Abundance #10

Kirsten Scarcelli:

It's not really the food on our plate that nurtures, but the primary food around us, like what's going on with your relationships? Are you physically active? Do you have a spiritual life? So those are really the primary foods that feed us. So I think that's especially important during the holidays where we tend to get a little stressed, maybe a little overworked, doing too much.

Jonathan Laurence:

I mean, my father said it to me growing up when I was living out in Colorado and he came and he said, ah, it's really beautiful out here. You must love the mountains. I said, I do. And he goes, what are you gonna do? Because you were born in the mid co, you're never going to be able to leave. And I said, yes, I will. And then I found myself back there with this kind of thing where every day I'm like, he was so right. He was so right. I'm not going to be able to leave this area.

Dr. Rick Small:

If you've ever been in the situation where you don't know where the next meal is coming from, trust me, you can think of nothing else. Nothing else. It is survival.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Hello, this is Dr. Lisa Belisle. Welcome to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast for November 20th. Thank you for joining us. This week's theme is abundance. I speak a lot of abundance on my Bountiful blog, which we read every week. And abundance has a major theme in my life. We live in Maine, which is a place of great beauty. It offers us food that we actually grow ourselves and we cook ourselves, we prepare ourselves. It offers us places to hike and a strong sense of family and community. Maine is all about abundance and there is no better time of year to discuss this theme than our upcoming holiday season. This week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast, we will be speaking with Kirsten Scarcelli, who is training to be a holistic health coach with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. We will also speak with Ben Fowle of the Camden International Film Festival and Jonathan Lawrence of the Real Project. We will finish up with a conversation with Dr. Rick Small of the Good Shepherd Food Bank. Thank you for joining us this week on the Dr. Lisa Radio podcast as we explore the theme of abundance, we have a segment we have been calling Food and Sustenance. But my co host, Genevieve Morgan and I, we've decided we're gonna morph this into this deep dish because we like to dish. We like to dish, and it's not just about what you cook. It's about what you talk about and what's going on in your life. I always begin this conversation about the deep dish segment with our locally grown foods, which you get from the Whole Foods Market in Portland.

Genevieve Morgan:

And I cannot believe my eyes because we. I asked you to do a segment about this a couple weeks ago, and you, true to your word, are sitting

Kirsten Scarcelli:

here with a bunch of gourd.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, good gourd. Well, you know, a few weeks back, we had Halloween, and Halloween is sort of classic. Let's carve a pumpkin. Let's carve a. You know, here's our gourds. So this is what. We do this with our children, and we carve out and get the pumpkin seeds. We roast those up. Those are full of great nutrients, like zinc. We put a little, you know, full of fiber. We're a little past that now. And if you still have a pumpkin left that's laying around from Halloween, then I would highly recommend that it's compost time for you. But we now we have these gourds that they. They last forever. They. These gourds are like squashes for those of you who are wondering what gourds are. And, Jen, look at all the gourds that we have.

Genevieve Morgan:

Yeah, I see you're picking one up that's kind of bigger than a hand, but it's dark green. And I mean, this is one of the things that confuses me about gourds. How do you choose among them? So you have a variety over there?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I think about gourds. I think about sort of the winter squash and the summer squash. The summer squash is your zucchini and your. Well, summer squash or yellow summer squash. These gourds are basically your winter squash kind of family. We have a bunch of them. We have delicato. There's butternut, there's buttercup, and you have an acorn squash.

Genevieve Morgan:

I know that one.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, yes. We have all kinds. And in fact, the bag that we have from Whole Foods, our recyclable bag, it says. What does it say? Can you read?

Genevieve Morgan:

It says tasty select pumpkins.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Right.

Genevieve Morgan:

Locally grown?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, first quality. So Whole Foods, they like their gourds. I believe these came from the Little River Farm here in Maine. But there's also various farms that are supplying gourds. And the nice thing about gourds is they last well, well into the fall season.

Genevieve Morgan:

I think I might have one on my counter from last year actually.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, maybe you wouldn't want to use that one. But these gourds, it is a little hard to know which gourd is the best one for you to use. And this is why I kind of like to play with them. These smaller ones, these little delicata squash, these cook up nicely, but they're a little less easy to peel. They're also smaller. So the amount of work that you put into a little squash like this is going to be significant. It's going to have a significantly less, significantly less yield. I don't know if I said that right, but. So some of the bigger squash, they're going to be a little bit less sweet, but you're going to get more bang for your buck. And it's easy to cook these really, if you want to do it just straightforward Thanksgiving, you know, you cut them in half, you scoop out the seeds, you put them face down on a baking sheet. After you put a little, you know, olive oil or maybe some spray stuff on them and then you can, you know, leave them in the, I don't know, 450 degrees for an hour. I mean, it's very straightforward. Or you can flip them the other way. We actually have a recipe that we had provided through our website which includes wild rice. You stuff it with a little wild rice and some apricots or maybe some cranberries. That's sort of a pre cooked mixture and you put a little tin foil over the top of it and then you have essentially a really hearty main dish.

