Story Of The Rock That Holds My Fears

This is a short story of a rock that I picked up in my travels that has become not only the keeper of my fear of water, but also the motivation to let go of that which no longer serves me and trust in the Universe. Background music by Narek Mirzaei.

Transcript

Welcome to Life Unedited Sanctuary. Where reality happens. I'm Tiffany. And this story came about as part of the homework assignment for a course I am taking called Connecting with the Elements. For our first class, We were invited to build an altar with items representing the five elements, And specifically, Add a rock to symbolize the element of earth, Since that was our theme for our first teaching. After our learning, We engaged in a guided meditation around our rock. And then we were encouraged to write a story of our rock. This is mine. My rock has an irrational fear of water. The rock is not exactly sure when it happened because the rock holds memories of a childhood where it took swimming lessons and swam at a local pool and spent summers with other rocks at a lake. Where they boated and water skied. Then seemingly without incident or warning, My rock found itself afraid of water. To many other rocks in the world, This might not seem like a big deal. So many of them are land rocks. The only time they experience water is when it rains. The background of my rock is that according to ChatGBT, It is a stony, Coral, Skeleton rock. That is, Quote, The calcium carbonate framework left behind after the coral animals that lived inside of it died, End quote. That means it spent an unknown number of years as part of a reef housing an entire underwater ecosystem in the ocean. It was not a land rock until it was. So how is it that both stories of my rock are true? The coral, That is my rock, Did not know it was afraid of water until it found itself on land. After all those countless years living under the ocean, Fulfilling its purpose as a habitat, A home for possibly thousands of tiny animals living together as a colony, Then changes began happening in the ocean, Specifically a change in the temperature of the water, Causing the organisms living in the coral to die away. And coral found its purpose diminishing. The lack of purpose and ecological changes in the ocean environment caused coral to die too. An underwater event caused coral to break off the reef it had spent its life attached to, And over time it was carried to the shore by the very water that had contributed to its demise. The water acted as a conduit for coral's transition into its new purpose. So sometimes gently and other times tumultuously. Water wrapped itself around coral, Escorting coral to the land where it lay basking in the warm sun. The heat from the sun warmed coral from the outside in, And awakened coral's soul, Which had not yet departed coral. There was more to Coral's purpose than Coral knew. Sol had not experienced warmth in this iteration as Coral, And this new feeling was comforting and hopeful. Sol knew itself as an expression of the universe, And that the universe is responsible for all happenings in itself. So Sol was content to remain comforted and hopeful in its new current here and now, Awaiting the divine timing of its what's next. On that beach, Coral remained until I came upon it and brought it home. I don't remember where I found the coral. It could have been in Greece, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Ireland, Florida, Or Scotland. That doesn't matter. What does matter is that I am a shell collector. I gather shells in my travel as earthly reminders of places I've experienced. I don't collect anything other than shells. Until Coral's soul connected with mine. Something drew me to reach down on the beach and pick up coral, Like an energetic tug. Coral felt instantly familiar, Like I would imagine home to feel, Warm, Comforting, And hopeful. I tucked coral into my pocket, And since then, Coral has been a vital part of healing my irrational fear of water. I placed my fear of water into the pores of coral and I leave it safely in its place on my altar with all those fears behind when I travel. Every time I go somewhere near water, I make a point of doing something brave to test my fear. I floated in the Mediterranean Sea, Jumped into a cenote and snorkeled in the Gulf of Mexico, Swim in the Aegean Sea. Stood under a waterfall in Indonesia. Ran into the waves in Costa Rica. Braved wading into the frigid Celtic Sea, Observe the Tampa Bay from the beach, Because the red tide seaweed makes going into the ocean impossible. And felt the spray of Loch Ness from a fairy. No one goes into Loch Ness on purpose. Coral is motivating to me. Coral thrived underwater in a known environment until that particular season of its life was over. Then coral transitioned into an unknown season as the tide carried it toward shore. Coral did so without resistance, Literally going with the flow. All of that is motivating to me. Letting go of what you know without opposition, Trusting the universe to propel you into the next evolution of you. That's how my rock, My coral, Became afraid of water. Coral's new purpose is to bear my fear, So I no longer have to.

Reviews

Not where I thought your rock story was going but even more amazing the direction it did.

I shared part of my rock story with the master class but it has taken on even more meaning after I told my brother about my experience and he wrote a song that uncannly captured my experience in a way I could never imagine. I will have to share when I return!