PAT DENINO
The Point of Balance

16 July 2006

Sunjye balances rocks. Maybe he helps the rocks balance themselves. Were the rocks off balance before Sunjye picked them up? Is Sunjye balanced? Does one have to first be balanced internally before inspiring balance outside one's own skin? What the heck is balance, anyway? Simply not falling? We're doomed, then.

He spent the day balancing rocks on the north shore of Lake Ontario, and we spent a couple of hours quietly observing. He was purposeful and patient. His hands seemed to be wise. It was perhaps more instructional to watch him than it was to enjoy the beauty he created. Once, after about twenty minutes building a rock tower, he carefully stood up and walked away. Within half a minute it fell. He looked at me with a smile and commented, "The impermanence of beauty." Now that's a four word sermon!

  

We went back to his site the next day and all the rocks were down. Impermanent, indeed. Sunjye had commented that sometimes it's interesting to sit back and watch people's faces as they approach the towers, wondering if they were cemented together to stay upright, test them for stability, and then cause them to fall. I wonder if he sat back and watched strangers take down his towers, and if he did, I'm sure he smiled.

While we walked among the piles of rocks, I picked up two small ones, wondering if I could balance them in my hands.

Thanks to Sue for this photo.

Home again, with two treasured small rocks from Canada, I wondered about the rock pile in my yard. Could I? How hard is it, really, to build a rock tower held together with patience and gravity? You can see the results. These particular towers withstood a strong thunderstorm.

Now comes the hard part. How shall I say what happens inside my own head and heart when I'm out there balancing rocks? How shall I explain about the center of gravity, sensing it, feeling it, then adding it to the tower? How do I explain how the center of gravity of the tower changes with each rock added? How shall I explain how to balance two rocks on a third, finding the communal center of gravity?

How shall I explain how balancing rocks and balancing cultures isn't really that different? What should I say about the effect of watching a beautiful tower fall, then just getting back down on the ground and building it back up again, this time a little differently, hoping for a more secure balance? What parallels can I see between towers and political systems when it becomes apparent that some rocks really and truly don't work well as foundation pieces, but can find a place to reside elsewhere in the tower?

I think I won't. You do it. While you're sitting in the grass, or dirt, or sand, carefully assessing each rock, keep your concerns forward in your head. Politics, economics, health, personal relationships, whatever it is that grabs your attention, continue to think about them while you're balancing rocks. I'm not going to get weird on you and tell you the rocks talk about finding communal balance. Of course they don't. Rocks don't have vocal chords, but.




Pat Denino is a fiber artist from Ohio who detests coloring inside the lines. Her journey of discovery is based on the realization that not only does the emperor not wear any clothes but, in fact, there was never an emperor in the first place!


Pat's library of Stop Bitchin' columns can be found here.


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