It is early on 30 June, 2018, the eve of Canada Day. I have just arrived to work my booth at the Carleton Place Farmer’s Market where I serve my homemade keto treats, and sell Canadian elite supplements and Voxx neurotechnology. I am honestly in need of sleep after the previous week, including the high school graduation of my second son Keith, and my foolish sentimental notion to make a movie of his life, that I finished at 4 am on the day of the big event. At the farmers market, my cooler falls to the ground as I open the trunk to unload and several Pumpkin Pie treats are ruined on the dusty concrete. The wind is making sails of my banners, but I am ever so thankful of my neighbouring vendors who help me rescue them. No one stops by my booth initially and I feel disconnected and ironically a little lonely in this scenario. I am left to wonder “Why am I doing this?” Compared to my previous military career and its implied service, it is not always clear.
Clarity Comes in Different Forms
First, it is through some past and current grateful clients that come to share a hug. Second, it is through people I have never met before who come to tell anyone at my booth how the Voxx neurotech socks and insoles have improved their health. Third, it is through meeting those interested in nutritional counselling and we have enough time to recognize that we are a match and the journey has just begun together to optimize their health. Finally, it is through brief moments of connection. Two such moments stood out for me this particular Saturday.
The first came through an encounter with a fellow former military member, an ex-Airborne, Infantry soldier who retired to become an organic farmer (with a booth of his own at the market I learn). He earned his free keto treat with a Voxx stability test and we chuckled at how his dynamic stability was above average – is it a result of all the army fitness or a result of the labour required of an organic farmer? But what came next surprised me; he shared some personal challenges and we quickly connected at a heart level, as we so often do in the military family and especially within the wellness realm.
The second “connection” that stood out was a dynamic woman with her partner who affectionately remembered me as “The Keto Lady” from last season (funny, I think of myself as the Alkaline or Gluten-free lady who enjoys the odd Keto treat LOL). We Voxx test, she buys socks and enjoys her free treat. It was then that the deeper connection began. She hands me her business card. On it is her picture, her face in scuba gear and it says simply: “Explorer”. Now I am curious. I find out she is an underwater photographer and freelances for The Royal Canadian Geographical Society and is currently working on a film for climate change. She has just moved to our little town. Her next trip is to our Arctic shores – she risks her life for the love of nature. My hand extends and before I have time to process it, I say: “Thank you for Serving”. It was a moment alright – we both paused, reflected and noticed we were both fighting tears.
Expressing Gratitude
As the death and injury tolls rose during both the Bosnian and Afghanistan conflicts, this saying “Thank you for Serving” (or “your Service”) became more common place. I was on the receiving end of it myself several times, especially around Remembrance Day when I was in uniform and was honestly surprised by it. I was serving in the comfort of an office in Canada – nothing compared to the sacrifice of those in theatre. I did; however, put more hours in “at the office”, as so many of us did on the home front to support those troops deployed. My 3 brothers, my Dad and my husband all deployed to serve in these conflicts in one form or another and I spent many a month as a spouse-less parent, so I suppose I served and sacrificed, whether I recognized it or not.
Today I have shifted gears from the Air Force and serve another country – one without borders – called Mother Earth. With her resources misplaced, misused or abused, we are all witnessing her spike a fever of global warming. Her inhabitants’ health is suffering as a result with dis-eases increasing and species disappearing. As the hummingbird symbol I so proudly represent with my business, my mission as per the Legend of the Hummingbird is to bring one drop of water at a time to this current forest fire. Whether it’s effective is actually not the point. It’s the courage of conviction, persistence, effort, belief, compassion, leadership by example, etc. with each “drop” that might have more impact on human consciousness. If we could join in a spirit of oneness, could we reach the tipping point in human consciousness to evoke the change required? If we truly lived from our connected hearts, could we make the difference to the health of this planet and to her inhabitants?
