Balance

Small practices for a calmer day.

Notes on symbols, stones and practice — and how to live with a little more intention.

An old rusted nail in the bark of a thick tree trunk at eye height, the bark swollen and grown around it on every side, painted close in umber and grey

Inspirational

The Nail Stays Where It Is

A tree grows taller only at its tips. A nail driven in at eye level is still at eye level fifty years on, buried in new wood.

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The cut face of a tree trunk filling the sheet, rings in cream and warm umber, a few very thin rings crowded close together partway out, painted with botanical care

Inspirational

The Rings Keep the Bad Years
A young willow growing in a large old clay pot on bare paper, slender and leafy, soft misty light, nothing else in the frame

Inspirational

A Tree Is Made of Air
A single broad tree with the ground cut away beneath it: a shallow plate of roots spreading sideways far wider than the crown, thin and many, in the top layer of umber soil, bare paper sky

Inspirational

Roots Are Wide, Not Deep
A lone figure seen from behind walking a ridge path at dusk, carrying a dark bundle on the back and holding a small warm light in front, charcoal hill and cream sky, loose ink wash

Inspirational

Carry One, Embrace the Other
A single empty circle drawn in one stroke of grey ink on bare cream paper, like an enso, with nothing inside it and nothing around it

Inspirational

The Empty Circle Above It
Close detail of the dark half of a yin yang in rich black ink wash with a single small circle of bare cream paper inside it, glowing like a moon, the rest of the sheet quiet

Inspirational

The Dot in the Dark
A large yin yang circle painted loosely in black ink wash and bare cream paper, the S-curve boundary soft and bleeding, the two small dots visible, lots of empty paper around it

Inspirational

A Curve, Not a Line
A single rounded hill at low morning sun: the south face washed in warm cream light, the north face in cool charcoal shadow, a soft line of mist at the base, bare paper sky

Inspirational

The Shady Side of the Hill
A perfectly still pond at dawn holding a flawless reflection of a single pink lotus and its leaf, the water a mirror of pale teal and sky, bare paper above and below

Inspirational

Still Water
A dried brown lotus seed pod on a bent stalk, bowed down toward the still water, a few dark seeds falling from its holes into the pond with small ripples, autumn light, bare paper above

Inspirational

The Pod Bows
A wide pond crowded with many pink lotus flowers and round leaves stretching into soft haze, painted loosely so the blooms blur into a field of rose and sage, bare paper at the top

Inspirational

One Root Under Many Flowers
Side by side on one still pond: on the left a water lily flower and pad lying flat on the surface, on the right a lotus flower and leaf lifted a hand's width above the water on stiff stems, soft morning light, bare paper above

Inspirational

A Hand's Width Above the Water