The Art of Staying

This is the Kummakivi Balancing Rock, a natural wonder in Finland. It was formed by glacial movement, cannot be moved by hand, and has been there more than 12,000 years.

The Art of Staying

True balance isn’t about never falling.
It’s about the quiet art of staying,
even when the ground beneath you shifts,
even when the weight presses deep into your bones.

See how the great stone waits,
neither resisting nor surrendering,
only trusting the place where it rests,
as if wind and years have whispered,
“You belong here.”

Isn’t that what we must learn?
That steadiness is not stillness,
that to remain whole is not to be unshaken,
but to know, even in trembling,
that you will not break.

Hold fast.
Let the world do as it will.
You were made to bear the weight of your own becoming.

A Thousand Seven

Loving a dog is a risky endeavor. You know, from the start, that one day you’ll have to say goodbye. You bring them into your life, fully aware that their time is shorter than yours. You sign up for an ending before you begin.

And yet, you do it anyway. You welcome them in, let them take up space in your days, your home, your heart. Before you know it, they’ve woven themselves into your life in ways you never expected—ways you’ll never be able to undo.

Then, too soon, the day comes when they’re gone, and it wrecks you. It always does. But even through the heartbreak, you know you’d do it all over again. Because somehow, the love they give—the joy, the companionship, the simple, unwavering presence—always outweighs the pain. Every single time.

So you do it anyway.