Cultivating Community #37

Arlin Smith:

We become really close with some farmers and we deal with all farmers, some that are far away, some that are really close to us. A lot of restaurants can be disconnected from where their food is coming from. We go to that farm, they come to us. We know their family, we know what's going on in their life. That changes so much when you're cooking it.

Paul Knoll:

Well, I think we're all born with this gift of intuition. I think Western civilization unfortunately does a really good job of encouraging many of us to shut it down and not live with it.

Michelle Goldman:

Well, I'd like to broaden people's exposure to the power of food to improve well being and to really empower people to improve their own health. And so I envision a much broader footprint in Maine and beyond of people who are taking classes and getting exposed to this information and bringing it to their homes and their families and friends.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Hello, this is Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast Show Number 37 airing for the first time on May 27, 2012. The name of our show is Creating Community. And with me Creating Community today is my co host and wellness editor for Maine Magazine, Genevieve Morgan.

Genevieve Morgan:

Hi Lisa, how are you today?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm great and I'm very much looking forward to the guests that we are having on with us. Our first guest will be Arlen Smith, who's one of the new owners of Hugo's, the restaurant that I think you have also been to down here not too far away from where we're taping our show.

Genevieve Morgan:

I have, I have been there a

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

long time ago and it's a great restaurant so we're very excited to have Arlon with us. Also Paul Knoll from Trust yout Spirit And Michelle Goldman, the founder of Sea Change Cooking School. So it's a pretty great lineup today.

Genevieve Morgan:

I'm excited to hear what they have to say. I'm also interested in this topic because community is something that we talk about as it pertains to wellness. And I don't think that's something that many people think of when they think of being. Well, they think of it as an individual pursuit. But that's something that you've really brought to life in your practice is this idea of the individual moving outwards into the community and how wellness spreads that way. So it's fascinating that we're doing a show on the topic.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes. And they each have their own way of creating. They are each in the process of creating communities in their own way. So I think for me, I think of public health and preventive medicine. And this is part of my western medical background is, you know, I have a background in family medicine. I have another fellowship in preventive medicine. But I also have a degree in public health. So I can't not think about health and wellness without thinking of community.

Genevieve Morgan:

It's true. And I also know that from my own excursions into the wellness world, that one of the biggest predictors of success when you go on a fitness program or a diet or just some kind of lifestyle change is buddies, fellow minded creatures who are doing it at the same time. It's one of the huge. It's why Weight Watchers work so well. Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And it's also one of the biggest predictors of, let's call it lack of success. There's actually an infectiousness that they know occurs whether it's obesity or whether it's smoking. I mean, those, even though we don't think of them as infectious diseases, they truly are. People are more likely to smoke if they have close friends or relatives who themselves smoke.

Genevieve Morgan:

And the same way I am testimony to that. Can I tell you, my freshman year at Bowdoin, I was a vegetarian and then I moved in with two girls and all we did was eat Domino's Pizza for an entire year. I gained 15 pounds.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, so you're the freshman 15. But then subsequent to that, I did

Genevieve Morgan:

take it off actually later on, maybe by the end of sophomore year.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And was it because you had joined a more appropriate community or your community had changed in some way?

Genevieve Morgan:

My community had changed. I was back at Bowdoin. In my day there were still fraternities and I made new friends and joined a fraternity and we had a great cook. I'm going to shout out to Vinnie Mattson here, because he's in Maine. And I started eating three meals a day, healthy meals, and stopped snacking in between. And certainly no late night dominoes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, Bowdoin's a very good example of an institution that has recognized the importance of wellness and community. And I'm not sure what the food was like. You were there just sort of slightly before. I was maybe overlapping for a year. Yep. So I graduated in 92 and Bowdoin had great food then. It has great food now. It really emphasizes the importance of local, fresh and sustainable food for their students.

Genevieve Morgan:

And I think it's important to highlight that period of time because many people look back on their college years as some of the best times of their lives. And part of it was because they were having a shared experience in a communal place and going through the same things. And I know for you, probably the same thing, you would meet at the Union and have your tea and talk with your friends. And we were all really immersed in community. And it was a huge bonding experience that goes on for the rest of your life.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's right. I think people, they tend to be parts of different communities, whether it's the place that they live in or whether it's a virtual community, whether it's a community of musicians or artists or the people that they work with. We're always creating, actually what I've heard called before tribes. And not Indian tribes or Native American tribes, but just tribes, groups of people that sort of resonate, we resonate with.

Genevieve Morgan:

And they're crucial to your survival, to one's survival, I should say.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

They absolutely are. And it's interesting because the people that we have coming in today are going to talk about creating community and being parts of tribes in sort of very interesting ways. Arlen Smith from Hugo's is going to talk about sort of his front, what he calls the front of the house experience and also the back of the house experience. Front of the house is sort of the maitre d and the waitstaff and the people who sort of bring the food out there and make it a great place to eat and actually make the food itself more attractive to the people who are eating it. So he'll talk about that. Paul Knoll from Chester Spirit, he's done this very interesting project out in the Pownall Durham area where he's bringing people onto a piece of land and encouraging them to be healed by the earth.

