community garden, it’s all about nurturing the fiber of community (Windmill Market.org).


power of words—whether sung or spoken. We have come to understand that stories sustain our values, myths and belief systems. The National Storytelling Network helps locate master storytellers in the community (StoryNet.org). We can also create a storytell-


ing event of our own. Ask any informal gathering of new and old friends to each create their own six-word memoir in a round robin event and be amazed at what memories are instantly cre- ated. Enjoy checking out and sharing such six-word autobiographies at Smith Magazine (SmithMag.net). Finally, there are celebratory


events at which all kinds of vibrant cre- ative forms come together in one place. In Naples, Florida, Live Art meets in various places around town for on- the-spot performance music, painting, fire-spinning, poetry, dance and body painting. It’s a constantly evolving work in progress, sometimes scheduled and sometimes spontaneous, but always full of people having fun together. In New York, the Horse Trade


Theater Group is well known for its independent talent and events, featur- ing open mic, improv, dance and other “drafts in development,” as they nourish the organic advancement of community (HorseTrade.info). The Windmill Mar- ket, in Fairhope, Alabama, offers yet another twist—bringing food, textiles, film, antiques and plants together. Part farmers’ market, part craft fair and part


36 Hartford County Edition


Of course, the ulti- mate in structure and spontaneity may be the extraordinary Burning Man Project, an annual art event and tempo- rary community based on self-expression and self-reliance in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. This year’s theme is “Metropolis: The Life of Cities.” (For details of the August


30-September 6, event, visit Burning- Man.com.)


Expanding and Amplifying Interconnections


“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” ~ Albert Einstein


While the Burning Man Project is significant for its magnitude and sheer eclecticism, it is temporary, its existence imprinted mainly in the memories of participants. But most creative communities exist like Russian dolls, nested inside other communities and networks of cre- ative activity. These orchestrated inter- community initia- tives can transform a neighborhood’s or city’s well-being on multiple levels. Vehicles vary widely, but here are a few examples to get the creative juices flowing.


One Book, One City local read-


ing programs, like the ones in Chicago, Denver, Malibu, San Diego, Phila- delphia and Seattle, engage a whole community in choosing a book to read over a period of time. Readers then


www.NaturallyHealthyCT.com


come together to participate in a vari- ety of related events. The idea was the 1998 brainchild of Nancy Pearl at the Washington Center for the Book at The Seattle Public Library. Many communi- ties choose to feature a local author, and this decision is often socially trans- formative. At the other end of the spectrum,


Flash Mobs entail large groups of volun- teers who appear to spontaneously per- form a clever act of theater in a public space for a brief period of time. Initially designed as a combined social experi- ment and form of performance art, the first flash mob occurred at Macy’s in New York City in 2003, organized by Bill Wasik, of Harper’s Magazine. Flash mobs have since appeared


all over the country; some more struc- tured than others, but always evoking the feeling that they are happening on the spur of the moment. Whether dramatic or musically inclined, they’re always designed to make us become truly present in our environment; their brilliance is the connection they spark between the actions of the mob and the place we inhabit as an audience. (See YouTube.com, search Frozen Grand Central Station.)


Public partici- pation is the name of the global game with International Pillowfight Day, as communities come together with pil- lows to play. Part of the Urban Play- ground Movement, the idea is to re- claim public space for play, away from advertising and


consumerism (PillowFightDay.com). Taking a cue from “A Day in the


Life” photography projects, World Pinhole Photography Day (PinHoleDay. org) recruits everyday people to create a pinhole camera and take a picture of something in their local community. It happens on the same day, usually the last Sunday in April. Everyone then loads their images onto the collective website


Raw Spirit Festival, Sedona AZ


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