"If you truly hold a stone, you can feel the mountain it came from."
-Mark Nepo
I'm one of those people who likes to start my day with a bold cup of black coffee and the readings from three or four collections of daily meditations. One of the daybooks I'm reading this year is The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have by poet Mark Nepo.
I can't say enough good things about this book. For me, Mark's wisdom is stunning.
In his Introduction, Mark, a cancer survivor, says that in writing this book, he was "longing for a manner of expression that could be as useful as a spoon." He succeeded in creating that useful tool.
Mark's guidance is never preachy or "motivational." Instead, he shares his insights through his own story, deepening his personal experiences with universal lessons and parables from many other schools of thought.
His entry for March 15 really struck a chord with me because it's about the power of symbols. Mark says, "symbols are living mirrors of the deepest understandings that have no words." All we have to do is look at or touch them and the feelings and times that are long gone come back to us.
Mark suggests that mankind's first symbol probably came from the caveman. While picking berries, he may have been cornered by a huge, now-extinct animal. Spared by the sudden snap of a tree limb when it scared the beast off, he took a piece of that fallen limb and kept it with him as a good luck charm. Thus, man's connection to symbols began.
The feelings and memories attached to our symbols are, of course, already there, deep within us. The objects or symbols themselves aren't imbued with any real magic. They are simply sweet reminders, guideposts directing our thoughts to the happy, loving times that are always there, but not always in the forefront of our minds.
My home is filled with symbols like the ones Mark describes. I have my favorite grandfather's carved pipe (on the right), my mother's antique tea set and, of course, several ClayPaws® prints of my pets. As Mark's opening quote reminds me, when I truly hold a paw print, I can once again feel the essence of the pet it came from. Isn't that the powerful connection we're all looking for?
Do you have symbols of your love for your pets? Make new ones with ClayPaws® kits. We have the perfect kit for many situations. 