Genevieve Morgan:

I know, I've read about him. He sounds so incredible.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah. And he's a good takeoff on the Ted Carter show that we had the landscape architect that we had come in and talk about the sense of place and the importance of nature in creating community.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, I always think about what you say about the macrocosm of the microcosm.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, yes.

Genevieve Morgan:

I think he's a great example of that.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Absolutely. And then Michelle Goldman from Sea Change Cooking School, and she has such an interesting story. I met Michelle, she's a friend of one of my good friends, Sarah, and I knew her first because I actually taught her. I taught a class, a cooking class that Michelle came to and she remembered this and we reconnected through Sarah and I sat down and talked with her and she's got this interesting Harvard, Northwestern mba, very thoughtful, analytical marketing. But then she also had her own personal health issues that she dealt with and she chose to start creating a community around the food that she sought to help heal herself.

Genevieve Morgan:

Restorative foods.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Absolutely. So there's different ways that you can create community and it's whether it's sort of within your family, within the people that you go to Bowdoin with or college with, whether it's people that you cook with or the restaurants you go to, there's all kinds of different communities or tribes that we can be a part of.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, and I hope that the listeners out here feel that they're becoming part of our community because I know that that's important to you and it's important to me that we're creating our own community over the airwaves.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's a very good point. And it is very important because I don't think that any of us who are doing this show do it because we think of it as a performance. We think of it as building a group of like minded individuals who all care deeply about wellness and about the wellness of our planet, our community. I hope that people do continue to listen and be a part of our world. Each week on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast, we feature a segment we call Wellness Innovations, which is sponsored by a very innovative place, the University of New England. This wellness innovation comes from the American Journal of preventive medicine, April 2012. The neighborhoods in which children and adolescents live and spend their time play a role in whether or not they eat a healthy diet, get enough exercise or become obese. In the April 2012 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, they examine ways in which computer based GIS systems can help prevent childhood obesity and might one day enhance understanding of the complex and dynamic connections between people, their health and their physical and social environments. Rural youth get the largest proportion of their physical activity while at school. Urban and suburban youth are most active when commuting. This finding suggests that the walk to school might be just as important to some children's health as the physical education they receive as part of the school curriculum. It is also important given that adolescent health behaviors are predictive of behaviors in adults. For more information on this Wellness Innovation, visit drlisabelisle.com for more information on the University of New England, visit une.edu.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Today on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast, we are pleased to have with us Arlyn Smith, who is one of the new owners of Hugo's Restaurant, a very well known and loved Portland restaurant which I ate at not too long ago, had a fabulous meal and then soon after that learned that it was going to be changing hands. Congratulations.

Arlin Smith:

Thank you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And thanks for coming in and talking to us.

Arlin Smith:

It's a pleasure.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Arlen, you're 29 years old. I mean, yes, because I said, arlen, you seem young. And you said, well, what's young? And I said younger than me and you said 29. Well, yep, that's young.

Arlin Smith:

So that's a trick question.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, well, it is. Okay. And I'm young at heart anyway, but 29 and you own a restaurant. And this. How did this come about?

Arlin Smith:

It was soon to be two restaurants, but Rob and Nancy, who've owned Hugo's for the last 12 years, I came on as a manager with them three years ago right after Rob won the James Beard Award. So it was like a key time. We were really busy. Busy that I didn't really feel. I didn't really understand how busy it was because coming from New York, I just moved here, took the job and then working with them for a while, fell in love, loved what they do, loved what Rob does for this community, how we stepped up with share our strength. So a lot of things happened while we were there. And then shortly after I was there, they decided that they wanted to sell the restaurant. They approached us, I say us as my partners now, which Andrew Taylor and Mike Wiley. And we were like, well, that's great. You know, he wants to take a step away. And they wanted to continue doing duck fats and we were going to be a part of that. And then we're thinking about it. And as time went on, I was like, well, who else better to sell it to than the people who've been running it to continue it? So I had no wants of having a restaurant right now. It just kind of fell in place. And then we said, well, let's see if we can raise some money and do this. And that happened fairly quickly. And then everything just snowballed. And the Rabelais space next to it, their lease was up. Now we cherish Rabelais. Sam and Don, they did so much for this community, so much for us. They represented so much. And we kind of feel like we're passing that on as well, because that space is something that is cherished by a lot of food people in this community. So we're opening an oyster bar in that space. So, like I said earlier, two restaurants.

Genevieve Morgan:

And let me just say that Rabelais was a beloved bookstore in downtown Portland for the food and slow food community really brought. And now they're in Bideford.

Arlin Smith:

Yeah, they're down in Biddeford with a huge space, and they're in love, and we stay in touch.

Genevieve Morgan:

So nothing's ended. It's just changed.

Arlin Smith:

Exactly, yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Now the area that your restaurant is located in has just experienced this amazing renaissance.

Arlin Smith:

Yeah, they're calling it the food gateway now, or I don't know what it is, just because there's so many restaurants lined up. And I think the knocking down of the old Jordan's Meat Factory played a huge part in that. It was always dark and gloomy. No one wanted to go down there. Late night, there was no lights down there. But now that that space has opened up and there's brick sidewalks, it's much more inviting.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So what is it about food that you think has such a strong impact on building community?