Genevieve Morgan:

And once you roast them, you can use the roasted flesh for other things. Right, like soup and.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, yep. And I had a good conversation actually with Barbara Galino over at Whole Foods a few weeks ago about just the use of. I think she was talking about butternut squash and making butternut squash soup because we, I was talking about pumpkin soup. She said, oh no, no, this is much easier. Use your butternut squash. And in fact, if you go to Whole Foods, there is a pre cut butternut squash. You Know, in a bag, if you really just don't have the time to do it any other way. And you can make a. But squash soup, she uses a little bit of maple syrup. She's talked to, she has kids who are a little older now. She uses that for the sweetener and she uses like pumpkin pie kind of spices. Maybe I'll have to get her recipe

Genevieve Morgan:

for it, but yeah, it sounds delicious.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, it's a way to get your kids to eat it and it tastes like eating a pumpkin pie. And then over time you can actually decrease the amount of sweetener that you put into the sweet kind of soup. And then the kids are like, are left liking this squash.

Genevieve Morgan:

Now you mentioned zinc and the pumpkin seeds. And I know one thing about different squash, they have very colorful flesh. And so that leads me to believe they're rich in nutrients, but I'm not exactly sure which nutrients are in the squash.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, they're pretty high in beta carotene. Anytime you have an orange or a yellow fleshed fruit or a vegetable, beta carotene is sort of top amongst them. And beta carotene has been shown to be good for a variety of things. One of the things that we know about is beta carotene is very important for eyesight. So this is why people always talk about eating their carrots and having good eyesight and night vision. I think that may be a little bit of a myth, the night vision piece. But we know that this is good for things like preventing macular degeneration. And just good, healthy eyesight is eating these beta carotene rich foods. This is one of the things that I like about squash. The other thing that I like about squash and gourds is that you can introduce it at a very young age for children.

Genevieve Morgan:

Oh, that's true. Because they're mushy.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, it's mushy. And instead of feeding your kids baby food from a jar, if you're sitting next to your child who's old enough, I'm not saying feed it to a two week old, but a child who's old enough to heat solid foods, you can actually give them what you're eating. So baby food from a jar, it kind of separates out what you eat versus what your child eats. If your child sees you eating squash off a plate and then they're being fed squash off a plate, then they're going to say, oh, that's what food is. And they're going to grow up understanding that there's really no delineation between what kids and adults eat within reason. This is, you know, I enjoy going to Whole Foods and kind of wandering around and seeing what they have.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, and we're starting to come on into the winter months, and I think there's a tendency to think that there's not much fresh out there, but clearly there's still plenty for us to indulge in and enjoy.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, there is plenty of abundance and we're happy to be talking about that today. Genevieve Morgan and I, we hope that you and your families are able to take some of these tips and put them to good use, whether it's Thanksgiving or upcoming other holidays. And we hope we can have a positive impact on your health through our deep dishing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We at the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast are pleased to be presenting a segment we call Wellness Innovations, which is sponsored by the University of New England. The University of New England has let us know about a very exciting event coming up at the Portland Museum of Art called Arab Spring American Winter. While the peoples of the Middle east are demanding the right to good education, health and employment, Americans battered by economic systems that elude most people's grasp seem to be resigned to a future without such rights. Professor Noam Chomsky, professor of linguistics at MIT and author of Hopes and Prospects, reflects on this irony. This event Takes place on December 12, 2011 and is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the UNE website www.une.edu. this week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast, we have the great pleasure of welcoming into our midst Kirsten Scarcelli. Thank you for coming in.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Thanks for having me on the show. Welcome everybody. Hello.

Genevieve Morgan:

Hi Kirsten.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Hi Jen.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And we all feel like we kind of know you a little bit because there's actually some personal connections which maybe Jen will talk about a little bit later. But I feel like I know you because as somebody who's really interested in food and wellness, you can always sense a kindred spirit. Let me talk a little bit about who you are. So Kirsten's lifelong passion for health, nutrition and wellness has brought her to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's currently enrolled in the Holistic Health Coach Certification Program and will be soon working with clients to support them in reaching their health and lifestyle goals and guiding them step by Step to lead the best life possible. Kirsten has recently completed a certification in Nordic walking, which she offers as a low impact full body wellness option for clients. I also happen to know that you have reinvented yourself multiple times. You have owned a restaurant and bakery, you have a line of designer clothing. So you are, you're a sensualist of the highest magnitude. Is that a fair estimation?

Kirsten Scarcelli:

That's a very good estimation. Yes. I've had.

Genevieve Morgan:

And a flexitarian.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

And a flexitarian. That's my latest goal. Yes. So I've had many reiterations of yourself.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes. Which is very appropriate because today we're talking about abundance and this is kind of our Thanksgiving ish theme for our show. And really abundance is about knowing what is around you and what. And it's not just food. It's, you know, the tastes, the smells, the, you know, the touches, the things that you can sort of incorporate into your life and the people. So talk to me a little bit about this theme of abundance and what that means to you.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Well, to me, I actually looked it up in the dictionary. That was my first thing. And it's really. The dictionary confines this as overflowing fullness. Now, the fullness, we don't mean necessarily full with food, but full with pleasure. How to approach people really thinking, emphasizing the positive in your life, the glass is always half full. So focus on that. Share generously of yourself during the holidays. Those are the things that people can do, do to be.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, we think about food when we think about Thanksgiving, but I think it's interesting that the first thing that you said was share generously of yourself during the holidays, not share generously of your turkey. So what types of things would you recommend to people who are looking to share generously of themselves? Where do you start?

