Welcome to a river of stones!

(If you’re reading this after the 1^st of January, it’s not too late to join us. Just notice one thing properly today and write it down in your notebook, or on your blog. You can either carry on until the end of January or do 31 consecutive days. You can then submit your writing for inclusion in our ‘river of stones’ book in the middle of February. Read one for more information!) 

Novelist Fiona Robyn and her fiance Kaspa are curating a new event beginning on January the 1st 2011: a river of stones.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to pay attention to one thing every day during the month of January and write it down. We call these pieces of writing small stones. We're especially interested in both 'writers' and 'non-writers' taking part - it's not about the finished product, it's about the process.

What is a small stone? 

A small stone is a polished moment of paying proper attention.

You can see many fine examples at our sister blogzine, a handful of stones. You can read more about the birth of the concept of small stones here and how to write them here. There are some examples of my own below.

Why would you want to join in?

Because choosing something to write about every day will help you to connect with yourselves, with others, and with the world. It will help you to love everything you see - the light and the dark, the happy and the sad, the beautiful and the ugly.

You don't have to be a 'writer' to get involved. The PROCESS of paying attention is what's important. I'd especially like 'writers' and 'non-writers' to get involved. If you'd rather not publish your small stones on a blog, you can write them in a note-book. It could change your entire year...

Will you join us?

How you can get involved: (all optional - I'd love it if you just wrote along at home!)

1. Any help with spreading the word would be much appreciated. Put the badge on your blog, pass this blog address on to your friends, interview me or mention the project on your blog, put details about 'a river of stones' on Facebook and Twitter, email your friends or tell them what you're doing over coffee and cake. Write 'a river of stones' in the sky with your little aeroplane.

2. Let me know the web address where you'll be posting the small stones and I'll add you to the blogroll here.

3. I'll be sending out occasional emails to let everyone know how we're getting on - if you'd like me to include you in these, send me an email (telling me which blog is yours) to fiona@fionarobyn.com.

*

11 month old Florence says look!
every ten minutes there is something new to fill her up with awe

*

today I saved the life of a pocket-sized mouse -
he had twitching whiskers and trembled in my hand

*

the moon is so transparent you could slip a thumb-nail under the edge and peel it from the sky

*

Three days later the sleeping fox is still stretched out on the same patch of grassy verge. The wind makes waves in his pale biscuit fur.

*

The buds on the magnolia trees are pink-tinted and fat. Pull up a chair; wait for them to go bang.