Arlin Smith:

Well, it's the basic essential of what all of us do every single day. Well, hopefully all of us do. When you sit down with someone, whether it's just two people or a gathering of, you know, 20 to 30, everyone's enjoying the same thing at the same time. One of the biggest things I love to do is opening up large formats of wine or beer, like just the community that that brings to the table and a big roast, for instance. I think doing that in a community, you know, you start learning about things that are right next to you, too. Maybe you really didn't realize was going on.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Like what?

Arlin Smith:

You know, for instance, having dinner with Sam and Don, Just regular thing that we do as friends. And you could be sitting there and they'll start telling you about, well, this person's in town.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And Sam and Don are.

Arlin Smith:

Sam and Don, the owners of Rabelais, which is now in Biddeford. Like they just threw that movie for Gyro Dreams of Sushi that they hosted at Space Gallery. And unless you're connected to the social pipeline at all times or always connected to these types of happenings, you wouldn't know it. So sitting with people that you normally wouldn't be sitting with and learning about all these cool things that are going on, I guess that's an example that I could give.

Genevieve Morgan:

I like that idea of shared experience being the basis of community. I think that's very astute.

Arlin Smith:

Yeah. And I think the farms have helped us do that too. Like we become really close with some farmers and we deal with all farmers. I mean, some that are far away, some that are really close to us, but we've, we've built relationships with some

Paul Knoll:

that,

Arlin Smith:

that side of it. Like a lot of restaurants can be disconnected from where their food is coming from. And now that food, we go to that farm, we, they come to us, we know their family, we know what's going on in their life. That changes so much. When you're cooking it, do you still

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

get a chance to be involved in the food and the preparation of the menus?

Arlin Smith:

Oh yeah, every day. I mean, I'm not coming up with these dishes, I'm not going out and prepping any of this stuff with them. But we're together every day and we all have ideas, we all throw them off of each other. But Andrew and Mike, both of their backgrounds coming together, they really balance each other out. And I like what I can bring to the table of I do get out there. I see what's happening in this city and what other restaurants are doing. Yeah, I guess that's what I bring to the table. I wield a knife at home, I don't do it at work.

Genevieve Morgan:

So you think about what your customers, what would please your customers and how you can best take care of them with the ambiance of the room and the food that you're serving. But I know that working in a restaurant can be very stressful. So how do you and your team take care of yourselves in that environment? A lot of late nights, right?

Arlin Smith:

Oh yeah, definitely. That's a tricky question. How do we take care of ourselves? I think the atmosphere that we have at Hugo's, it opens the door to an open forum. I feel like my staff can come to me at any time if anything's going on. It's tight knit. So we don't have a lot of turnover. I don't have anyone working for us right now that hasn't been there for over a year. It's kind of unheard of in this industry. But we're unique. We're small. We're only open five days a week. We still consider it mom and pop. You know, it's not turn them and Burnham, we open at 5:30. Our late nights on the weekends will go to like, 11 or 12. It's really. It's not as bad as like, some. Some busier restaurants in big cities. So I think just the way that it's set up, we take care of each other. No one's really burning out. There's always wine involved. So.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

The way that you've done this, you describe it as turnkey. So there was Rob Evans and now there's not Rob Evans.

Arlin Smith:

Yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How has that been for you?

Arlin Smith:

It doesn't really feel like there's no Rob Evans.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And Rob Evans is the man that got the James Beard recognition.

Arlin Smith:

Yeah. He's done so much for this community, is what we're talking about right now. I mean, anyone looks at, like, where this food scene has come from. Rob had so much to do with it. Rob, Sam Hayward, Larry from Back Bay Grill. These are chefs that drill themselves deep into this community. Maybe they're not out there every single day, but they're creating something that is richer than just a business. And that's what Rob did for us. I mean, we bought Hugo's. We didn't buy tables, chairs, ovens, because, I mean, if you looked at some of that stuff, you wouldn't want to be purchasing it for what we did. But it was bigger than that. It's the whole. The atmosphere that's been created, the location and the brand of Hugo's, and that's what Rob really wanted. Rob and Nancy both wanted to sell that and pay it forward. So it's not gone. It's. It's just moving on.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And they're now across the street with duck fat.

Arlin Smith:

Yeah.

Paul Knoll:

Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So they. So they even physically are still present?

Arlin Smith:

Oh, yeah, we're. We're close now.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Why did you decide you're opening a second restaurant in the Rabelais space? Why did you decide to go with an Oyster bar theme?

Arlin Smith:

Um, well, I would like to say that that space is the main reason why we wanted to purchase Hugo's because we do Hugo's every single day. It's with Andrew and I have been at the helm for a while. We can do it. We know that we can keep it moving forward. But do we want to commit our lives to at least 15, 20 years, to doing the same thing every day or slowly changing it? When that space opened up, we realized we could do this, Keep this moving forward and then do something that's completely ours. But still looking at what Portland needs. And an oyster bar, I think is what Portland needs. I mean, when you really look at it, I'm not going to take anything away from Jay's Oyster. They are a staple in this town. They are above an oyster bar in every sense of what they bring to a community. Is this like down home blue collar bar where you see office people and fishermen alike hanging out, having a blast. We want to bring something that's more food driven. So the relationships that we have with oyster farmers, the farmers themselves, we're going to bring that into the oyster bar. We're calling it Even Tide Oyster Company. Company meaning that it's not just going to be a bar with oysters. There's going to be so much more and tight knit.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And in addition to opening. So you bought Hugo's, you're opening another restaurant, but you're also involved in organizations that are helping feed people in a very different way.

