Unconditional Influence… and Inspiration

August 3, 2010 by Eric Hellman.

 
Photo by David G. Tran. For more photos, see
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidgtran/sets/72157624525392191/show/

Unconditional Influence… and Inspiration

This morning I awoke to the usual blare of the local news channel on my clock radio. But amidst the continuing news of the Gulf oil spill and the stock market’s rise or fall, the announcer reported something strangely different:  Some unusual rock statues had “appeared” in the Humber River, near the Old Mill subway. And the creator of them was unknown.

Living nearby, I decided to cycle up to that section of the River later in the day to see for myself. And sure enough, 20+ “inukshuk-like” rock statues had been created in a circle in the middle of the shallow river. People were there with their cameras, some on the shore, some in the water. A local cable TV station truck and reporter were on the bank, waiting to interview the now-discovered creator of the statues. And by the time I left the valley, another TV station had shown up to report on the event too.

So why the all hubbub?  Why did this simple incident get close to top billing on the morning’s news? Why were people taking time off work to see it, and TV news reporters scrambling to cover it?

As I cycled away from the site, the words “unconditional influence” came to mind. And it reminded me of my first experience with a similar “rock builder” on the edge of English Bay and Stanley Park in Vancouver, over a dozen years ago. Read the rest of this entry »

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