So in doing my part, whether it’s one nutritional coaching session, Bars treatment, Raindrop therapy, recipe, menu plan, Voxx test, workshop, media interview, blog article or conversation at the Farmers Market, these are my “drops”. If I can convince someone to eat less genetically engineered or processed food, eat more plants and less methane producing animals (especially from cruel, confined living spaces), buy local produce or increase their health, fitness, joy and oneness consciousness – it is 1 drop closer to putting out that forest fire. Call me naïve (or a fan of superhero movies), but I function from the belief that helping someone reach their autopilot of health (where they don’t have to focus so much on it), they will have the energy and time to save the planet.
“You Can’t Give More Than You Can Receive”
Maybe it’s the nostalgia of Canada Day getting to me. But I want to do my part to recognize those that serve. If you serve or have served your country or the global “country” in an environmental fashion or even both (like my new ex-Airborne infanteer/farmer friend), please let me know when we meet so we can “connect” and I can thank you for your service with the offer to discount my services. As I recently learned firsthand from an amazing breast cancer/fibromyalgia survivor (whose neuropathy/pain was dramatically decreased from Voxx technology and then proceeded to give away socks to everyone that helped her on her breast cancer journey – and then won a free trip because of her generosity!), “You can’t give more than you can receive”.
Please help me gift more and thank you all for your service.
Photo: Pictured here 35 years ago with my Basic Training girlfriend Elisabeth who went on to serve in many roles herself as a brilliant engineer, including one of the first female engineers at Telesat Canada!
Auntie Laura – what an incredibly moving piece! Thank you for writing and sharing this <3 Wow I even got a bit choked up at parts. So beautifully said. I love that – the idea of serving the earth and our global community and honouring this service too.
Thank- you for your service! 🙂
Laura this blog brought me to tears! You are truly an inspiration, and your many many “drops” in life are certainly aiding in putting out the “fire”!
I too have days, with my newest venture, where I too feel I am not achieving my goals(it can feel quite frightening, and a bit anxiety riddled to tell the truth), but then I have a day like the one I had last Friday, and I too feel the drops falling! 😉
Quite simply, last Friday was a day where an 85 year old women was so happy to have her teeth cleaned in the comfort of her reclining chair in her retirement home that she gave me a big hug and asked me to join her for lunch in the dining room – I declined, and promised I would join her some day, truly feeling like I had made a new friend! I could see she was lonely, even though she was surrounded by other resident seniors and staff – she told me she “so missed her husband of 65 years, that passed away this past winter” ( I can’t begin to image how she feels) Secondly, that afternoon I spent time in a group home in Lanark, where seeing a couple of young clients that had very little success being seen in a dental office in the past ended with high-fives and smiles all around(including the parents and the care-givers)
I drove home that day with tears(happy tears!) in my eyes feeling that, even though it was only a few clients and the treatment was quite simple, I had made their lives a bit easier for just a few minutes of their day!
Keep doing what you do, Laura! You are truly inspiring me to make changes for the better in my own life, and in turn my clients get a better person providing care for them! Let’s all remember to continue to “pay it forward!”, as they say!
Carol
P.s. The Voxx socks help me with stability when leaning over clients that are in wheelchairs and home-recliner….sometimes very contorted working positions! 😉
Carol – my heart is full after reading your comments here. Thank you for taking the time to write this and for your touching story of your clients. My mom is in a nursing home so I can very much relate to how meaningful it must be (and less stressful) to have an engaging energetic dental hygienist like yourself treat them to cleaner teeth and educate on diet and lifestyle throughout. Like your business, I focus on quality not quantity and sometimes its easy to question the logic in that but when you touch someones life, there is no better feeling when they let you know. And touching their life, pays forward in some way…
I am tickled pink that you have incorporated so much of what you learned in the Alkaline workshop and seeing the results!! My first free talk at the library is scheduled for 11 Sep 18 on Gluten. If you can make it, hopefully it will inspire you just that more and translate some of that newfound knowledge to your clients as there is a teeth connection for sure with Gluten Sensitivity and Celiac. Xoxo
Arwen – coming from you this means a great deal. My understanding is that you have been working in Public Health for our indigenous population and your previous coops and work in Africa with the WHO and more – humbled to read your comments as you too have shared!