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Reach out to people. Call a friend, call a neighbor, invite them. Maybe invite them for dinner or just for a walk, for a talk. Reconnect, you know, be present. Notice what's going around yourself.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I have a friend that is at, or actually spent time at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. And she spoke to me about how we feed ourselves. And it isn't just about food. That's what I think is so fascinating about where you're studying currently.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Absolutely. And we actually talk about that more than the secondary food. It's not really the food on our plate that nurtures us, but the primary food around us. Like what's going on with your relationships, how are you doing in that area? Are you doing well or do you need some improvement? Are you physically Active. Do you have a spiritual life? So those are really the primary foods that feed us. So I think that's especially important during the holidays where we, we tend to get a little stressed, maybe a little overworked, doing too much. So take a step back, excuse me. And really look what nurtures yourself. Because if you nurture yourself, you're there to nurture others.

Genevieve Morgan:

I have a question for both of you. Since you're both well versed and trained in nutrition, you read a lot about emotional hunger and emotional eating can. And I asked this actually of both of you. Can emotional hunger manifest as physical hunger?

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Oh, absolutely, I would think. I mean, Lisa, don't you agree?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Oh, yeah. I deal with this all the time in my practice and that is that people will come in and actually it goes both ways. It's all on the same spectrum. People will overeat because they're looking to sort of fill themselves and they'll under eat because somehow they've sort of taught themselves to starve over time because they aren't nurturing themselves, they aren't nourishing their own spirits. And it's all part and parcel of the same thing. That's why I've been so fascinated by these primary. The sort of. The primary.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Primary food. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Jen, you know why you're eating that tub of ice cream every night? Maybe you really need a hug or you need a different relationship. So absolutely they are connected.

Genevieve Morgan:

So what you're saying is that one of the ways you can not overindulge in food around the holiday season is to nurture yourself in other ways. So when you finally sit down at the table, you're already feeling. Is that sort of full?

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Yeah, you're feeling fooled up. You can sit down, sit down a minute. Appreciate your food, Appreciate the people that cook the food. One of the things you can really do, don't beat yourself up over the holidays. If you go to a friend's house and she made a lovely meal, eat it and it will nurture you. Rather than saying, now how many calories are in our pie? Or something. Have small portions, but enjoy it and thank whoever made it for you. Maybe you made it for yourself, who knows?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I think that's an important point because there is a little stress associated with the holidays, just in general, that for the, for a lot of people, the holidays are a time of getting back together with maybe family members that they might have been in disagreement with or estranged from or, you know, there's some sort of feelings that have been held on to. So we like to think of the holidays as being wonderful and abundant and. But this can be really stressful. Are there things that you suggest to people who are going back into a somewhat stressful situation situation to help them deal with their hunger?

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Well, first of all, never go to a party or to go hungry. So physically feed yourself as well. Drink lots and lots of water, stay hydrated. So when you arrive at an event or gathering, you're not arriving there famished. So you want to take care of your physical well being, but also maybe take a step back this year and say, how can I approach that person or the situation maybe a little differently? How do I feel about myself approaching this person? So if there's a little tension, look within yourself and say, well, maybe there's a different way to approach this. Rather than saying, you know, that Uncle Bob, he's always saying these things to me, so just look at it a little differently.

Genevieve Morgan:

Or in my family, the women always ask you how much you weigh.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What this is me over here being

Kirsten Scarcelli:

slightly shocked is that that would be very stressful.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It's extremely stressful. Oh my goodness.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Well, you could just say you don't know, you don't really wear. I mean, it's like. Or just turn it around and just say, well, just change the subject.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You know, I weigh as much as I love to be weighing or something like that.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Just don't just be somebody else. Doesn't mean you have to give them an answer.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, that's a good point. Boundaries. You know, when you think of abundance, you think of a cornucopia and this overflowing plate of things. But maybe part of abundance is good boundaries.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Absolutely. And that was actually one of the points I wanted to bring up. You don't have to go to every gathering that you're invited to. Send a nice card and say thank you and I will donate to the food bank or make a donation and thank you for inviting me, but I just couldn't make it this year.

Dr. Rick Small:

2.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Do you think that There has been too much emphasis placed on the things we shouldn't be eating because I. We talked about this in a previous show where I've been with a group of. I have a 15 year old. We have a group of girls that came over to our house and one of them didn't eat wheat and the other one didn't eat wheat or sugar and the other one didn't eat wheat or sugar or milk. Do you think maybe we've gotten a little extreme in our setting of boundaries? And if so, why?

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Well, first of all, there's an overabundance of food supply in our daily lives, so we don't even know anymore what's normal and what feeds us. I like to think of it as adding on and crowding out. So the things that don't work or that maybe I bad foods and they're really other than your coffee, soda and high fructose, whatever, there's no bad food in the sense whatever works for you, works for you, but sort of add on the good things. So don't make it about what doesn't work, make it about what feels good, what nourishes your body.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And this isn't to say that some people don't have a milk allergy, a wheat allergy, and it's not to disrespect the choice not to eat meat, for example, which for social reasons or health reasons. It's just that what you're saying is find other ways to sort of bring things into and put on your plate rather than always saying no.

