Open Spaces Sacred Places: Stories of How Nature Heals and Unifies

by Tom H. Stoner, Carolyn Rapp, G. Martin Moeller Jr. (Foreword)

Open Spaces Sacred Places is a book that dramatically demonstrates how nature has the power to heal and unify in our increasingly frenetic 21st-century world. It is a series of inspirational stories told through the voices of "firesouls," those passionate and persistent people who have brought communities together to create public areas of respite.The book depicts a wide variety of sacred places, including a meditation garden inside the walls of a prison, a sculpture garden built by at-risk youth in the inner city, and a therapeutic healing garden at a rehabilitation hospital. These public green spaces are places of peace and refreshment, where people can tap into their own deep wisdom and find an antidote for the stressful, divisive, and isolating effects of life in today's complex world.While each of the profiled spaces has its own unique focus and character, they all have one common element--a bench with a journal attached where each visitor has the opportunity to anonymously reveal private thoughts and feelings. The journal entries, collected over 12 years, reinforce the essential human need to take time out in nature. Open Spaces Sacred Places also contains more than 200 beautifully photographed images that bring these spaces to life.With a foreword by G. Martin Moeller, Jr., Open Spaces Sacred Places provides helpful information for those who have the desire to become active firesouls by spearheading community efforts to create public green spaces.

Genres: Nature, Health, Architecture, Spirituality, Nonfiction

191 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2008

About the author

Tom Stoner is a cofounder of the TKF Foundation. He has served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and as cofounder of the Conflict Resolution Clinic associated with George Mason University. He also cofounded American Radio Systems. Tom lives in Annapolis, Maryland and Stowe, Vermont.

Reviews

[julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore this book. It’s a compilation of stories from individuals who were involved in the creation of numerous healing spaces that were given funding by the TKF foundation.

The majority of the projects are in the Baltimore area. Each of the projects is completely unique and range from spaces at hospitals to prisons to churches to inner city lots. The people who benefit range from children, AIDS patients, prisoners, communities struggling with drug epidemics, people who could not afford a burial location, to the bereaved. This is honorable work. The stories are the perspectives of people involved in the project and they describe the spaces and the process of being involved in the projects from the planning phases through completion. Often times the community members had dreams of creating some semblance of the spaces but the requirements of the TKF funding forced them to alter their original plans. It was beautiful to hear them explain their flexibility during the process because they were all committed to a higher purpose.

Sometimes when I read design books it feels like the spaces are more about helping people feel they have reached a certain status in their lives. There was nothing like that in this book. These places truly affect the lives of the numerous people who interact with them and they turn nature into a holy place. It’s so interesting to see how nature is the true non denominational church.

Each of the stories is written from the heart. They love the communities they serve and these spaces that they helped create were an act of service. The stories come from pastors, sculptors, prison wardens, landscape designers, architects, physical therapists, community members and just all around good people. One of the things I noticed in each of the stories was how individuals in the community participated. I think this is the difference between a project that has heart and one that may be beautiful but lacks soul. It’s impressive that the TKF foundation is able to determine which projects hold this potential.

This book was incredibly inspiring and what I aspire to do in my work as a landscape designer. I was truly touched and I’m sure I will refer back to this often.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book really moving, especially because so many of the spaces in this book are in Baltimore, a city that is usually much maligned in the public imagination. It's the city I was born in, so in some ways its very dear to me. The accounts have given me much food for thought, including on the nature of the divine and honestly I would love to recommend this book for anyone into the idea of urban green spaces.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very moving and inspirational book about how creating spaces through art and nature transforms individual's lives and communities.