This month marks our 2nd anniversary publishing Natural Awakenings for Wayne County, and I am astounded at what an amazing experience it has been. I am blessed to work with such an awesome group of people. I have a tremendous amount of gratitude for all the local businesses and advertisers who help us reach more and more readers each month. The very best part, however, is hearing from readers themselves. When someone calls or emails to tell me that an article or a practitioner that they connected with has made a difference for them, or changed their life for the better, it’s really a thrill, and I know that what I’m doing makes a difference. That’s the stuff that gets me out of bed every morning. My husband David teases me that I fall in love over and over again. I’ll come home all excited about a new business owner that I met and all the connections that we have, and what I can do to help them grow their business. I have to admit, this happens several times per week, but I can’t help but to be excited when I find out about the amazing things that are happening in and around Wayne County’s healthy living community.
We’re excited about our first Healthy Living Detroit Downriver Expo on Saturday, April 2nd. It’s helpful to have so many healthy living and green service providers all together under one roof where attendees can interact and learn more about all the products and services that are available so close to home. Special thanks to all the vendors, speakers and presenters who joined with us to make this happen. I look forward to meeting more of our readers and attendees and providing an opportunity for them to learn more about creating a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.
It’s an honor to help support the Local Motion organization. This year marks its fifth year of Earth Day Fair. Check out more on the back cover of this month’s issue. This organization is doing an amazing job with outreach into the community with wonderful workshops and programs.
This past New Year’s Eve, my husband and I attended the overnight party at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat & Conference Center and we had a wonderful time. One of the other couples that we met told us about a mission that meets every Saturday morning in the Cass Corridor area of Detroit to help feed and clothe the homeless. It’s called the Peanut Butter & Jelly Ministries. We were really inspired by this, and I happened to mention it to my sister Beth who lives in Lapeer. She told some women about it at the Curves location that she belongs to and they decided to put up a sign and box to start collecting donations and provided me a hefty load to take there. Bernie at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Plymouth accepted the donation for drop off and I learned more, too, about the church’s mission and what they’re doing to help. So that’s ‘the rest of the story’ (as Paul Harvey would say) behind the news brief item on pg 10.
Big things can often start with small actions. I hope that we can all continue to be open and receptive to doing what we can do, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem at the time, because you just never know all the lives that you can touch with your actions.
Thanks for sharing in my Natural Awakenings journey.
All the best~
Mary Anne