Genevieve Morgan:

That's a good point though, actually what you guys are saying, if I'm hosting a holiday gathering or going to a holiday gathering and I have a food allergy or I've decided to not eat a certain kind of food, how do you go about that gracefully and how do you as a host honor those people's choices without getting exasperated? Because it can be exasperating when you have five guests and four of them have different food preferences.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Well, usually as a host I would ask my guests, do you have any allergies? Because like Lisa said, there are true allergies out there and would be harmful for people to eat that. Put a variety of your food out and then I think it's up to the individual to just say thank you, but I prefer not to eat that and just take it as that.

Genevieve Morgan:

So if we, as in my holiday situations, tend to feel a little overwhelmed and stressed, are there any practical solutions? You have to not only feeding ourselves well and nourishing ourselves but just taking better care of ourselves.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

A couple things. Sit a few moments quietly every day and just take a moment to reflect and breathe. Stay very well hydrated with water. So throughout the day you want to drink as much water as necessary for yourself. And a couple things that I like to do, especially during the holidays, is like a hot washcloth scrub. What you do, you fill the sink up with hot water and maybe use essential oil in it that you like. And just really give yourself a little scrub down, starting at your toes, all the way up, all the little crevices. And what it does, if you do it in the morning, it energizes you. If you do it at night, it will relax you. Just opens up your pores and your energy flows. So that's one way to take care of yourself.

Genevieve Morgan:

Sounds great.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm interested in this Nordic walking because you're talking about sort of crowding your plate with good things. Is this Nordic walking sort of crowding your life with good activities? Is that sort of the. Not crowding, but just putting good stuff in your life?

Genevieve Morgan:

Adding on, I think.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Adding on, yes. Crowding out the bad, adding on the good. For me, I love it. And I walk by Jen's house every morning.

Genevieve Morgan:

I see you. You don't know I'm watching you.

Ben Fowlie:

Right?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And this is one of the personal connections we were alluding to, you know, in Maine, we're a very small state.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

It's a very small state. And that's one of the pleasures. You get to know a lot of great people then. For me, the Nordic walking is the best exercise. Nordic walking is a form of fitness walking and cross country skiing. So you walk with two specially designed poles that have rubber tips on it. And what it does, it engages your whole body. So it's a total low impact workout. So you're walking your upper body, you're working like 90% of your muscles. You have increased heart rate using more oxygen. So there are lots of benefits. And also for people, I always say if you can hold two poles and you can walk, you can Nordic walk. So it's really good. If you have some back or hip or joint, it's very gentle on that. You might be a little overweight and just starting to want to lose weight. Great way to start.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm intrigued by all that you have to offer. How can people reach you right now?

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Best thing is by phone or email. A website is soon to come so

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

we can put your information on the doctoralisa website and people can then communicate with you that way.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

And I have to say I'm currently still a student, but come February, I'll be able to do this.

Genevieve Morgan:

Your certificate. Yes.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Thank you. I was going to say for real, but that's not very good.

Genevieve Morgan:

What is the name of your company?

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Nourish Yourself Now.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And your certificate is from the Institute for for Integrative Nutrition out of New York?

Kirsten Scarcelli:

That's correct, yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Kirsten, it's been great to talk to you. Thank you for coming in and talking with us about the theme of abundance. And we wish you a very abundant set of upcoming holidays.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Thank you, Dr. Lisa. And I wish it to both of you and to all the listeners out there. Thank you very much.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Today on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast, we have two very special guests with us, one of whom has driven a bit of a distance to be here. I met both of these individuals several weeks ago in Camden as part of a few events that were quite exciting and interesting considering this is Mid Coast Maine. So I can't wait to have Genevieve Morgan interview them as part of Maine Magazine Minutes. Jonathan Lawrence and Ben Fowley.

Genevieve Morgan:

Hi there, guys.

Jonathan Laurence:

Hello. Hello.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, I'm thrilled to meet you. Actually, I'm meeting you for the first time here, but I've been reading about you in the Maine Magazine magazine for about two years because we've been following you closely. I'm going to read to our listeners a little bit about you because it's sort of unbelievable how much you've managed to accomplish in your brief 30 years on the planet, but here goes. Well, Ben, you are the founder and director of the Camden International Film Festival, an annual documentary film festival that takes place each fall along the coast of Maine. The festival has been recognized as one of the top 20 festivals for documentaries in the world. And you're also the founder of Points North Forum, a conference component which runs concurrently with the festival and includes participants from HBO A&E, indie films, BBC, PBS, Sundance, and the Tribeca Film Institute. John, you are part of the REAL project spelled R E E L, which is dedicated to connecting people and transforming lives through art, technology, information and opportunity. You're also a photographer, a video artist, a visual artist, and a teacher at Maine Media Workshops in Rockport. So the two of you told me that you grew up together in Camden and you have been bringing the world to Camden. You have been photographing the world and bringing it back to Maine. So I want you to talk about how you got inspired to do this.

