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Tung Nguyen (31 years old, from Nghe An) currently works and lives in Sa Pa.
During the sharing session, Tung Nguyen recounted the story of a young man who lives in and has a special love for Ta Van, Sapa. The essence of the Northwest mountains and forests was revealed through the wild banana blossoms he painstakingly brought from Sapa to Ho Chi Minh City, and the beautiful handicrafts he created from pieces of Pơ Mu wood he collected along the roadside. A highlight of the session was the stone balancing performance.
The vases are made from Pơ Mu wood that he picked up along the roadside; after carving, they become beautiful decorative items.
Rock balancing is an art form that uses stones of varying shapes, structures, and properties to build stacks, columns, and arches without the need for binders, ropes, or tools to maintain the structure.
Without using any binders or structural support tools, how do the stones balance themselves?
"Some stones only balance when they exist independently, but there are also stones that need to be stacked on top of each other to achieve equilibrium," Tung Nguyen shared. He drew a parallel to the connection between individuals in a community; some people perform best when they stand alone, while others need to cooperate and connect with others to achieve balance and growth.
Life in Sapa is depicted peacefully and gently through Tung Nguyen's stories. "In the afternoons, the Hmong people often find a large, extremely beautiful rock and sit on it for hours doing nothing. I saw them sitting like that very often, idly on the large rocks with a faraway gaze. I started paying attention to the rocks from then on," he recounts.
The essence of the Northwest highlands is embodied in the fragrant, pinkish-red banana blossoms.
Perhaps people are also enjoying moments in life in a tranquil, peaceful way, letting their minds wander into the boundless space without being overwhelmed by the worries of daily life. Could this also be a lifestyle, a very simple concept of happiness that the busy life is causing so many people to rush and struggle with?
Rocks of various shapes are abundant in Ta Van, where Tung lives. During the pandemic, when he had more free time, he started paying more attention to these rocks. Tung Nguyen stacks them on top of each other. "The purpose of this activity is not to create tall and beautiful rock columns, but to train myself in concentration, perseverance, and calmness," he confided.
This is how Tung Nguyen finds his balance, cultivates focus, and maintains calmness.
After a period of leisurely living with long days of fun, Tung thought he needed to refresh his life with a different activity. He started stacking stones as a hobby to "kill time," and over time, the regular activity allowed him to feel the stones, grasp their center of gravity, and develop the technique to place them on top of each other in a balanced way.
Watching this video, many people might think that stacking stones is easy. However, in real-life experience, connecting stones of different shapes, textures, and sizes in a balanced state is not simple. Just one moment of losing composure, and everything collapses, ruining all the effort of holding your breath. "There were times I forgot to breathe, not daring to breathe heavily for fear that my hands would shake and cause the stack of stones to fall," Tùng Nguyễn shared.
Attendees at the sharing session also had the opportunity to experience this activity firsthand. Basically, it's like a regular stone stacking game. But focusing on balancing stones with different properties becomes a challenge that trains both physical and mental muscles. If you don't believe it, you can try it at home with random stones.
This subject, which seems easy but is actually incredibly difficult, will definitely help you discover more about yourself.
The technique of stacking stones is only mastered after many years of practice, but the first thing everyone grasps is understanding the stone, knowing its center of gravity... and controlling their breathing. Even if something happens around you, if you remain calm, you continue as if unaffected.
For Tung, he was simply focused on arranging the stones and trying to complete whatever he was doing perfectly.
