Blue Marbles
Sharing Random Acts of Blue Gratitude 'round The World
Need blue marbles? Libby at The Slow Coast can help you.
Rock stars, presidents, kids, scientists, artists, explorers, eco-celebrities, teachers, business leaders...even the Dalai Lama and the Pope have received blue marbles and gotten their Blue Mind on!
Born one day in 2009 when I handed a blue marble to my friend LeBaron Myers, this wildly popular, absurdly simple, neuroscience-based initiative has shared blue marbles as the universal symbol of #bluemind around the world with millions of people in celebration of our beautiful, fragile, planet, carrying the simple and clear message that #WaterIsLife.
"It is our responsibility to safeguard the water for all our relations.”
- Robin Wall Kimmerer
Now, Blue Mind has set out to pass a blue marble through every (yes, every) person's hand on earth, with a simple message of gratitude along with it. It's a low-tech slow-motion global art project and a clear reminder that everything we do on this water planet matters.
"You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop."
- Rumi
We've had MANY fun conversations with folks about a fancier website, marble tracking technology, embedded chips, engraved URLs, scannable codes. But we always come back to the beauty of you. And your singular blue marble. The good you do. Your creative words and images. And the gratitude you would like to share with someone dear.
"Because the world is round it turns me on."
So, the "rules" remain pure and simple.
- The marble must be blue (any shade, and preferably made of recycled glass).
- When you get one, give it away to someone as a token of gratitude (whenever and wherever you like).
- Share your story with the world (however you like).
"Long and long has the rain been falling, Long has the globe been rolling round."
- Walt Whitman
Just get your Blue MInd on and share some blue marble love! Don't overthink it. You'll dig it.
Contact Slow Coast to get some blue marbles for yourself, your classrom or event, and start spreading blue gratitude.
You can get blue marbles to share anywhere you find them (online, toy stores, antique shops, your closet). But when you get your blue marbles they come in a great little bag with cards to pass along with them, plus we will personally help you with any custom needs for your event or campaign.
"Perhaps the most indispensible thing we can do as human beings, every day of our lives, is remind ourselves and others of our complexity, fragility, finiteness, and uniqueness."
- Antonio Damasio
And by getting your marbles this way your purchase allows us to give away even more blue marbles at events and in schools all over the world! Not to mention that they are made with love in West Virginia from recycled glass.
We think these blue marbles are the ultimate 'socio-physical media' app in the REAL physical world. But if you like this stuff you can also help build the Blue Mind groundswell in the virtual digital world on Instagram, Facebook or follow us on Twitter and find out who, why, and where people have shared blue marbles recently. Follow this expanding conversation using the #bluemind hashtag. If you'd like to stay in touch, join our e-list.
The stories really are very cool.
"As we got farther and farther away it diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble and fall apart."
- James Irwin, American Astronaut
“It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”
- Carl Sagan
PS If you couldn't tell, we super-like creative and collaborative ideas. That's how this whole wildly expanding blue marble thing works. Got a fun idea to share? Let's talk and make it happen.
"Far above the world, Planet Earth is blue, And there's [so much we] can do."
- David Bowie