Jonathan Laurence:

So we both grew up in the Mid coast area and we're both skateboarders and actually that's how we hung out was skateboarding and snowboarding and I continued doing that for a while. My previous life was I was a professional snowboarder and I loved traveling and kind of went all over the place and did some fun things and then burnt out of snowboarding at a kind of not young age, but at 20 and decided to come back to Maine and kind of refocus life and always had a camera with me. And my passion was photography. So I'd gone to. When Maine Media had their college program, I did their two year college program there and then kind of catapulted myself into a career in photography. But still that love and passion of kind of seeing the world, but instead of being someone that's just experiencing it, it was being a part of it in a different way of capturing it and letting other people see the visions that you see out in the rest of the world. So that's my story.

Genevieve Morgan:

How about you, Ben?

Ben Fowlie:

As John said, I grew up in Camden. We did spend a lot of time skateboarding and snowboarding. He was much better at snowboarding than I was. I kind of had dreams of becoming a professional snowboarder, but ended up playing a lot of music and going to school in Boston for film. Film and after a lot of touring, realized that living in a van was not something I really wanted to do for the rest of my life. So at the same point, I've been going to a lot of film festivals and focusing on documentary and was trying to find a way to get into the industry without moving to LA and spend three or four or five, 10 years interning and kind of starting from the ground up. I really wanted to find a way to get back to Maine and get back to a community that I think was since 2005. So the creative economy was just kind of being talked about or the idea, the test of what is now. I think a very successful program was just bubbling up and seemed like a good opportunity to go back to a community that was supportive and try and put an event together, which has now become the Camden Film Festival. Just celebrated our seventh year about three weeks ago. So it's been nice to be able to grow professionally but also have some connection to a community that I really respect.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, there's a lot of talk about young people leaving Maine, but the two of you have just spoken about how you had this deep compulsion to come back to Maine and not really too far after graduation.

Ben Fowlie:

I mean, well, I think, you know, many factors that play into that. But I think, you know, for me, I have so many great connections from growing up in such a small community that I really consider, you know, people like John Lawrence and our friend Jake Dowling, who has a gallery in Rockland. Really close friends, closest friends you have. So obviously, when you're trying, when you're young and trying to figure out what you're, what you want to do with your life and you need support and you need, you know, help from many, many different people, talented people, you're obviously gonna go to a place where you have the most, you know, the most support. And for me, that was Camden. And if you look at our organization, for instance, you'll see that everyone involved, really, I've known, you know, for 15 to 20 years. It's probably one of the most local organizations, I think, in the entire state. So in that sense it's really refreshing to see whether people live here or not, they're still committed to, you know, the long vision of the mid coast area.

Genevieve Morgan:

Can you speak to what is it about our state that kind of feeds artists, whether they end up staying, leaving, coming back. Even the ones that leave tend to come back and continue to create here.

Ben Fowlie:

I think it's a combination of a couple different things. For one, even I think a lot of people look to Portland and the whole thing that's going on here when you're removed from this state and they think of the whole food scene. You go to Brooklyn and everyone's leaving Brooklyn to have kids and open up a new restaurant in Portland. But I think it's the approach to craftsmanship and that's like across all different art forms. For instance, my, I guess my brother in law, my sister's husband is a carpenter and he would never consider himself an artist. But I mean, the work that he makes is, you know, hands down. You don't see that in many places. There's a real. I think it's the approach towards, towards how you or how you approach your craft, whatever it is, and the desire to really spend the time necessary to understand what you're doing and do it at a really high level. And also the other concept is the lack of distractions. I think in cities that's an interesting point. Everything needs to be done quickly. When it's a faster paced environment, you want to get here to there. You don't want to waste time with letting someone spend two weeks or two months on your kitchen or whatever. But here the concept is quality over anything else.

Jonathan Laurence:

The lack of distractions, I think is a huge one. And also just in so many ways, kind of the Ease, not ease of life. And it's an easy living in Maine, but just kind of there's nothing keeping you from. If you want to just go and paint for a day or make work, it's, you know, it's pretty easy just to do. So there's no one pulling you away. You don't have to take the train to go buy your paint supplies and then take the train back, carry plywood on the subway. You know, it's not this whole mission. I mean, if you get inspired, you can kind of go get the materials you need quickly. And it's just also an inspiring landscape.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, and John, you were talking about how it was important for you to be a little rural. So nature must play a part in that as well.

Jonathan Laurence:

It does. And I think it's nice, you know, when you have that ability to leave the state and see, you know, other cities, other towns, other places, you know, other countries. But then, you know, you realize that where you live is one of the most beautiful, remarkable places. And, I mean, my father said it to me growing up when I was living out in Colorado, and he came and he said, oh, it's really beautiful out here. You must love the mountains. I said, I do. And he goes, what are you gonna do? Because you were born in the mid coast, you're never gonna be able to leave. And I said, yes, I will. And then I found myself back there with this kind of thing where every day I'm like, he was so right. He was so right. I'm not gonna be able to leave this area.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Don't you hate it when your parents end up being right?

Jonathan Laurence:

They're always right. They're always right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

My children hate that.

Jonathan Laurence:

So, yeah, they're so right. And you just gotta, you know, brush it aside until you're older. And you just tell them you're like, right.

Genevieve Morgan:

Ben Every year you get an abundance of submissions, and you have to pick the films you're going to exhibit. John, Every day you're seeing, you're bombarded with images, and you have to pick the one that you're going to capture and show to your audience. So it's similar and different. And I'm wondering about your process, how you both. I'm sure it's individual.

