What are Your Cairns?

On the icons that ground us in writing as in life.

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Cairns are an ancient practice, a wordless one—scattered stones are gathered and stacked, order composed from chaos. When you see one hiking a trail, cairns say, someone was here before you, and, something mattered here. It is grounding to know we are not alone. It is grounding to know wonder can surprise you like that: a stack of stones just around the trail’s bend.

I need all the grounding I can get—in writing as in life. Today I’m sharing five of my “cairns” and opening up a community conversation to hear yours.