Often, at the end of an Earth Exchange, people say they not only see broken, toxic, ugly surroundings differently, but they experience in themselves something that can only be described as love for the place. It's not that the place itself transforms in such a dramatic way. Rather, it is our own attitude of willingness to see beauty and meaning in an unlikely place and to enhance and increase that meaning and beauty through our own participation.That happens, of course, through a gathering momentum of meaning as we visit the place, share stories, get to know the place in its current state, and make a gift of beauty for it.

On June 21 people around the world went to wounded places, shared their stories of what the places mean to them, spent time getting to know the places as they are now, and made a simple act of beauty there. To see the photos of the 5th annual Global Earth Exchange, visit our website. To read the stories click on the little "pins" on our world map.

Radical Joy for Hard Times is a global community dedicated to finding and making beauty in wounded places. Reconnecting with these places, sharing our stories of loss and despair, 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.