Jonathan Laurence:

I think, you know, Talking about abundance, it's really tough. I mean, I probably take on average, at least five photos a day with my iPhone and upload them to my blog. Sometimes I don't feel inspired by what's around me, or maybe it's the mood that's different. But, you know, I think for me, the outlet that's helped me with, you know, kind of visually separating things is, you know, kind of the mobile upload and the blog and kind of just keeping this ongoing running thing, feeding the monster content. So you're always thinking, visually, seeing, visually sharing, getting feedback. What people are responding to, what they're not responding to. Allows you to keep focused on your craft, but at the same time not feel the need to be really technical. Sometimes with your big DSLR and going out there and feeling the need to be, well, I need to make this project happen right now because there's the simple things, the everyday things that you see that you respond to. They might not be the ones that you put in a gallery, but they're the ones that, you know, it's that light that's kind of impressions. Yeah, it's that. That emotional response to some kind of. Some scene that you. You might look at or just something that's kind of funny or humorous or, you know, the world's fun.

Genevieve Morgan:

Find the jewels.

Jonathan Laurence:

Yeah, those great little things.

Genevieve Morgan:

And how about you, Ben?

Ben Fowlie:

Well, I think, you know, it's funny because the way we approach it is so much different. And what I love about John and how he works is just that the amount of images that he produces and how it all. It kind of washes over you. But then every once in a while, you get this one image that you just can't get out of your head. And I've always respected the sincerity to how he approaches. I couldn't do it. I mean, for me, my approach is I kind of go off the radar for like nine months and sit in my. Sit in my apartment and watch three to 400 movies a year and don't really talk to anyone about them. Constantly looking for 20 of them that I think will, you know, will play well or will work well. And, you know, for better or for worse, I'm not sure if that's the right approach.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, I don't think there is a right approach. It's just interesting to see how. Because you both have to do the same thing in your careers, but just in a very different way.

Ben Fowlie:

Yeah, you know, we're both in the visual field, I think. I consider myself, you know, the festival is many different things. But I do consider myself a programmer. And a programmer is just someone who is trying to construct a program.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

A curator.

Ben Fowlie:

A curator of sorts. So the festival. So for instance, it's a combination, our program is consistent, of an open call for submissions, which we get about 3 to 400 a year from all over the world. And then I travel a lot to other festivals and get to hand pick certain ones that I think will do well lately. When I first started the project, I always wanted to see as many films as I could with audiences. And I think that's changing. As you get a little older, you realize that there's many different ways that audiences can manipulate your connection to the work in a positive or negative way. And I think what I have here in Camden is the ability to program whatever I want. And there's very few options like that. We're very lucky in the sense that we don't have the stipulations that other larger international or other huge corporate based festivals have where their programming has to be very. They have a strict kind of guidelines. They have. This year, for instance, we screened some work that was very challenging and you had people that didn't quite know what to make of it. There was a lot of lines blurring between what is reality, what is fiction, what is documentary. And I like the concept of trying to throw as much as I can at people in four days and have them kind of like, hopefully leave with their head spinning, having a good time, but coming back to some of the concepts that are integral to the program that I put together.

Genevieve Morgan:

Right. So they walk away actually talking about what's going on. Whether they hate it or love it, they have a strong reaction.

Ben Fowlie:

And the greatest compliment I can get is from someone that said, I really didn't like that movie. But I'm still thinking, thinking about it a year later or whatever it is.

Genevieve Morgan:

And that I think is something that artists would like with their work as well. So, John, tell me a little bit about Maine Media Workshops.

Jonathan Laurence:

Maine Media Workshops is kind of a fantastic little retreat. I love watching students come in there, no matter what age they are, and entering into some place that is definitely going to change their life and in some way shape or form transform my life. And I love being a teacher there and allowing people to get that aha moment where all of a sudden they're just. They click and they get something in their head that they've never gotten before. And, you know, just the ability to share ideas with people and allow them to, you know, just kind of break the box down. That they've built up around themselves, perhaps. I mean, I teach a. I used to teach a teaching class, so teaching teachers. And it was always really fun to teach that class. And you see veteran teachers that have been teaching for years and years and years, and they've gone through the whole black and white darkroom thing. Their schools have cut that because the financial costs are now on digital. They've never really had a background in digital. And you start talking about new concepts, new ideas that you can do that teach students, you know, all these different kind of narrative threads or workflow kind of threads, and you see them kind of like their eyes and their brains just start to swell. And, you know, by the time Friday comes around, you know, they're just, you know, this hot air balloon just kind of floating. And it's a great feeling, you know, to watch people kind of have that transition. I'm sure Ben feels that, you know, when people walk away from the film festival and they've had their life kind of something impact and it's no longer going to be be the same, you know, they've been hit by some kind of thought or question.

Genevieve Morgan:

So for our listeners out there, if they would like to make a submission to the Camden Film Festival or come take a workshop at Main Media Workshops, how do they go about doing that?

Ben Fowlie:

Well, for the festival, it's an open call for submissions, which opens up this year on December 1st and will be open for submissions through about July 1st. It is a kind of a rolling fee based on when you submit. There's a few different deadlines, but we do encourage, you know, as many main filmmakers, experimental filmmakers, documentary filmmakers to submit because we do have a thing called the Made in Maine Showcase, which is about two and a half days of really amazing work that we've seen over the past seven years. Really, really continue to develop and grow. One of the main things about the festival is we really want to open professional opportunities and doors for the filmmakers working here regionally.

