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Richard A. Huston
October 2004 | Evergreen News
Find Sole Purpose at Bastyr U.
Always blazing new trails, Bastyr University is at it again. This time the Kenmore school of natural medicine is presenting the country’s first traditional reflexology healing path.
The paths are common in China and throughout Asia as a nod to public health that goes deeper than, say, posters or community-service announcements.
On Bastyr’s new path — a generous gift from 97-year-old Bastyr supporter Helen Higgen — you can kick off your shoes to walk gently across stones. The ancient healing wisdom is that barefoot contact with stones massages the feet and stimulates trigger points associated with various energy meridians of the body. There are believed to be some 7,000 nerve endings in the feet.
Reflexologists offer many potential benefits to clients, including improved digestion, increased stamina and stronger immunity. I can offer a personal testimonial: My lifelong chronic sinus problems cleared up about 10 years after three months of weekly visits to a reflexologist who worked my toes to reach the sinus meridians and suggested I stop consuming dairy products during the therapy period.
The Bastryr path is a winding 64 feet directly behind the university’s medicinal herb garden (another pioneering adventure for a medical school). It is constructed from local river rock placed in cement according to reflexology guidelines. A circular emblem displays the five elements of Chinese traditional medicine: Water, Earth, Wood, Metal and Fire.
Bastyr students will use the path as a “practical lab” for reflexology courses. The rest of us can use it free of charge for the sort of pick-me-up you don’t find every day — or any other major American metropolitan area, for that matter.
Higgen is former owner of four health food stores and a local hero on the Kenmore campus.
“I want to help as many people as I can before I leave this world,” she says.
— Bob Condor
One More Thing About Ron Sims
As we all hunker in for what figures to be an intense month of campaigning for governor on the parts of Chris Gregoire and Dino Rossi, let’s be clear that Ron Sims ran a good, honest race in the Democratic primary. He didn’t get much support from voters, and Democratic victor Gregoire holds great promise as a governor (see Evergreen Monthly, February 2004), but Sims wasn’t afraid to stand up for his beliefs.
We need more of that in politics, whether here in Washington or that other Washington. The EM staff especially appreciates Sims’ courage of convictions in the right for gay individuals to marry, acting in official capacity as King County executive and not worrying about how his positive support might affect the gubernatorial outcome.
Let’s hope it is far from the last time we see Ron Sims in a statewide spotlight.
— BC
Another World, Another Approach
The tagline for this month’s Northwest Social Forum Oct. 14 to 17 at Seattle Center is “Another world is possible.”
Now, that sounds appealing. The interesting thing is that local organizers of the event, who are modeling the gathering on four previous World Social Forums in Brazil and India, know that, on the other hand, this world and this planet are the only ones we’ve got. The past World Social Forums, and other recent regional versions in Ecuador and Boston, represent the grassroots response to World Economic Forums.
Participants will be treated to and engagingly challenged in four days of workshops, panels, roundtable discussions and, well, lots of positive vibes about making this region and the world a better place. Fees range from $10 to $25; teens will be admitted free, and reduced or waived fees are possible.
A major objective will be to unite social movements and create sustainability in activist efforts. Anyone who has burned out for a cause — at least temporarily misplacing passion or losing drive — knows such a goal is worthy. Folks from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon Territory are all scheduled to participate.
The presentation schedule was fluid at press time (check out www.nwsocialforum.org for the latest details) but here are some session themes: peace and militarism, environmental justice, racial justice, gender justice, immigrant rights, indigenous wisdom, globalization, economic justice and new economic models, protecting the public good and art, culture and resistance.
A highlight event is opening night of the Forum Oct. 14, 7 p.m., at Town Hall (1119 Eighth Ave.) as an International Forum on Globalization (IFG) panel digs into the question, “Five years after the Battle of Seattle, where have we come and where are we going?”
Confirmed panelists include David Korten of People-Centered Development Forum, Lori Wallach of Public Citizen, John Cavanagh of the U.S. Institute for Policy Studies, Jerry Mander of IFG, Maude Barlow of Council of Canadians, Walden Bello of Thailand’s Focus on the Global South, Tony Clarke of Canada’s Polaris Institute, Martin Khor of Malaysia’s Third World Network and Vandana Shiva from the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Economy, based in India. Each speaker brings power and unique perspective. Shiva, for one, has authored eloquent books about social reform that take on such simple and urgent matters as who is entitled to the earth’s water (see Letter from the Editor, Evergreen Monthly, September).
The next evening, Oct. 15, 5 p.m., Elliott Bay Books will be hosting a book party for the second edition of IFG’s “Alternatives to Economic Globalization: A Better World is Possible.”
