"Some stories are true that never happened."
~ Elie Weisel ~
When I found out today that the stone caps for the brick pillars we are having made for the entrance to our 170 year old Virginia Farmhouse are from China, it felt inappropriate to me, and I wasn't sure I could live with it. Not that I have anything against China, or Chinese stone per se, only that it felt like local stone would be more fitting somehow.
And then, when I shared my concern with a guy at the Stone Quarry, a bright-eyed, likable fellow, he asked if he could maybe re-frame the situation for me and I said sure.
"The fact that these stones from the other side of the world are so close in color and texture to the ones in our own backyard amazes me," he said, smiling. "They are both natural rock, and both 'of the earth,' so in that way they actually are the same, and it's possible that they are even connected deep below the surface, like some great shelf. I don't know if that makes you feel any better about it, or not, but-"
And it did actually. It made me feel a lot better. The name of our farm will be etched in Pennsylvania blue-stone, and the pillars on which they live topped with an equally rich and complimentary stone from the other side of Mother Earth.
When I don't like the narrative I'm living with, I have the power to re-frame the situation in my mind.
