"Small Stones: A Year of Moments." A Book Review.

Author Fiona Robyn was kind enough to send me an advanced copy of her book, Small Stones: A Year of Moments. It's is a nice collection of thought provoking, simple yet profound observations about life, nature and spirituality.

They have a wonderful streak of Buddhism within many of these nuggets of thoughts because many of them stem from pure mindfulness. Fiona makes lovely observations of things in life that we might often over-look.

First, I'd like to highlight a few of my favorite mindfulness statements about nature from Robyn's book:

the moon is so transparent you could slip a thumb-nail under the edge and peel it from the sky

This next one is quite mindful and a nice example of nature meditation:

The buds on the magnolia trees are pink-tinted and fat. Pull up a chair; wait for them to go bang.

Here are a few wonderful views about life in general. This first one will give you an entirely new look at diggers:

a digger tips it's scoop: the sand slides out as if from a cupped palm.

the street light tastes the dark -pring! - time to brighten the street

Now a spiritual entry. This first one has a Buddhist under-tone in expressing the reality of suffering and death. It also speaks of acceptance in order to realize peace:

Another cat dead on the road. Outside the garage on the gravel, a cat-caught bird's underside teems with hungry life. Business as usual.

And finally, I'd like to highlight the humor that pepper Robyn's observations throughout the book:

The graveyard is scattered with crushed beer cans, silver streamers, empty bottles - the dead have been partying all night.

All in all I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it to anyone looking for simple yet profound words of wisdom. It will give you a whole new outlook on the life around you and is a great book to just flip to a page and find a nice nugget of mindfulness to start and/or finish your day with.

Thank-you Fiona for the copy of your excellent book. :)

~Peace to all beings~