Global Water Dances in Seattle

Global Water Dances, an event that was held around the world this past June 25th, is a participatory event I've long admired. At 5:00pm in each of 60 different locations a Global Water Dance performance took place, honoring local water while recognizing water worldwide, and our connection with and dependence on water.

The Seattle performance, which I was fortunate to be able to attend, was held on Kite Hill in Magnuson Park. It was lovely! See for yourself in this 11-image slideshow.

Congratulations to choreographers Mary Kay Vadino, Carol Schouboe, and Dallas Williams, as well as the many dancers who volunteered for this occasion.

It was wonderful to be invited with the whole audience to become a part of the final dance ritual. I felt included and connected -- very satisfying for the soul.

Transparent Downspout

Today Mona Fairbanks and a few of us volunteers installed a transparent tube that is functioning as a new downspout in front of Fabric of Life, an idea from Carol Schillios that we all love. I can't wait to see the water running through when it rains, which probably won't be a long wait here in Edmonds, Washington.

See also the work-in-progress Spirit of Water Edmonds website!

BEAUTY OF WATER WEBSITE

Spirit of Water Community Gathering

Last month the Fabric of Life fair trade foundation and Beauty of Water held our second community gathering to continue cultivating creativity toward development of our project Spirit of Water.

Pictured here are the fabulous Carol Schillios, who founded Fabric of Life, and her stellar colleague and assistant, Ariel Macpherson.

This 7-image slideshow captures the spirit of the community gathering, including the centerpiece, a bowl of water from the Puget Sound. We came up with several exciting possibilities this community art piece that we hope will catch rainwater from the roof of the shop.

Soon we'll hold the next community gathering, please contact us for more info. We'd love to have your collaboration! We will also hear from several local speakers who will briefly present the water-related projects that their organizations are working on here in Edmonds.

BEAUTY OF WATER WEBSITE

Introducing Spirit of Water

I am thrilled to introduce Spirit of Water, a community art and rainwater catchment project initiated by volunteers in a partnership between Fabric of Life and Beauty of Water. Spirit of Water has now begun and will take place over time, as our collaborative process is as important to us as our end results. We are excited about both.

We were honored to inaugurate Spirit of Water yesterday with an onsite blessing by Unangan (Aleut) Elder Alice Tu, shown seated in the photo above. Thank you, Alice, your own delightful spirit was a blessing in itself.

Today we held our first community brainstorm session, which was geared toward youth. Led by Edmonds artist and teacher Mona Fairbanks, we shared ideas and investigated one proposed working space, the outside back wall of the Fabric of Life shop.

In two hours together we came up with so many great ideas for the design! I can hardly wait for the next session, where we'll brainstorm with some of the movers and shakers of our community.

Please let us know if you'd like to join this unfolding project.

FABRIC OF LIFE WEBSITE ♥ BEAUTY OF WATER WEBSITE

Essays on Beauty

"...beauty may be contentious and difficult to define, but it’s also one of the great goods of human life. It is something we all crave..."

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment has published seven commissioned essays on beauty. I did not find these provocative, rather they comforted me.

As Hasan Bakhshi writes, "The appreciation of beauty is a fundamental part of what it means to be human."

Enjoy! And thanks, Chris Fremantle for this link.

BEAUTY OF WATER WEBSITE