Attempts at "First Balance"

Obos is actually a Japanese term referring to a pile of rocks, for lack of a more eloquent description, and in English they are often referred to as Cairns. Although the following collection of words have been pieced together, much like a quilt, from numerous sources & locations and have been mingled with my own words for filler, they help me to communicate a message that, otherwise, I could only convey through artistic expression. This "quilt", in it's entirety, includes the pictures you see here...All of which have been taken by me. And the Cairns & Obos have been built by my 3 sons & I, around the many places in which we have managed to find solace in an otherwise crazy world.

 
Can Feel like "Turbulence"

For a little history, the cairn is a human-made pile of stones, often in conical form. The word cairn derives from the Scottish Gaelic (and Irish) càrn, which has a much broader meaning, and can refer to various types of hills and natural stone piles.  Cairns have been found in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, or near waterways.


But even "Balancing in Darkness"

They have been built to mark a burial site and memorialize the dead, or mark the summit of a mountain, a place of ceremony or the crossing of ley lines. Placed at regular intervals, they have indicated a path across stony or barren terrain or across glaciers. They have also been used to commemorate events: anything from a battle site, to something as simple as the place where a cart tipped over.


We can experience "Growth"

They vary from loose, small piles of stones to elaborate feats of engineering. They have been found quite literally around the world in places like the British Isles, Asia, Scandinavia, even the Horn of Africa, dating as far as 3000 BC and earlier.


In obtaining "Balance In the Flow"

Cairns may also have a strong aesthetic purpose, for example; in the visual beauty of art or along hiking trails are often maintained by entire groups of hikers adding a stone when they pass.  That aesthetic purpose can even be found in meditation, as in the creation of "Obos".


But the Strongest "Root of Balance"

A stacking of stones, one atop the other, they mean nothing to almost everyone who sees them but have a deep and resonating meaning to the one who builds them. Why? Because they create a focal point, even if placed amongst thousands of similar stones on a windy beach shoreline, they are something that comes from someone's hands. 3 or more small stones, found nearly everywhere. Inconsequential parts in nature, lovingly placed one on top of the other by our builder's hands, given life by our visions and transformed into a unique, beautiful and sacred whole.


Is to find a "Balance in Nature" within yourself.

Obos can be built anywhere from an abundance of natural resources just lying about: stones, rocks, pebbles, boulders, They've even been made with broken concrete blocks and old bricks. Placed on top of each other they become more than just 3 or 4 or 10 rocks in a shaky pillar, they become a sanctuary for our thoughts and our minds, sometimes only for a few minutes until we move on. Beside a ramshackle house, along a garden path, in a meditation labyrinth on someone's desk, next to a gutter on a busy Manhattan Street, riding the crest of a craggy mountain trail, there they are: shrines to the indelible human spirit of imagination and individuality. The insignificant is elevated to a different level, a tribute to something higher, a deep need to create.


Then you can build upon "Team Balance"

Obos may be used to commemorate an event, like reaching the end of a long hike, or marking a particular patch of ground for it's importance in one's life. Perhaps they are simple homages in reverence to something grander in the natural world surrounding them or just a playful gesture without seeming thought, a doodling with rocks, so to speak.


And "Ride the Flow with Others"

But we are builders, we work with our hands and our minds, consciously or not, and what we build is sacred if only for us, privately, for a fleeting second. Obos, by their very nature, are towers of serenity, including those being just 2 inches tall. Giving one pause, whether in their building or the contemplative eye upon them, in turn, lending respite from the cluttered world, effectively bringing one back to a place of focus, patience and balance within while standing as an affirmation to the value of our personal efforts and our individual dreams.



Joining the "Family" of Humanity in Unity


So give this naturally artful way of expressing "I was here" a try...yet taking only pictures & memories and leaving only footprints behind & within yourself.



Here are some more of my family's creations....