Something new I learned this week

I have this habit....not sure whether its healthy or not....of collecting stones from beaches I've visited. Or fir cones from forests and leaf skeletons from parks. These little memorabilia are gradually filling up 'my' (as opposed to the rest of the household's) drawer in the hallway and beginning to spill out onto the top of fireplaces and ledges and my studio.

My favourites are beach stones. I have collected several big heavy intricately embedded with quartz stones from South Wales which serve as great doorstops. And some smaller ones. Much smaller as I had to carry them back in my already overloaded suitcase from France. These are from Cannes. For some reason I feel compelled to keep piling them up like little shrines. It set me thinking.

The other day I decided to use a well known search engine to find out what piles of stones can mean.

I came across this....(by Robert Glenn)

An obos is a Japanese term for a pile of rocks, one on top of another. The obos merely says, "I was here." Being an unusual configuration, it is obviously from the hand of man. Further, if it is knocked down or desecrated, it is easily rebuilt. There can be one at the bottom of the garden or in a private corner of a public park.

Obos is a destination, a sanctuary, a shrine and a focal point that reminds us that we work with our hands. We are builders and what we build is sacred. Obos may appear inconsequential and be unnoticed by casual passersby. It's a private tribute to something higher, something we might be striving for but find difficult to attain. Approach obos with a relaxed, curious mind. It can help with answers to questions not consciously asked. Obos gives pause, a contemplative thought or a new direction, a respite from clutter, a rededication to our struggle and an affirmation of the value of our personal effort. Obos is the carrier of a golden secret. Obos is like art itself. Obos is a joy to build.

I want to get out there and build more obos!!!