— Andrew Mulholland
PUBLIC DOMAIN
One of the more disturbing civic reports in recent months was news that a freshly painted giant mural created by homeless teens was defaced just days after the work of art was completed. The mural, which features poetry by street kids and colorful blotting designs, is on the south wall of the New Horizons Ministry at Third Avenue and Cedar Street in Belltown.
While neighborhood residents were left shaking their heads in dismay, the artists themselves took to repainting and restoring the mural.
The whole incident gives pause to us here at EM to consider how many wonderful pieces of public art fill our city’s streets and spaces. And that, while nobody approves of the defacing put upon the Belltown youths’ art, there is at least one example of art alteration that is, let’s agree, a recognized part of the neighborhood fabric.
That example is the “Waiting for the Interurban” cast-aluminum sculpture in Fremont. Those six figures, and a dog, were hooded in mid-May as a stark reference to the prison-abuse photos coming out of Iraq. The P-I reported the hoods were placed on the statues during lunch hour and a chair was placed next to the sculpture with jumper cables to symbolize a torture device. A sign announcing weekly peace vigils at Green Lake was duct-taped to a statue leg.
Fremont residents can regale you with other “art attacks” on the sculpture since Richard Beyer and the Fremont Arts Council debuted the piece in 1979. There has been any number of masquerades for the half-dozen bus waiters, but, unlike the Metro, no bus ever arrives.
For my part, I enjoy traveling past the sculpture during my passes over the Fremont Bridge (the sculpture is on the north side, N. 34th St. and Fremont Ave. N). It is a piece of the urbanscape that never fails to register, come rain, shine or crepe paper.
— BC
Getting Some Soul: Finding Oneness in Tacoma
Among the Puget Sound area’s best qualities are the healing opportunities afforded us by both natural-therapy practitioners and retail stores. In Tacoma, The Crystal Voyage (26th and D streets, 253-272-4367) is now offering new and improved health and wellness options on both fronts.
Crystal Voyage’s just-opened store features an extensive display of metaphysical goodies on the first floor — including, natch, crystals, art cards, journals, candles, incense, jewelry, tarot, yoga stuff, feng shui support materials and much more — and healing practitioners upstairs. Some of the potential modalities include breathwork, massage and health counseling.
The entire space is stunning and getting raves from Tacoma residents. A particular eye-catcher is a limestone mural (the stone from Italy) that makes a distinct point that “we are all one.” Let’s say you have to see it to fully appreciate it.
Owner Crystal Stone is planning to bring an expanded list of speakers, authors and events to the new space, which was built with community in mind. She said she considers her store and Tacoma institution “a tiny start for each of us to find our own way.”
“One by one, we can make a difference,” she explains. “As each one brings harmony to their lives, it spreads like a weaver’s shuttle, in and out of the threads of others’ lives. We now have the space available to accommodate both teacher and student. So I’ve heard, the teacher becomes the student in a never-ending cycle.”
— AM
Grounds for Humor in Your Cup?
Just when you thought the gourmet coffee market was saturated or jittery or both, along comes Political Grounds, a new subsidiary of the Seattle-based Rushmore Enterprises. Its new line of premium coffees was introduced at the National Press Club in September and samples were passed out at both the Democratic and Republican national conventions.
Why all the Beltway brew-ha-ha? Because Political Grounds intends for its customers to make a statement with the coffee they sip. Some examples (you are the judge of whether it is funny or gimmicky — or both): Flubba-Dubya’s Campfire Coffee (from Kenya), Kerry’s Camelot Café (Colombian), Osama’s Mama (Costa Rican), Say Howdy Saudi (decaffeinated) and Jumpin’ Jihad Java (Sumatran). The labels will change quarterly or monthly (yesterday’s coffee filter is old news, we presume) and company executives provide an incentive give-back of 50 cents per pound to participating charitable and nonprofit organizations who establish a foundation or trust specifically set for humanitarian projects. For more information, visit www.politicalgrounds.com.
— AM
WHO SEZ
George W. Bush, campaign quote #1: “Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods.”
George W. Bush, campaign quote #2: “We increased expenses, particularly in two areas: the military.”
George W. Bush, official visit to West Virginia in 2002, chatting and joking with Bob Kiss, a father of 5-week-old twins and Democratic speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates, as reported by Associated Press: “I’ve been to war. I’ve raised twins. If I had a choice, I’d rather go to war.”
John F. Kerry, campaign quote #1: “Between now and the time I’m sworn in January 2005, I’m going to use every day to make this president accountable for making a mockery of the words ‘No Child Left Behind.’”
John F. Kerry, campaign quote #2: “I promise just to serve two terms. Republicans do it differently. They just have the son repeat the father’s whole first term.”
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