Genevieve Morgan:

That's great to know about. And John, what about Maine Media Workshops?

Jonathan Laurence:

If you're interested in taking a workshop at maine media, it's mainmedia.edu, and you can either download the catalog and PDF form or browse everything online. And there's a lot of different workshops, so.

Genevieve Morgan:

Great. So we encourage all of you out there to check it out.

Jonathan Laurence:

Yeah. At least just browse, browse and get inspired.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, I think you guys have blazed a trail and I think all of your efforts will benefit all of us right now, but also all those upcoming visual artists and movie makers and writers and storytellers and screenwriters that are growing up in our state right now. So thank you both for coming on for the Maine Magazine Minute. It's been such a pleasure.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And where can we find out more about you?

Ben Fowlie:

Well, you can find out more about the festival and what we do@camdenfilmfest.org that's fest, not festival.

Jonathan Laurence:

And you can Find me Jonathan Lawrence.com L A U R E N C

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

E and you can find out more about the real project there too, which we didn't really talk about, but it's pretty fascinating.

Jonathan Laurence:

Or you can find out about the real, real project just by going to therealproject.org r e e L and you can find out all about the Artist Giving Back program that we've been working on and kind of the continuing work in the Congo.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you're both on Facebook.

Jonathan Laurence:

We're both on Facebook and we will

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

link through the Dr. Lisa website. So there should be many avenues which will get people to where you are.

Ben Fowlie:

Wonderful.

Jonathan Laurence:

Thank you.

Genevieve Morgan:

To read more about Ben Fowley, the Camden International Film Festival, Maine Media Workshops and Jonathan Lawrence, please visit us online@themainmag.com Our November December 2011 issue features new articles on other inspiring artists and entrepreneurs living in our state. Subscribe@mainmag.com or pick up an issue at your local newsstand.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Each week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast, we read a quote from the book Our Daily Tread. This week's quote is from Winston Churchill. You may make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give. The organization Safe Passage is all about giving. This was how this was. This organization was founded by my late college classmate Hanley Dunning, and it is the organization which I will be visiting this week in Guatemala City. If you're interested in learning more about the organization Safe Passage, go to safepassage.org or visit the islandportpress.com website and buy a copy of our Daily Tread, which is a perfect gift for this time of year. And in fact there is a special holiday promotion. You will find that our Daily Tread is discounted for a very short time so that you can buy as many copies as you can see would like to give back to your own family and friends.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

each week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast, we feature a segment we call Give Back in recognition of the fact that wellness is not just about the individual, but about about the wellness of the community and the world at large. And in our Give Back segment, we invite guests that talk about the ways that they or their organizations are giving back. Today's guest is Rick Small. And Genevieve Morgan and I are happy to have you in the studio.

Genevieve Morgan:

Rick, good to see you.

Dr. Rick Small:

Thank you.

Genevieve Morgan:

Hi, Rick. It's exciting to have you here, especially right before Thanksgiving.

Dr. Rick Small:

Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah. This is our abundance themed show. So it's very appropriate that you're here because you are the CEO and president of the largest hunger relief organization in Maine, which is the Good Shepherd Food Bank. This organization provides for those at risk of hunger by soliciting and distributing surplus food to more than 600 partner agencies. Since 1981, the Food bank has partnered with individuals, businesses, and farmers to alleviate hunger and build community relationships. In 2010, the Food bank distributed 12 million pounds of food to families and individuals throughout Maine. Rick, this is impressive. You're doing a great job.

Dr. Rick Small:

Well, thank you. Yeah, well, you know, it's not just me, so there's a lot of people working at this all over the state. And the agencies, the people that actually feed the meals or pass it out to those in need are numberless. They work long time and they're all volunteers. So my hat goes to those people in each local community that we supply, and we supply nearly every community in the state.

Genevieve Morgan:

£12 million, that's a lot of food. That means there are a lot of hungry people out there.

Dr. Rick Small:

£12 million is a big chunk. I can't imagine how big a pile that would make. But it's a lot of food. And yeah, it is a lot of food, except it's a lot less than what we really need. We probably need twice that.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And that was 2010. It's 2011. And Genevieve and I, we talked to Mark Swan from Preble Street. He said that the numbers of people in need are increasing dramatically. Has that also been your observation?

Dr. Rick Small:

Absolutely. Mark's right on the money. We've seen anywhere between a 30 and 50% increase each year for at least the last three years of those number of people coming to Mark's establishments. And Many others around the state. And some of these people are the ones who never expected to be there. They are the ones that we used to call the middle class. And I'll tell you how this works. Mainers are a bit stubborn sometimes and they could be your neighbors. These folks now they have to keep the house because they got a worse problem. If they don't, they have to keep the cars because most of them are working and have children. Everything looks good in your neighborhood, but it might not be. And about those Mainers, they're not going to come next door and tell you about it. So, you know, that's a situation that's pretty common around this state right now.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, and it's interesting because a couple of shows ago we had Major General Bill Libby of the Maine National Guard and also Chaplain Andy Gibson, and they both said the same thing. Mainers are stubborn and they don't necessarily want to talk about their problems. And they were talking about military Mainers and military families. But I think that there is this sense of I should be able to do this on my own. I should be able to be self sufficient. But sometimes we all need a little bit of help.

