I was walking up a packed stair case out of the Wall Street stop, when I heard a chink ... chink ... chink sound. We were all trudging out of the subway as usual. I would describe it as cattle moving in a herd. It pains me to say that because it sounds so cliche, but it's exactly accurate. The sound of something small falling down the stairs made my New York City public life instincts kick in. It's the kind of instincts that help you and other around you get through your day.
Someone just lost an earring, or their lip gloss, or the charm off a necklace. They're going to spin around and run against the crowd to catch it despite the odds of it being crushed in the stampede, kicked off the hilariously narrow platform, or the disapproval of the commuters. The sound was coming right at me. I kept an eye out for this thing. It would be better to find it, pick it up quickly and hand it to the owner, than deal with him or her running at me in a blind panic. No need for panic.
After three chinks it fell right at arms length in front of me. Without a break in my movement it was in my hand, a black polished stone. I looked up trying to find a person searching frantically. Everyone's heads were turned away from me. There was no way to know who lost it.
Walking up the stairs and out into the street I wondered about the value of this amorphous black polished stone. How did it get lost? Who (very recently) used to own it? Why? It didn't seem to come from a necklace. It stood alone. It was valued as an object and not an adornment.
In the office, I tried to identify the stone online. It was black with grey spots. Pretty simple to find: it was Snowflake Obsidian. I'm not one to believe in the healing power of crystals and stones, but I'm not completely ignorant to the fact that many people do, and there's a whole ideology behind it. I was curious. A quick Google search revealed 535,000 results. The experts agree: Snowflake Obsidian is a stone that brings balance.
Result number one, healingcrystals.com says,
A stone of purity, Snowflake Obsidian brings about a balance to body, mind and spirit. Snowflake Obsidian helps to keep centered and focused when any type of chaotic situation (office, commute, home, etc.) presents itself....Obsidian is often used for healing and releasing energy blockages, and has a tendency to work quickly to move truths to the surface to be resolved.
Maybe this was something a fellow subway rider used to stay centered during inevitably rough commutes - or the chaos of Wall Street. I hope they didn't really need it. It's mine now.
Some might say the stone wanted to find me and heal me of my stress. Some others might say it was a sign from a higher power; the stones don't really work, but it did inspire you look up the metaphysical properties and reflect on how it applies to your life. That's gotta be sign of something, right? Some might say it was all complete coincidence, and I should wash my hands - it is a subway rock after all.
I overthink everything. If I actively use the rock, maybe there will be a positive placebo effect on me. The only problem is my awareness of the possibility of a placebo effect would never allow me to experience the placebo effect. Stones can't actually heal anyone, right? God forbid I start believing in it, then I'll spend all my money on crystals. I just can't afford it.
Maybe I'll carry it around with me anyway, and attribute all the good things in my life to it. Then one tragic day I'll realize it's gone, have a moment of panic, but then realize everything is still fine.