Arlin Smith:

Yes. Share Our Strength is a big one. I haven't been that connected to Share Our Strength lately, which I think people can understand why I'm just trying to get my feet on the ground. But working with John woods the last two years and Rob Evans and Sam Hayward, we threw a dinner last year that was the start of a dining series which is a break off of the actual SOS event, like the big one that we see every year, the Taste of the Nation. This is a way of bringing money for that with smaller groups. So we threw a dinner at Hugo's where Rob and Sam cooked and we auctioned off them for dinners. And I think at the end of it, we raised 55 grand in one night. So that was huge. That really was an eye opener to what we could bring, especially for feeding children.

Genevieve Morgan:

You're bringing a lot of people into Hugo's and into this new restaurant. But you also go out into the community to do many different things. What are some of the events coming up in September?

Arlin Smith:

We're doing an event with Outstanding in the Field. I believe that's the website name as well. And they travel the world, mostly America, but they have gone over to Europe and they put together dinners that are in the field, huge tables. They have this table designer sculptor that actually sculpts all these tables in different ways to fit in the field. Whether it's really long or spiral or they put them in barns and they highlight a chef and a farm. So it's that connection, direct connection. We talk about farm to table. I mean that's really exactly what it is. You're in the field, they give you a kitchen, like a kitchen on a trailer. They pull that up, they give you, they set up all the parking and all. They organized the whole thing. It's like a concert venue is the way I've been seeing it. And they, they asked us if we wanted to do it and we were thrilled.

Genevieve Morgan:

And you pair up with a farmer and you cook a meal in the field.

Arlin Smith:

We're doing it at Green Sparks Farm. Green Spark Farm.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And where is that?

Arlin Smith:

Cape Elizabeth.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you're also involved in the Kennebunkport Festival?

Arlin Smith:

Yes. Well, Hugo's was already involved with that. Rob is doing a dinner at the, the beginning of the week of that whole line of dinners that they have set up. And soon as Kevin Thomas found out that we were buying the place, he had an opening at the end of the week and he approached us and we graciously accepted and yeah, we're happy to be a part of it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Kevin Thomas is the publisher of Maine Magazine, Maine Home Design and is the one who's organizing the Kennebunkport Festival, which is happening. The first one, yes.

Genevieve Morgan:

Arlen, you clearly have a lot going on and you've been very brave and bold in taking on this new restaurant, taking over Hugo's. If you could go back and tell your 10 year old self something, what would it be?

Arlin Smith:

I don't think that I would change anything because I feel like I am who I am because of who I was then. But I think one of the things that has helped me get to where I am right now is being passionate about whatever I'm doing and being able to work well with people. And I think that's what took me away from being in the kitchen. You know, going to school to be a chef is very closed off and I was able to Step away from that and open up into the front of the house, as we call it, which is the dining room. And that is a skill that I try to hone every day. I learn from other people. Danny Meyer included, who was a great restaurateur in New York, just has a great way of bringing the emotion side to something instead of just the technical side.

Genevieve Morgan:

And when is your oyster bar gonna open?

Arlin Smith:

Hopefully June. We need to take advantage of our tourist season, so.

Genevieve Morgan:

And how can people find out when they can attend when Hugo's is open, what your events are going to be?

Arlin Smith:

Hugo's is open Tuesday through Saturday. For dinner, we recommend reservations, but you can stop in weekends. I don't recommend doing that. We're going to open Hugo's up one more day. As soon as we get grounded, we're thinking Mondays. So that's another step that we've taken so that we're reaching out to, well, the community. We have an industry, a food industry here. A lot of them are closed Sunday, Mondays, and we're a part of that. So anyone who is off those days, you're limited to where you can go. So I think by opening that door, we're gonna see a lot more of the people who are in our industry. So reaching out. Definitely have some specials happening for that. And Eventide is gonna be open seven days a week, all day long, late night. Yeah. Plenty of eating and drinking going on.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And do you have a website?

Arlin Smith:

Hugo's has a website right now. We are working with our brand designer right now for Eventide, so that's all in the works.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Tell us what your website is for Hugos. Hugos.net and do you also have a Facebook presence?

Arlin Smith:

Yeah, definitely Facebook. That's getting bigger for us. We're realizing the social media is huge. I mean, people are taking pictures at the bar, and it's crazy, so.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I'm feeling energized just sitting here talking to you. I can't wait to go back to Hugo's and have another great meal like the one that I had recently. I'm sure Genevieve feels the same. So thank you for coming in and talking to us about all of the work that you've been doing to create community in so many different ways with Hugo's right here in Portland. And we hope you'll come join us again in the future.

