Our Water Stories

Meet Me by the Water. Listen to the Water.

Water is a keeper of memories — a storyteller of the Earth.

Every river, creek, lake, and ocean carries stories of harmony and chaos, joy and grief, resilience and renewal. Through sharing these stories, we deepen our connection with one another, the natural world, and the generations yet to come.

Water Stories is a traveling community storytelling project that revives the timeless tradition of gathering in circle. Through storytelling, music, guided reflection, and collaborative creativity, we listen for the voice of local waterways and discover how their stories live within us.

Hosted this time at Welcome Om, each gathering welcomes children, elders, families, artists, dreamers, and storytellers to remember, imagine, and create together.

What We’ll Experience Together

Storytelling

Hear stories inspired by rivers, lakes, oceans, and the places that have shaped our lives.

 Community Song

Lift your voice in simple songs that invite connection and belonging.

 Guided Reflection

Journey inward to reconnect with a place where water has touched your life.

 Collective Creation

Together we’ll create a community Water Poem—a living keepsake from our gathering.

🤍 Community Circle

Share memories, listen deeply, and become part of the unfolding story of this place.

Meet the Story Keepers

Jill Olesker

Storyteller • Educator • Oral Historian

Jill Olesker has been a storyteller, educator, and gatherer of oral histories for more than thirty-five years. She has shared stories in schools, libraries, botanical gardens, nature centers, forests, and beside rivers—places where people naturally gather and stories come alive.

Growing up overlooking the Hudson River in Manhattan, Jill developed a lifelong love of waterways and the stories they carry. Her passion is helping people reconnect with nature, one another, and their own imaginations through the ancient tradition of storytelling.

Svetlana Zabolotnaia

Dragon Dreaming Facilitator • Community Weaver • Artist

Svetlana brings people together through imagination, collaboration, and deep listening. As an international Dragon Dreaming facilitator, she creates spaces where stories, creativity, and community become pathways for personal and collective transformation.

Through Water Stories, she invites participants to journey inward, reconnect with meaningful places in nature, and discover the stories waiting beneath the surface.

Sarah Marin

Musician • Song Carrier

Sarah weaves communities together through shared song, creating spaces where voices naturally join in harmony. Her gentle musical guidance invites participants to experience music as connection, remembrance, and celebration.

A Traveling Project

Water Stories is a growing international storytelling project traveling from community to community, collecting memories inspired by local waterways.

This summer, the project journeys to Estonia to become part of the Dragon Dreaming Arts Village, where new stories will join this ever-growing river of voices from around the world.

If you feel called to support this journey, donations can be made directly to Svetlana Zabolotnaia.

PayPal: szabolotnaia@gmail.com

Venmo: @Svetlana-Zabolotnaia