Are You Watching for Signs
I stopped in my tracks.
There, beside a fire in a tiny gold mining camp in Alaska, was a large heart shaped rock. Not tucked away somewhere I had been searching. Not something I had to turn over or study closely to decide whether it resembled a heart. It was simply there, in plain sight, almost perfectly placed as if waiting for me to walk around the back of those wooden benches and notice it.
I've always believed in signs.
For many years, I've collected heart shaped rocks. Some are so tiny they fit easily into the palm of my hand, little treasures I discovered while walking along a beach, through the woods, or somewhere I least expected to find them. Others are much larger, including a heart shaped field stone I found many years ago that still holds a special place in my landscaping.
Although, I’ve often gone looking for them, I love when I’m not searching and they seem to find me. That's part of what makes them special.
Sometimes one appears when I'm thinking about something that's been weighing on my mind. Other times, I'll find one during a season when I'm questioning whether I'm moving in the right direction. And every once in a while, a heart appears when I'm thinking about my dad, and in those moments it feels like so much more than an oddly shaped rock.
It feels like a hello.
During my recent trip to Alaska, I was on an excursion that included a salmon bake lunch followed by a historical play. After we finished eating, our group had some time to wander around the little gold mining camp while we waited for the next part of our tour.
As I walked around, I noticed a fire.
Anyone who knows me knows I'm drawn to a good campfire. There's something about the crackling wood, the warmth, and the way people naturally gather around a fire that makes me want to pull up a chair and stay awhile.
This particular fire had wooden benches surrounding it, and I wandered over for a closer look. As I made my way around the back side, that's when I saw it.
The heart.
It was large. Obvious. And somehow sitting in a place that made me wonder how in the world it had ended up there.
Immediately, I thought of my dad. There was no debate in my mind about what it meant to me. I smiled. Hi, Dad.
Now, could someone else have walked past that exact same rock and thought absolutely nothing about it? Of course. They may have seen nothing more than a rock. And that's okay.
That's the interesting thing about signs. Their meaning is personal.
For some people, it might be a cardinal that suddenly appears outside the window. A song that comes on the radio at exactly the right moment. An eagle flying overhead. A feather lying across a path. A familiar scent that seems to come from nowhere. A coin found in an unexpected place. A repeating number. A butterfly.
For me, hearts have always held special meaning.
I don't feel the need to explain them or convince anyone else to believe what I believe. I simply know how they make me feel.
Connected.
Reassured.
Loved.
Sometimes comforted.
And perhaps that's enough.
Signs aren't always about loved ones who have gone before us either. I believe there are moments when life gives us a little nudge that says, keep going.
Maybe we've been questioning a decision and suddenly a conversation gives us exactly the reassurance we needed. Perhaps an opportunity appears shortly after we've finally gathered the courage to ask for it. We might meet someone at precisely the right time, stumble across words that speak directly to something we've been struggling with, or experience a quiet feeling deep inside that says, this is the way.
The trouble is, we're often moving too quickly to notice.
Our minds are noisy.
We're thinking about the next appointment, answering a text, checking an email, mentally running through tomorrow's list while we're still trying to finish today.
I wonder how many little moments of magic I've missed simply because I wasn't paying attention. Probably more than I want to know.
Maybe noticing signs isn't about trying harder to find them. Maybe it's about becoming quieter. Looking around. Listening. Leaving a little room for wonder.
There is a difference between desperately searching for an answer and being open enough to notice when something touches your heart.
I think our intuition can be much like that too. We're often waiting for some enormous flashing sign telling us exactly what to do next, when our deepest knowing may arrive as nothing more than a quiet sense of peace.
No fireworks.
No booming voice.
Just a gentle feeling that we're moving in the right direction.
We can easily miss those quiet messages because uncertainty tends to be much louder. Fear shouts. Doubt repeats itself. Overthinking can hold an entire committee meeting in our heads. But that inner knowing? It often whispers.
Perhaps that's why slowing down matters so much. When we allow ourselves to be present, we begin noticing things we might normally walk right past.
Like a heart shaped rock beside a fire in Alaska.
I stood there that afternoon more than two thousand miles from home, surrounded by people enjoying their own vacation experiences, and for just a moment it felt incredibly personal.
I thought of my dad.
I felt grateful.
And I took a picture.
I wanted to remember not just the rock, but the feeling I had when I saw it.
That's what signs really are for me. They're moments that make me stop. They reconnect me to something deeper than whatever is occupying my mind at the time. Sometimes they remind me of someone I love. Sometimes they remind me to trust myself. And sometimes they simply make me smile and remember that there is still a little mystery and magic in this world.
So perhaps the question isn't whether signs are real. Maybe the better question is whether they feel real to you.
What makes you stop? What consistently seems to appear when you need encouragement? What reminds you of someone you love? What gives you that quiet sense that you're exactly where you're supposed to be? You don't need anyone else's permission to treasure those moments.
And maybe today is a good day to slow down just enough to notice what has been there all along. Look around. Listen to that quiet voice. Pay attention to the unexpected things that tug gently at your heart.
Because perhaps the signs aren't always hard to find. Perhaps we simply need to ask ourselves, are you watching for signs?
xo, Sheryl
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