The Enjoyary philosophy is all about exploring your creativity, making and sharing on your own terms, in your own way, and using that self-expression to benefit both your mental, physical and spiritual health.
My brother’s art project is the perfect example of that.
Twenty-plus years ago my brother was a young man, recently graduated from high school, living at home on his parent’s British Columbia acreage, and working his very first full-time job. This particular position was not an ideal one. He was employed at a neighboring “pet resort”; a large rural complex where people could leave their dogs and cats while they went on vacation. The quonset-barn that housed the animals was loud and echoing. And my ever-empathetic brother seemed to sponge up the anxiety of the dozens of pets he was paid to care for. At the end of the long-workday he was mentally exhausted and much in need of an escape.
Enter The Rocks.
For nearly two years my brother would spend his post-workday evenings working on his rocks. Part of our parents property was a treed-hill that had a slate-covered slope, and as a catharsis he began moving the rocks and stacking them, eventually creating a labyrinth-like environment of pathways, look-outs, seats, and cairns.
What you are witnessing was organically developed, with the landscape and the materials dictating the design. Very few tools were used; at most a shovel, sledge hammer, and crow bar. He would create for three or four hours a day, until dusk made it impossible to continue.
Two decades have passed and nature is taking the constructions back. Deer, elk herds, and the occasional bear have done a bit of damage and slippery moss has made much of the pathways impassible to humans, but what remains was documented this last weekend. Our family has sold the property and the artwork’s future will no longer be ours to control.
What are the lesson to be learned from my brother’s project?
When you are anxious: do. And don’t worry about whether or not what you are doing is making sense, or has a purpose. My brother’s paths don’t lead anywhere specific; they just take you on a journey through the forest. They are a fun discovery for guests (or trespassers) to happen upon, appreciate, and be curious about.
Oh… and GET OUTSIDE. Nature heals.
The video is a bit dizzying as I had to watch where I stepped.
I ended the film with three photos of the rocks when the pathway was complete, in 2000.
There was a lot less lichen twenty years ago.
