SARAH MACDONALD
Vancouver, Canada - Felice News
Published Friday, January 6, 2012 at 4:42PM EST
Last Updated Friday, January 6, 2012 at 5:30PM EST

VANCOUVER -- By the time Jan 1st rolled around, I had my resolutions well in order, conceived, practiced and ready to go. A daily meditation practice and more exercise will now grace my days, at least for as long as possible into 2012 and beyond.  This yearly phenomenon of renewed resolve to ameliorate ourselves and our lives, essentially, seems to serve an important function in our culture. It’s one of the few collective rituals that we have, other than marking a year of one’s life lived with our birthday celebrations. These rituals and traditions guide us to take stock of where we are, and re-adjust intentions to match our greatest visions of ourselves.

Usually I’ve never given these resolutions more than a brief consideration. This year, however, I’ve had a lot more time to contemplate self-care and self improvement because it’s the first year since I was 18, that I haven’t skidded into Christmas and the New Year, exhausted and emotionally decimated upon the runaway sleigh that is University exams and final projects.

With all this extra time and mental and emotional energy, which I’m so incredibly grateful for, I can begin to cultivate the capacity to care for myself in all the small ways which are mowed over in a frantic rush for some finish line. There is certainly great power in the commitment to cultivate ourselves and sometimes it takes a lot of effort to achieve, akin to working a muscle.

Roth Hall, an artist residing in Vancouver has had an interesting, meaningful and unexpectedly fruitful journey with the resolution he committed to for 2011. Rain or shine, he dedicated himself to balancing a rock, at a different location each time, for 400 days. This is no easy feat, a task which on the windiest of days may take him 40 minutes to complete and sometimes in the rain, snow or pitch of night. Balancing the rock on its pointiest tip, when achieved, appears as if it’s defying gravity.

An avid traveler and explorer, his balanced rocks showed up, like the travelling gnome I might add, in medieval Mediterranean villas in Tuscany and Venice, Italy, the paradise of Malta, the desert-like playa of Nevada, the wild and misty Oregon coast , and at the precipice of blackcombe mountain while skiing in Whistler.

His story and experiences highlight the power of committed resolve, and how, as an artist, the consistent dedication to the practice brought a deepened expertise to his craft. It also uncovered many nuanced layers to the experience of creating art in public and natural environments through its interaction with unsuspecting by-standers and marvelers.

Although a year of this daily ritual brought many flavorful experiences, from the delightful to the painful, his most memorable experience took place right here in Vancouver, underneath the Burrard Street Bridge. At this muddy, underdeveloped and near desolate location, a man in a small boat had rowed close to the shore to watch him maneuver the biggest rock he’d ever attempted. After 5 or so minutes, loud splashes could be heard as the man rowed away, yelling, “you’ll never do it, it’s impossible”.  Lo and behold, Roth balanced the crazy-large rock and no one was there to see it. However disappointing, there’s something unmistakably poetic about that.

“They usually leave thinking that I’m crazy; they’re looking at what I’m trying to do and in their mind, it’s impossible. If they only stuck around they would eventually see it get balanced”.

Roth concluded with a chuffed expression that when onlookers finally see the large rock balancing precariously, impossibly on the edge, “they get very excited”.  People have been known to cry and to even feel peace as they sit with the balanced rock for a while. Although he has come to the conclusion that it’s no spectator sport, with onlookers’ attention spans maxing out at around 8 minutes, the crowds and delighters have been many, an aspect of the craft that brings him a lot of joy.

The quote by M.C. Richards, that “poetry often enters through the window of irrelevance”, comes to mind.  This practice of balancing something as boring as a granite rock, the mundane, proliferate litterings of a shoreline or valley, in actuality conjures the transcendent experiences of defying what’s possible. Defying gravity, it inhabits a space of stillness on the edge of what’s possible. “When a tiny breeze knocks the rock over, I know I’m reaching as far as I can reach and then I’m happy.

As a result of this, he’s had some tremendously rich experiences in nature, he’s writing a book called The Daily Balance incorporating stories, pictures and wisdom derived from his year, and producing a touring art exhibit of his photographs.

Much can be said for trying new things and sticking to a practice, whether for self betterment, enjoyment or a combination of the two. But all those unexpected returns, the mysterious ones we could never have known would show up, like finally realizing for one’s self why people have meditated for thousands of years, or the joy of making someone cry by balancing a rock, all those are like the chocolate chips in the cookie of life.