Arlin Smith:

Absolutely. Thank you for having me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Today's show is all about creating community, which we're doing in various ways with various guests that are coming in to speak with us. Our two other guests are going to talk about creating community with regard to a food theme. Paul Noll is here. He is the founder of Trust yout Spirit and he is in the process of creating a very different sort of community which is centered around the idea of space and specifically outside space. Not outer space, but outside space. Hi Paul. Good to have you here today.

Paul Knoll:

I'm very humbled to be here. Thank you for having me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So, Paul, trust your spirit. I think I know a little bit about you, so I know that this was an important piece of a significant change you made in your life. You had to trust your own spirit and now you're trying to get people to connect back to their own spirits and you're trying to create a community out in the Pownall Durham area.

Arlin Smith:

Right.

Paul Knoll:

The property's right on the Durham Pownall line.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So tell me a little bit about what you're doing out there in the. And that's out near Bradbury Mountain for people who are, who are Mainers and go out and about and like to do some hiking, right?

Paul Knoll:

Yep. About three miles from Bradbury Mountain.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

But you're initially from Yarmouth, which is how I met you. And you were going through a kind of a life changing thing which we'll talk about in a minute. What are you doing out there on this Durham Pownall line?

Paul Knoll:

Well, that's a really good question. So I think the best summary is for the last 10 years I've been on somewhat of a spiritual quest and many of the folks that have been healers for me and guides for me, working the holistic and alternative field. And along the way I got involved in dowsing, which is using tools to assess unseen energy on lands. And as I got involved in that, I realized that There's a lot more to this. I became very sensitive to many things that are unseen. And realizing that Western civilization has risen really allowed us or told us to kind of shut down our intuition. And because of what happened 10 years ago, for me, I've really come full circle back to the intuition I was born with. So trust your spirit is really different ways of saying, learn to trust your intuition and live by what's in your heart and by what your intuition knows is best for you. What I'm doing now, where I'm at is I feel I'm just a steward of this land. Even though I have to pay the tax bills and the property taxes and all that, I just feel that I'm a steward out there. And I've been led there by my spirit guides, through my shaman training, through my background, to take the seven acres where I live and allow people to share in that seven acres and to come visit it as they want to and walk the different sacred spaces that are there for whatever kind of healing or meditation that they may need. And I think it would be ideal to just build all this and say, come now, it's built. I'm doing something a little bit different. I'm asking people that may want to be involved in the building to come help build this. So it's really a community effort. Even though the name of the land is under my name, I don't really see it that way. I see this as community land, and I'm just a steward, which is really a reflection of my respect for how the natives lived here.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Are you willing to tell us what happened to you 10 years ago? Because I think it's a significant kind of twist of fate that brought you to what you're doing.

Paul Knoll:

Sure. I was an administrator in a middle school in South Portland, first an assistant principal and then a principal. And for the last couple years in that school, we had a pretty significant mold issue. And at the time, when I was the assistant principal, I was in charge of the effort to find out where the mold was that was making people sick and documenting all the different situations involved in the mold, filing workman comp paperwork for all the different staff members who were getting sick. And one of the things, unfortunately, I did in hindsight, was I would actually go look for the mold, and I would literally sniff the carpet and climb into different crawl spaces and the insulation and the books. And basically what I was doing was ingesting the mold. And I was a very healthy person prior to this, but it really compromised my immune system. But I was also diagnosed with a head injury, toxic encephalitis, or brain poisoning from the mold. So I had to do. I did about three months of speech therapy and occupational therapy because I really had a hard time talking. I would not remember what I was doing. I had a hard time going for walks because I could get lost in my own neighborhood. And I also spent about a year in counseling around this. Unfortunately, it really kind of turned my world upside down initially, and I spent a few years trying to crawl out from under this. But the benefit to all this is it reawakened all the intuitive gifts I had as a child that I learned to quiet over time. I really think I started to quiet those gifts in my mid-20s once I got done grad school and I started kind of buying into the American way of life instead of really listening to what was in my heart.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you've gone from being an administrator in a place that poisoned you, so it was a dangerous and a toxic place, to now living in a place that's nurturing you and you believe is going to nurture other people who. Who are going to be drawn there to help you build this community.

Paul Knoll:

Yeah, I think that when you really think about it, at least when I think about it, Earth is what sustains us. It's what we're on right now. It's the land, it's the animals, it's the plants that sustain us. And we've lost sight of that. In fact, we've kind of gone to the opposite end and we've started to destroy a lot of this. And so just in a small way, trying to be a part of an effort that many of us are involved in and that's reconnecting with the earth that does sustain us. And I do believe that if we help heal the Earth, it will also help heal us.

Genevieve Morgan:

Paul, can you tell us a little bit more about trust your spirit, the idea of trusting your instinct? Is that the same as trusting your gut?

Paul Knoll:

That's a good question. Well, the words I use are your heart. One of my favorite movies is called I Am, and it's about a director of some really well known movies, including the Ace Ventura pet detective series. And he was living on top of the world. He had a 7,000 square foot mansion and he had a head injury and he almost died from it. And as part of his healing, he realized he wasn't living life the right way. And so he sold all of his belongings and he moved into a very modest home and just changed his whole lifestyle and traveled for two years to interview these different religious and spiritual leaders in the world. A couple of his main messages are that he could show is that we're all connected by our heart. Our hearts are what connect all of us. So it's not so much about trusting your gut, because to me that reflects your stomach, but it's really about trusting in your heart, because that is what unites all of us and it's what unites us to the earth. And if we actually pause every day, even five minutes every day, to figure out and listen to what's in your heart, and if you do what you're really passionate about, then I think that's what brings us joy and fulfillment in our lives.

