Creative Writing Wordshops July 2025

The Chi Balls Metaphor

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour (William Blake)

Baoding also known as, health, meditation, stress or Chinese medicine balls are a pair of balls small enough to hold and roll around in one
of your hands. Dating from the Ming dynasty from the 1300s they say they originate from the town of Baoding on the North China Plain. First made of iron as weapons, artists created them from marble, jade, agate and stone.
They come in symbolic designs – elephants, pandas, tiger cubs, lotus flowers, intertwined black and white cats, butterflies, Yin Yang with an (ee) I ching . Each bell has its own individual chime as the bellinside strikes the outer shell. (Photo: Carol Scrooby)