Last weekend I went with my friend to Calgary for a night of art, relaxation, and friendship. While there, I was love punched with some insight about my country snobbery. A rural girl at heart, I’ve always wondered how people survive in cities. How do you cultivate a relationship with Nature when you are surrounded by concrete? But while trying to navigate our way through the maze that was the path to our parkade-parked vehicle I realized that cities invite us to engage with Nature through Stone. In the midst of skyscrapers, brick, and cement, I felt not farther from Nature, but surrounded by it. I sensed the strong and sturdy heartbeat of molten rock, calling to me from the walls of the buildings.

There was something about the firmness all around me that reminded me of the basic fabric of relationships; safety. Within a healthy relationship, we are sheltered from the external elements in a sacred space filled with honor, loyalty, transparency, and trust. Solid foundations are at the heart of any long-standing structure and it was these qualities that the stone reminded me of as I walked through the city. It spoke to me of a love that withstands the elements through its unwavering resolve to be still; to hold its ground. Nothing is more committed than stone. Maybe that’s why we put them in engagement rings…