People toss around the phrase ‘New Thought’ casually these days in reference to an idea that mental habits produce much of what we experience, for better or worse, in our lives. Certainly, there’s been a renewed popular interest, sparked by the unstoppable media juggernaut, The Secret and, before that, the astoundingly popular indie pseudo-documentary, What the #$*! Do We (K)now?

In the latter, we meet Dr. Masaru Emoto, a Japanese researcher into the effect of thought on water. Small bottles, labeled with angry or hateful words, produce snowflakes that are disorganized and, at times, downright ugly. Water labeled with peaceful, loving, and positive words produce beautiful, symmetrical snowflakes. Emoto refers to this as a cultural, and not a scientific, study but this simple idea, along with a few others, launched an international festival of music and conversation, all focused on healing the waters of the Earth.

Starting on Friday, June 19th, a veritable who’s who of ‘New Thought’ luminaries are gathering on the beach just down from Belmont Shore’s East end for LiveH20 – A Free Concert for the Living Water. Multiple stages will present music, lectures, and performances for kids. Headliners include Dr. Emoto himself, world renowned natural health proponant Dr. Leonard G Horowitz, and raw food guru Lou Corona.

The organizers haven’t singled out a headlining music performance but, if I were to pick one, it would be Donna De Lory. She’s spent years on the road as one of Madonna’s two main back-up singers and, in the last several years, created a solo career with well crafted, heart-felt songs full of hope and light. Home grown award winning vocalist Larisa Stow, along with her band Shakti Tribe, will also be performing.

Devin Hass, a scheduled performer and one of the local organizers, said of Long Beach, “the continued effort to restore more of the natural coastline, and the obvious issues created by the port for the oceans health, make it an ideal location. It brings us face to face with the very problem we are trying to bring into focus.

“Pollution is the key word for me, personally. It’s not just the trash that’s a big deal. It’s also our attitude toward the water. It’s a lack of recognition of how much we need healthy oceans to survive, of how dependant we really are on the biosphere. [As a result,] we let stagnation occur in the harbor, and it is a direct refletion of our attitudes.

“Bringing awareness is what our event is all about. We have so many intelligent speakers who are going to be talking about water and our relationship to it.”

This is a FREE three day event, so it’s impractical to list all of the amazing talent that will be present. A complete list, along with some detailed biographical details, can be found on MySpace.