Genevieve Morgan:

How is your space going to help them learn more about what you're saying to trust their heart? I mean, for those people out there that are just going along doing their jobs and they come to your space, what do you hope happens there?

Paul Knoll:

I don't know if this is a good time to jump in here on this piece, but let me just say that, you know, I'm using the word I a lot, but it's really not about me. It's about the messages that I feel like I'm being given through my spirit guides and I journey daily through my shamanic practices. And I just feel that these are messages coming through me. So some of the messages that have emerged over the last couple months, that there are many sacred spots in the land and they reflect different aspects of our life. So maybe if you're dealing with a lot of grief, you can go stand or meditate where there's a granite ledge and the granite can absorb that grief. Or maybe you're looking for strength and there's all these oak trees. So you go grab an oak tree and we'll have signs that tell you what that oak tree can bring to you. And we actually will have an example of what a meditation is around that oak tree and what it can bring to you in your life. So we have all these different types of trees. It's actually very interesting on just seven acres, the different variety of trees that are there.

Genevieve Morgan:

You're saying you actually can go to your space with just a feeling. You're upset, you're sad, you're anxious. It doesn't really have to be any kind of calling. It's just a feeling.

Arlin Smith:

Right, Right.

Paul Knoll:

So the encouragement is to just take time to just be. And that's, I think, an answer to a lot of what we're dealing with, is to just take time. Whether it's on these seven acres or in your home through meditation or yoga or a walk. It's just taking the time to listen to what's inside your heart and what is really, what is it that your heart is seeking?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I love this idea of living what you know, living your passion, living with trusting your spirit and trusting your heart. I don't think it's an idea that's necessarily embraced by many people in our culture. What have you encountered as you've attempted to create this community out where you live?

Paul Knoll:

I can get emotional on this one. A lot of aloneness, some of which I've created through my own mistakes. Not really listening to my intuition all the time. A friend of mine who, he's a gentleman that's going to teach a workshop in May on my land about communicating with trees, and he sent me a poster. And hanging out with all the sheep where you have company can be a little boring. Being a wolf and kind of standing alone and daring to be different can be lonely. So, you know, the biggest feeling that I struggle with and I have for the last few months is really feeling vulnerable with this. But on my website, a friend of mine sent me a 20 minute video, a video Ted Talk by Brene Brown. And it was about vulnerability and it was spot on because vulnerability is about sharing what's in your heart and it's about being willing to share that with other people. Again, the heart is what ties us all together. And if you're willing to share what's in your heart, then what can be wrong with that? So I feel vulnerable. I feel alone sometimes. But I also feel know that there's a lot of support in this. I've got colleagues that are teaching the workshops in May. I'm not. I'm not teaching, I'm teaching one. And there's other people that want to do some work out there. When I can get to the basement, done. Someone wants to start teaching Tai chi out there. So there's people willing to come. And I'm just kind of waiting for that, I guess.

Genevieve Morgan:

And it's Open for anyone to come help you Correct. So people listening today, Right.

Paul Knoll:

The work days are open to anybody. The workshops are open. But it's registration through Leap and Lizards. Who's co marketing with this? With me. I teach classes at Leaping Lizards out of Freeport. I teach classes on dowsing. And so this is a little bit different than that.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, tell us about dowsing.

Paul Knoll:

Dowsing is another way to connect with your intuition. But you're using a tool, the dowsing rods, to assess the unseen energies that are on land. And that's a hobby I had. I started eight years ago because someone came to my house to do some dowsing. So I look for energy lays, water veins, portals or vortexes, power centers and other unseen energies that can be influencing your health. Many of us are sensitive to that unseen energy. So if your bed is right over an energy layer or a water vein, you might want to know that. And that could be impacting your sleep.

Genevieve Morgan:

After your illness, did you begin to sense energy differently?

Paul Knoll:

Yeah, I did. I started to. And I still. Every day, you know, every minute, I feel things differently, I see things differently, I hear things differently.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And yet you also described the fact that you were very sensitive for a long time when you were a child and that it's almost as if you kind of this kind of went underground, like water underground, and then it's re emerged since you had this epiphany or this illness.

Arlin Smith:

Right?

Paul Knoll:

Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So it's always been with you.

Paul Knoll:

Well, I think we're all born with this gift of intuition. I think Western civilization unfortunately does a really good job of encouraging many of us to shut it down and not live with it. I do think I'm very, very excited about the new generation. My children are extremely gifted and many children have these gifts. And it's really exciting to see them start to fight for the earth and start to fight for what they believe in and not buy into a lot of the ego that's kind of making the decisions out there.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Are your children helping you with this project?

Paul Knoll:

They're helping with the animal piece and they're helping with. They help with the name. And I had an animal totem workshop out on my land a couple weeks ago for children. And they came and they're encouraging, they're supportive.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So when this is all finished, what will it look like?

