Dance Stones – A Two Moms in Maine Company
There we sat, Merrillee and I, just listening to the sound of the surf rolling over the stones on the little beach cove near her house in Maine. I’d never heard anything quite like it. Ultimately we would define the sound as rolled stones dancing in the waves, but the initial sound were indescribable and the effect mesmerizing. The song was only produced just at the right moment during low tide when the stones are exposed and the surf is just beginning to return to the shore. We spent several hours, seemingly minutes, on the beach that day praying, meditating, and discussing the dreams for our future and how to make it happen. The outcome was a rough hewn plan to begin a business we could run from home that provided lasting gifts from the heart giving hope and comfort. Dance Stones was born.
As moms, like nearly every other mom on the planet, we wanted to contribute to the family finances while living our passion and being available to our children. It’s a grand scheme and hundreds of moms are doing it with grace.
After having toured the northern most coastal regions of Maine, I told Merrillee about a stunning beach we’d been introduced to with vibrant and intriguing rolled stones for what seemed like miles. She then told me of stones on the beaches right here where we lived and we headed down to check it out that sunny warm fall day. Although different from the beach I’d visited in the north, Merrillee was true to her word, there were beautiful rolled stones everywhere in the small cove. Maine possesses many beaches and rivers filled with stones and each location has its own signature stone. “Wish” stones were the predominate type of stone found that day on the beach and we began feeling them, rolling them around, and examining the rough natural beauty each one possessed. I reminisced about a prayer stone my minister in California had given out to the congregation one Sunday that I still kept in one of my coat pockets. Though twenty years had passed, the stone always signified a deep meaningful moment in my life. Looking at the stones we were touching, I realized this was the perfect gift to send to my father who had just been diagnosed with colon cancer while he went through his chemo treatments. What do you give someone you love and care for to let them know your prayers are always with them? No amount of money can fix the situation and gifts are made obsolete by the ramifications of the illness. But something the person could touch and be transported to another place and time, that was useful. Merrillee realized the same would be true for her friend who had been just diagnosed with breast cancer. The light bulbs flickered and Dance Stones began to evolve.
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.”—Martin Luther King Jr.
So we took the first step and many more after that. We are a new business, in existence for only three or four months but we have come a lifetime in evolution and have lit an undying fire of desire in our hearts to reach out to all people whether in celebration or desperation. Our product, by its very nature, is unique in every way and no two are alike. The tiny cards attached reach out to its recipient with custom messages of inspiration designed to meet their needs or facilitate their joy. My partner has taught me to embrace bright rich and true colors in unlikely combinations to help illuminate the heart to heart path being fashioned by friends and family when a Dance Stone is given—and the brilliant colors glow. We had the privilege to provide 400 Dance Stones for an event in Beverly Hills showing Ricki Lake’s documentary, The Business of Being Born. My partner and I worked feverishly to make the deadline and as we turned to look at the boxes filled with every color of gossamer bag and pocket, it appeared as if we had packed boxes full of rainbows to reach out to these new moms, caregivers, and event sponsors.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”—Joseph Campbell
Although there are many walls to maneuver ahead and we are far from completing our ultimate plan, we continue to search for meaning in all that we produce and use it as a guide for the future of Dance Stones and these two moms in Maine.
“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”—Oprah
