A Feast for the Senses

This mask hangs in my house, along with another one identical to it that hangs right next to it. They are from the magical night almost a year ago that my family went to the big tents temporarily erected in a huge parking lot in Midtown Atlanta to see a performance by Cirque du Soleil. We attended a pre-show cocktail party and still talk about the soup we had in shot glasses, the shrimp that were displayed one per spoon from a wall of white spoons and the enormous stuffed edible flowers, and then we ran from that tent to another in a torrential downpour that left us soaked and silly with laughter. And this was all before the show started. The entire night was a feast for the senses.

And so it was with great interest that I read a story about Cirque du Soleil last night in the new issue of Sustainable Industries (a magnificent publication that was launched to target green business leaders in the Pacific Northwest section of the United States but, trust me, is a thought-leader in the category and is growing into an impressive national voice.)

Turns out the Cirque du Soleil headquarters, located in a part of Montreal, Canada that is one of the poorest neighborhoods in North America, has an organic garden with a rainwater harvesting system, encourages commute options with about 200 bicycle parking spots and subsidized public transportation passes, and does a plethora of other eco-conscious things at both its headquarters and on the road with its shows.

But my eyes locked on the next detail. Cirque du Soleil recently launched the One Drop Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization intending to provide the world's poorest people with access to water. Cirque has committed $100 million over 25 years and Canada's largest bank has pledged $10 million over 10 years.

And so, my commitment to local food continues to expand to a primary concern for water. Because we may not know which comes first, the chicken or the egg, but we do know this. Without water, we're nothing. And with water from Cirque du Soleil's philanthropy, more of us on this earth may be able to feast.

Bravo, Cirque du Soleil. You inspire me on a daily basis in so many ways.

FYI, here's the post I wrote about Cirque du Soleil on Stone in the Pond.