Making Your Mark

I stumbled across this cairn last year. I knew that people would stack up rocks as a way of marking that they had been there but I didn’t know that it was called a cairn. I had always thought that a cairn a Celtic tomb. It’s a much nicer way to leave you mark than tagging. I guess it’s human nature to want a marker to say “I have been here. ” I was at the end of the Kilroy fad. I never knew why we did it and the origin of the mark is… well, “lost to urban legend “. I just knew that he was a funny little guy with a big nose and he likes to peak over the walls. Below is a poorly scrawled example. ( There’s a reason why I do photography instead of drawing )

No matter if it’s a stack of rocks or a poorly scrawled cartoon we seem to want to be remembered. Even if it’s anonymous. We have an instinct to not be forgotten. I have also picked up a small stone from my land and made a mark on it to leave behind on a trail.

(One of my abstract marks . It’s a stylized representation of my initials)

I wouldn’t recommend defacing public or private property thought. But, if you leave something that’s not litter and just enough to make someone curious I consider it a gray area. There’s a local group who paints stones and leaves them where it’s not obvious but it can still be found. If you write a word of encouragement on the stone it might be found by the right person at the right time to change their day. And wouldn’t that be a good way to leave your mark on the world? Not written in stone but transferred to a heart through the stone.

Warm weather is upon us and people will be out enjoying the fresh air. If you can do so without breaking any laws or damaging property let me encourage you to find a way to anonymously leave something behind to make someone smile.