Recently, the Summers-Knoll School celebrated its second annual Eudaimonia fundraiser event at the Ann Arbor Art Center to launch its new book, "Salmon of the Sun."

What's eudaimonia? I didn't know either until just before this event, and had such fun finding out.

As mentioned above, Eudaimonia was a fundraiser; the event included a silent auction, music, food and a book reading. In addition, all proceeds from book sales go toward the Summers-Knoll need-based scholarship program.

"Salmon of the Sun" is a poem written by the head of Summers-Knoll, Joanna Hastings, and illustrated by the children of the school. All of the children contribute artwork for the publication, and pieces are selected through an independent screening process.

In addition to all of the work by the author and the illustrators' - that which the reader can tangibly see and touch - there is also the behind the scenes work. Two important contributors in that aspect are Ruth Marks, art instructor at the school and founder of FLY Children's Art Center in Ypsilanti and James Marks, owner of VGKids, who screens the finished contributions for inclusion in the book.

The result is a beautiful children's book where each page has its own mood, reflecting the different styles of the children. Some pages seem quite abstract in imagery while other pieces have small details, such as smile dimples. Each page is filled with vivid colors and the visual format of the poem carries the reader along.

Upon arrival at the event, a poster greeted everyone with this definition of eudaimonia:

flourishing or well-being;
the state of having a good indwelling spirit;
the synergy of both well feeling & well acting;
being the highest form of oneself;
self-actualization

An ambitious definition ... and how does that fit in with the book?

I wish I'd spoken about that more when at the event, but I like to think that because the Salmon of the Sun knows how to celebrate and play in the universe, it embodies "the synergy of both well feeling & well acting" and is in a constant "state of good indwelling spirit."

Furthermore, this feeling is contagious to others - beyond the pages of the book. When reading the poem aloud, Joanna Hastings tapped her foot throughout and prefaced her performance by encouraging audience members to dance along if they wished.

As a reader, I focused on the section explaining that the salmon "wants to play in the whirling wind'" and "swim in the tumbling rain." It has been raining in Ann Arbor for months; next time I'm going to play in the rain instead of hiding inside. I think that might aid my spirit a bit too.

Julia Eussen is currently pursuing her M.A. at Eastern Michigan University in the Written Communication Program. She is also an Assistant Organizer for the Ann Arbor Classics Book Group. She can be reached at jeussen at emich dot edu.