Radical Joy Revealed
July 26, 2017
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Radical Joy Revealed is a weekly message of inspiration about finding and making beauty in wounded places. We hope you'll enjoy these doorways into places that are both familiar and surprising, and we welcome your suggestions, stories, and photos. Click here to subscribe. 

Three acts of beauty by Ebru Bingol, Izmir, Turkey, 2017 Global Earth Exchange,
and a photo of Ebru in a tree. Photos courtesy of Ebru Bingol
When we think of "land art," we tend to think of large public projects that necessitate moving massive tons of soil or opening up mountains. Or we picture the delicate and meticulous work of Andy Goldsworthy, whose creations take shape-and lose shape-with the cycles of frost, tides, and other ephemera.
 
Yet the tools for making small, personal, transformative gifts from the land and for the land are everywhere. These tools are leaves, sticks, flowers, the bark of trees, the sands of beaches, and countless other found objects. Moreover, they are available to all of us in all places.
 
For this year's Global Earth Exchange, Ebru Bingol of Izmir, Turkey hosted a group of friends at Balcova Forest. Parts of the forest are being opened for development, and Ebru, a land artist who likes working in community and with spontaneity, wanted to make gifts for what remains and what is endangered.
 
"We discover the beauty of the Land with the art of the land," she wrote, "and make it visible with art."
 
All of us can make simple gifts of land art no matter where we are. The creativity of the natural world can inspire us to move materials around, line them up, and mix and match their colors and shapes. We make our gifts for places knowing that no one will judge us and that we are only the first artists at work there.

When we, like Andy Goldsworthy, complete our own creative process, we invite the winds, animals, rain, and sun to take over where we leave off.  

To discover other stories of inspiring people, stories, photos, and ideas, subscribe to
 
It's easy to make beauty anywhere! Here's how!

New from Radical Joy for Hard Times founder
Trebbe Johnson:
a book filled with ideas for creating simple, imaginative, collaborative gifts of beauty for hurt places in nature and in your community! 
   
To order click here.
Radical Joy for Hard Times is a global community of people dedicated to finding and making beauty in wounded places. Reconnecting with these places, sharing our stories of loss, and making acts of beauty there, we transform the land, reconnect people and the places that nourish them, and empower ourselves to make a difference in the way we live on Earth. 
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Each week Radical Joy Revealed comes to you free of charge with inspiring stories and suggestions for living with endangered places in creative, life-affirming ways. It takes thought, imagination, and a sense of timing to uncover and write the stories, choose just the right images to accompany them, and prepare them for distribution, and we could use your financial help. Please show your support of Radical Joy Revealed by making a tax-deductible donation to our non-profit organization.

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