Poem: Penelope Stone
From The Art of Letting Go Workshops
My daughter’s middle name is Stone. Penelope Stone.
I didn’t understand the depth of that naming until she began to walk, carrying with her the unseen weight that life gifted our family.
When heaviness pressed against my shoulders, and hers, I noticed how she received it. Effortlessly. With a quiet grace. She didn’t fight against the burdens, the fears, the traumas. She let them arrive, she felt deeply, let it settle, and then it became part of her fabric.
Watching her, I began to understand something I had never named before:
stones do not always need to be pushed away.
Sometimes, they steady us.
Sometimes they weigh on us,
A reminder of what needs to shift and what has to change.
Sometimes, they become the skeleton of who we are becoming.
They gather at our feet, rock bottom, yes, but also rock steady.
Over time, those stones shift. They weather. They soften. Moss and sand cling to their edges. Some move downstream. Some stay. None of it needs to be judged. None of it needs to be resisted.
What matters is allowing ourselves to feel their weight.
To trust that time, and movement, will transform them
and that we, too, will be transformed.
"She didn’t fight against the burdens, the fears, the traumas. She let them arrive, she felt deeply, let it settle, and then it became part of her fabric." Such a brilliant template for all of us!
Penelope Stone, you are such a bright light with a grounding force. Thank you for your steadiness, grace, strength, and deep feelings. You inspire me and my girls every day, how to move through loss with ease, joy, laughter, and lots of singing and dancing. It is a gift to be in your presence. And Saira, to hear these words come from your mouth at this event is something I will hold close to my heart forever. Thank you for sharing these beautiful words with the world.