Dr. Rick Small:

That's right.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, and the thing about food is you have to eat it every day and you have to eat it several times a day. It's not like a donation of a blanket that can be reused.

Dr. Rick Small:

That's true. And you need a constant source that's not available for a lot of adults. But even our children, and in fact, in fact, the children of this state are in real trouble. 24.6% of all the kids in this state don't have enough food. That's one in four kids.

Genevieve Morgan:

That's shocking.

Dr. Rick Small:

It is.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And that's what they call food insecurity. Where they.

Dr. Rick Small:

Food insecurity. Yeah, we don't have hunger anymore. It's called food insecurity in the United States. And what that means is there are actually two levels of food insecurity. One is you either don't know where your next meal is coming from or you don't know where the next three or four meals are coming from, which to me doesn't make much difference. And if you've ever been in that situation, and many of us have been, if you've ever been in. In the situation where you don't know where the next meal is coming from, trust me, you can think of nothing else. Nothing else. It is survival and it is important that you have food. And when you don't have it, it's an Awful, awful thing.

Genevieve Morgan:

Schools and other places around the state tend to have holiday food drives. But what you're really saying is that this, this is a constant need throughout the year.

Dr. Rick Small:

Absolutely.

Genevieve Morgan:

So in addition to food drives and donating food, what else can people do to help you do your job?

Dr. Rick Small:

Well, you know what's really nice is when you do a food drive and you bring us pounds and even tons of canned goods and non perishable items that we can distribute. That's wonderful. But if you had to go to the store to buy those things, bring them to us. Here's another thought. For every dollar that you bring us, we can turn that into $8 worth of food. So it may feel better to go to the store, spend the money and bring the food to us. But if you bring the dollars to us, we can multiply that by eight. So it would be much more helpful to raise the money and give us. In fact, why don't you do both? Bring us the can.

Genevieve Morgan:

I like that approach.

Dr. Rick Small:

Yeah. Bring us stuff and bring us the money too. So that works. That works.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How can people find out more about your organization?

Dr. Rick Small:

This stands for Good shepherd food bank. Gsfb.org you can go that way. You can call our our main offices in Auburn and The number is 782-3554. Want me to repeat that? Yes, you do. 782-3554.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We can tell you've done this before.

Dr. Rick Small:

I have, yes, once or twice.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, we appreciate your coming in and talking to us. You're doing good work. You're bringing in the abundance. You're redistributing it. We wish you all the best with this.

Dr. Rick Small:

Thank you.

Genevieve Morgan:

And I hope that we are able to grow our own and feed our own in the very near future.

Dr. Rick Small:

I believe we can. Thank you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Every week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast, we conclude our show by reading from the Bountiful blog. I began this blog in 2008 as a means of learning how to feed myself physically. And as I've said before, it became a means of feeding myself emotionally and spiritually. A means of nourishing myself. One of the themes that I discussed on an ongoing basis, which is related to the theme of abundance, is love. This blog post from May 22, 2011 is about that very theme. Easy it is to love some people, much harder to love others. Many of us pride ourselves in our ability to be loving. We are generous in offering our affection to those around us who we believe may be deserving. Our friends, our family members, our close colleagues. Yet when we are faced with those who challenge us, we turn away, and I must sheepishly count myself among this. We justify this behavior by reminding ourselves of how loving we already are. We tell ourselves that we are merely preserving our love to make it more readily available for the more worthy people in our lives. But love in its highest form is incapable of being fully spent. It is ever abundant. Each of us has an infinite capacity to care for others. Love, as it turns out, is a choice we may offer or withhold it. One of the world's great spiritual leaders suggested that we love our neighbors and in fact love our neighbors as ourselves. This gives us some latitude, depending upon how we define neighbor. Using the literal definition, a neighbor is one with whom we live in close proximity. Taking a more global approach, it is possible to understand that all humans are our neighbors. Every single one. It is not having love to give that stymies us. It is giving the love that we have. Loving, whether easy or hard, is ever possible, because love, whether we realize it or not, is ever abundant. Read more posts about love, abundance and other themes on bountifulpath.com this week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast, we discoursed on the theme of abundance. We began with our discussion on feeding ourselves physically, emotionally, spiritually, and being a part of something bigger, being emotionally connected and nourishing those around us and ourselves. In our discussion with Kirsten Scarcelli, we continue the theme of abundance with Ben Fowley of the Camden International Film Festival and Jonathan Lawrence of Real as. We brought in the notion that Maine is a state of great abundance, of great talent, of great beauty. And we came back again around to the idea of nurturing ourselves and others with Dr. Rick Small of the Good Shepherd Food Food Bank. Ultimately, all of this is about love. It's about loving ourselves enough to feed ourselves physically and emotionally. It's about loving those around us, as difficult as it may seem. It's about giving what we can, giving what we have, giving who we are and being happy to do so. I thank you for listening this week and every week. This is Dr. Lisa Belisle. Thank you for being part of our world. May you have a bountiful life.

Kirsten Scarcelli:

Sa. Sam.