La padre
deb@lapadre.com 631.935.2777
  • Home
    • What IS Ritual?
    • Frequently Asked Question
  • Let's Work Together
    • ritual write-ups
    • ritual write ups for celebrations
    • Story-Beads
    • Monthly Planning Ritual
  • Free Ritual Write-Ups
  • Blog
  • About

What's a "Worry Rock"

2/27/2013

0 Comments

 
by Deborah Globus
Picture
In my post last week I mentioned a concern that the pebble of fear I was feeling might “turn into a full blown worry rock.”  


What’s a worry rock, you ask?  Here’s a little story to explain:
Once upon a time I was on retreat at Caumsett State Park and my intention revolved around what I needed to do to move forward in life.  Pondering got me to the topic of worry and how much time and energy I was losing to it.  It felt like I was constantly carrying around a big, heavy stone. 

But what does a heavy stone REALLY feel like?  How much energy does it REALLY drain and waste to be carrying it for long periods of time?

I was on a beach; there were lots of rocks.  Best way to find out the answers to my questions was to pick up a rock that felt about as big as my worry and carry it around.

(I know it sounds weird but once upon another time I learned a lot about myself by crawling under my desk.  I had been feeling small, and wanted to crawl under my desk and hide from the world, so I did…

It was really uncomfortable and not at all something I wanted to keep doing.  Important lesson learned.)

With that in mind I chose a nice sized rock – an attractive one, because, let’s face it, there are aspects to worry that are attractive.  And I carried that rock for two miles back to my car.

It was heavy.  It was awkward.  It was a waste of precious energy.  


And it was an important lesson.

The heart of any ritual is the symbolic act during the body of it.  The symbolic act (a fancy way of saying “what you’re doing during your ritual”) fulfills your intention.  

Picking up that rock in the physical world –  while within the intentional space of my retreat, with the intention of exploring and releasing this concept of worry that was holding me back - I was able to use the symbol of the worry rock to demonstrate to myself, what worry was costing me.

Rather than being stuck in my head where I conceptualize these ideas – like “worry is a drain on me and I shouldn’t do it” – I now have a very real, very physical experience to symbolize my relationship to worry.
Picture
Now when I think of worry I think of the ache I felt after that long walk back.  I choose to worry much less now.


And so my worry stone rests under my desk, a reminder of what worry costs.  If I should catch myself falling back into the habit I can lug around my rock again. 


 It’s pretty good incentive to make better choices.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    My name is Deborah Globus and I am La Padre.  With me you'll find the support you need to uncover practical, do-able spiritual practices that work for you.  I offer new perspectives on old practices like journaling and ritual, with a side of compassion and a healthy dose of humor, just to keep it down-to-earth and real!

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Altars
    Blessingways
    Business
    Christianity
    Coming Of Age
    Earth Based
    Emotional Healing
    Hello Month! Welcome!
    Holidays
    How It Works
    Inspiration
    Interviews
    Intuition
    Journaling
    Judaism
    La Padre
    Leap Day
    Maggie And Christian
    Memorials
    Milestones
    Paganism
    Practices
    Prayers & Blessings
    Reference
    Retreats
    Ritual
    Rituals
    Rituals For Celebrations
    Rituals For Little Ones
    Rituals For The Moon
    Rituals For Writers
    Tarot
    Tricks And Tools
    Weddings
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture
Picture
631.935.2777
deb@lapadre.com
Website by LaraEastburn.com