Paul Knoll:

I don't know, because it's a process and I think it's really important not to make it my image, but the image that people help create, co create the whole theme community. It's a co creation and again, my job is just to be a facilitator and a steward and to bring in the people I think can help and to invite people that want to help and allow them to create the vision that they think is appropriate for the space. Of course I want to have some input there because it's my home too. So we don't want the labyrinth right outside my bedroom window or the sacred gardens. Want to be in a certain place relative to the kitchen maybe, but on the other hand, maybe not. It's decisions like that that I want to have some say in, but it's really about co creating with the other people that show up and also with the spirit of the land and being led by the spirit and whatever they communicate when I do the journey. And when we do the journey, how

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

can people find you and help you create this physical and non physical community?

Paul Knoll:

Well, the best thing to do is to go to the website which is trustyourspirit.org not.com but.org someone already took the.com one.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, it's good that lots of people are trying to trust their spirits.

Paul Knoll:

Right, right, exactly. So trustyourspirit.org and there you'll find some different pages. One is about the first farm itself and the vision for the farm. And there's directions, of course, and then there's information about the different classes that I offer either on the land or through LEAP and lizards or different organizations that I present for. And there's registration information for the workshops if people want to come to the workshops. So what's different about the workshops? And I think I said this before, but I could have you show up and say, here's a labyrinth, now go build one. It's different. It's going to be where do you think the labyrinth should go? What do you think should be in it? And we have a teacher that's going to guide that process and help people check in with their intuition and their spirit. And everyone gets a little input there so that they learn hands on. And then they can go back to their home or to their office or to the beach or to a mountain and create either a temporary labyrinth or something permanent on their home.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you hope that people will create a community, create a space, and then continue to go out and create community and create space when they leave.

Paul Knoll:

Exactly. I feel that's why I was led to this land. That's the biggest thing my girls have done. I was a little resident with this land because it was really pushing things for me in terms of my financial resources. It was really beyond where I wanted to go. I think I had, like, the top three houses or four houses, and my realtor, Tammy, who's the one teaching the labyrinth workshop. We took the girls to the different houses, and when we showed up in this land, they're like, this is it, Dad. I go, but the carpets, look at the carpets. And they're like, dad, you can get rid of that. You can do this, you can do that. So they're the ones, along with Tammy and the spirit guides that led me there.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, we wish you all the best, and we know that you've already started to create a community. You've become part of our community. We appreciate your coming in and speaking with us today.

Paul Knoll:

Well, again, I'm very thankful and appreciative for you having me on the show, and I think the work you're doing is wonderful as well, and thank you for allowing me to be part of your community.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Today, as part of our Creating Community show, we are speaking with Michelle Goldman, who is in the process of and has been for a few months, creating a very unique and interesting community here in the state of Maine. Thanks for coming in, Michelle. Thanks for having me. And I have with me Genevieve Morgan, who's very interested in what you're doing because she is the wellness editor for Maine Magazine.

Genevieve Morgan:

I am. I'm interested to know that you got started with this after a chronic illness.

Michelle Goldman:

Yes, actually, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2004, and it was something that I kept very private for a long time because I was afraid it would be detrimental to my health. And it was. I had to take steroids and a series of medications, and I consulted many doctors, and I really was concerned about their advice because they wanted me to take pretty severe medications, and I was concerned about my fertility and health of my unborn children. And so I started to research what I could do myself to improve my own health condition. And I found that nutrition really had a pretty big impact on how I felt and on my condition. And so through nutrition, I was able to reduce my medication and feel better and really improve my quality of life. And I wanted to bring that kind of information to other people, which is

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

interesting because you have an alter ego. You now are, well, tell us where you graduated from, because you are sort of an esteemed institution.

Michelle Goldman:

I do have an alter ego. I graduated from Northwestern and I have an MBA from Harvard. And the very interesting thing for me is that coming from that background, it was always a very similar scientific and a very critically oriented background. And so the idea of bringing in a healing tradition where you listen to your intuition and understand how people feel has been a very different experience. So I've also attended the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City and studied with Ann Marie Colban. And I work with more healers and chefs who come from a very different perspective. So it's actually been really refreshing and enlightening for me to see a whole different world.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you also work at unum?

Michelle Goldman:

Yes, I've worked there for a while. I work in marketing. So this has really allowed me to pursue an interest that's close to my heart and to use the skills and knowledge that I've gained through the business world.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Where do you do your Sea Change cooking school? Because it's not. You are creating a community, but it's a virtual community.

Michelle Goldman:

Yes. In many ways. We want to meet people where they are and we want to see different audiences and be really available. So we teach private and public classes. We hold tastings and events in different locations around the Casco Bay region. And so we are in the Danforth Inn. We have classes at SMCC Southern Maine Community College. We're also at Cellar Door Vineyard. And so we have a wide array of options for people to attend our classes or tastings.

Genevieve Morgan:

And people who come and attend the tastings, do they leave with recipes or what does it look like?

