminder of our interconnectedness with the natural world. I have never felt more peace than in that garden.