This story was written for a woman who takes on too much responsibility. As with all metaphorical stories, it is possible to read your own meaning in to this tale.
This is the story of a girl named GoLightly who lived in a big village. Wherever, she looked she felt the vibrations of the people around her. Sometimes these vibrations gave her feelings of joy and sometimes they gave her feelings of sadness or pain.
One day she saw her mother bent double and looking very unhappy. GoLightly’s heart was pierced with sadness and she wanted to help her feel better. She went to her mother and said, “You seem sad, what can I do to help you? The mother looked at her daughter with relief and said “Please help me carry my stones.” The mother dug in her pocket and pulled out a large stone. The girl was so pleased as this was something she could easily do. She put the stone in her pocket and felt very proud that she could help carry her mother’s load.
The next day she saw a man sitting by the side of the road, looking tired. “Can I help you?” asked GoLightly. “Can I help you carry your load?”
“Yes please,” said the old man and opened his satchel and pulled out a stone. “Thank you,” he said, “you are most kind.” GoLightly placed the man’s stone in her pocket and skipped along, happy in the knowledge that she had helped another person.
Every day, GoLightly walked through her village looking for people who were tired and sad and she offered to help by carrying their stones. Pretty soon she had filled all her pockets but still she knew there were many more stones to be carried. So she rushed home and made a special coat with lots of pockets so she could carry many more stones.
Soon GoLightly became known as the person who would help you carry your stone. She didn’t have to offer, people would come to her and ask her to carry their stones. When GoLightly had filled all of the pockets in her special coat she added more and more pockets.
One morning when GoLightly was putting on her coat, she found that it was very heavy. She struggled to stand. She wobbled and wobbled and had to sit down. “Oh no,” she cried “what am I going to do?”
She rolled onto her knees and she held onto a chair and slowly she pushed and pushed until she stood up. Then she went out into the village, knowing there would be more stones that needed to be carried. As she struggled along the road, she realised that she was in danger of falling flat on her face so she sat down and started to cry.
An ugly old man came by and whispered in her ear “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. We all have burdens to bear and this one is yours.” GoLightly was aghast. But she didn’t say anything.
She tried to stand up again but the coat was too heavy and she toppled back on her bottom. “I can’t go on, I can’t do this anymore” she said.
A wise old woman came and sat down beside her. “Why are you crying?” she asked.
GoLightly looked up at her and said, “I can’t walk any further with my cloak full of stones.”
The woman smiled and said, “Why don’t you leave the stones here?”
GoLightly shook her head and said “but this is my job, my mission in life to carry these stones for everyone who has pain.”
“But these aren’t your stones,” said the old woman, “you been gathering these for years. No-one expected you to carry them forever. Most of the people who gave you those stones, probably don’t even remember why they had the stone in the first place.”
GoLightly dug in her pocket and pulled out the very first stone that had been given to her by her mother. It was old and cracked and had moss growing on the edges. “What shall I do with them? I can’t just leave them here in a pile.”
“Be gentle,” said the old woman. “Take each stone and touch it softly and leave it in a place where you feel it will be safe.”
Slowly, slowly she took out one stone, remembered with love the person she had carried it for and found a place for that stone.
From that day forth, whenever someone asked GoLightly if she would carry their stone, she would walk with them until they found a place where together, they could leave the stone at rest.
There are many paths, gardens and statues that have been built from the rocks and stones that people have left on their journeys through life.