Michelle Goldman:

We've tried many different kinds of events in order to understand how we can help people. And so the tastings are actually kind of an interesting way to come in and taste what does vegan Latin food taste like? What does a paleo diet taste like? So really give people exposure without needing to make an engagement. So you can come in for a brief time, have a tasting, understand how we prepared the food, leave with the recipes, and really get a sense for. So what would this food be like if I took a class or a more detailed series? And then you can come in also for a class and you can do a hands on. You actually prepare your own food? We of course, help you. You also leave with recipes, but you get more of that hands on instruction and coaching.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So Paleo diet, can you define that for me?

Michelle Goldman:

I'm always a student of new diets because I find that very interesting myself. And I've tried many of them. And one of the ones I've been really interested in is the Paleo diet, which really has come about as people examine what made people healthy when they were hunter gatherers, of course, many generations ago, 333 generations ago. And so really what has changed and what have we introduced to our environment that really may not have belonged in our environment? And when you look back at the hunter gatherer population, those people were actually very healthy. And so people have been looking at how they ate to try to understand how can we bring that back into our diet. And so it's really a matter of fresh seafood, fresh, locally raised, humanely raised meats, and lots of vegetables and fruit. And that's really the basis for that diet.

Genevieve Morgan:

Let's talk about how you meet people, where they're at, even in this one room. John, our audio engineer, is a meat eater. Lisa is not a meat eater. I'm somewhere in between. There are three of us just in one small room. If we came to one of your classes, what would you do for us?

Michelle Goldman:

I think it's a great question. And that's actually one of the ways that I've discussed, discovered different diets is being in a class of chefs. I will notice that many different holistic, nutrition oriented chefs eat very different diets. So someone will come in and say, I eat the Paleo diet. And I'll say, what's that? And they'll explain to me why they do it. Someone else will come in and say, I'm very ayurvedically oriented. That's my diet. And so by learning from different people and their experience, I think we can take different pieces that benefit us. And we often have this experience when someone comes into our class and says, I eat gluten free. So at the vegan Latin tasting, we had a sampling of foods that were gluten free, we had other foods that were not gluten free. And we just let people know this is how the sampling and tasting is set up. And these are some of the benefits of eating gluten free. You don't need to, but see how you feel, you might want to try it. And so that's how we kind of work to people's different tastes. Because when you use dogma and you say you have to eat a certain way, it's very hard for someone to persist with that unless they feel good. So the real question is, do you feel good? And if you feel good, then it's working for you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What types of events do you have coming up that people might be interested in? This show is airing in May, and do you have things going on in May and throughout the summer?

Michelle Goldman:

We're really excited about our spring lineup. One of the things that we're really trying to do is collaborate with many experts, because what I find is there are many people who have different perspectives on food, and I'm always interested in bringing them to our community. So in May, we actually have a Mediterranean series coming up with a friend of mine named Cinzi. And Cinzia Roscazzo has a cooking school in Puglia, Italy, and that's focused on the Mediterranean lifestyle. So we're really excited to bring her here. And we'll be at a series of locations including Cellar Door Vineyard, smcc, and we'll also be having some private events as well. And then through the summer, we'll be having a Farm to Table series. So really helping people to get ready to use their farm share. How do you use daikon? What do you do with it? You don't want those things to go bad in the back of your fridge. You can actually enjoy them. So we're going to have a series at SMCC to help people every month with here's what's coming in your harvest and how do you use it?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And for those who are listening who don't know what daikon is, it is a enormous, typically enormous white radish that is used a lot in Asian cooking. And yes, and I actually prescribe it to my patients a lot. But it is puzzling sometimes as to exactly how to use it.

Genevieve Morgan:

What does it do?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, it's somewhat pungent and it's a radish and I use it well, I quote, unquote, prescribe it for sort of phlegminess, people who have sinus y things, people who need to sort of clear congestion. And it's a very healing food. Radish is very healing. Yes.

Michelle Goldman:

And you can slice it thin and put it in salads and use it in stir fries. As you said, it does look scary when it shows up. And it's almost like horseradish. I mean, if you. You don't need a lot of it, but it comes in a large quantity

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

and it also has a very interesting smell. So. So when you cook it or when you reheat It. Not everybody cottons to that.

Michelle Goldman:

Right. It's like cilantro, one of my favorite foods, but as someone said to me, it might be soap. So it's kind of a. You have to acquire a taste. But that's the thing about your farm share is it shows up and you should try it. And if you don't like it, it's okay. But it's kind of Sad to see 80% of your farm share go to the back of your fridge because you're thinking, what do I do with that? And that's the fun of a farm share. It introduces you to new things.

Genevieve Morgan:

I really like this idea of thinking about how food makes you feel. So try something and if you feel good after it, go with that. If you don't, put it away.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Exactly. And I like the idea of coming back to the hunter gatherer stage that we once were in. Instead of going to the grocery store and having the grocery store sort of tell us what we should be eating instead, we see what's locally grown, what's locally available, different times of the year. And even in Maine, there's a lot of. There's a lot of things going on from an agricultural standpoint. So I really appreciate the work that you're doing in that area.

Michelle Goldman:

Thank you. I think it really simplifies things. You don't need manual, you know, you just need to think instinctively.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Anything else? Any words of wisdom that you might offer to people who are listening today? Michelle?

Michelle Goldman:

I think if you're not feeling great or if you're feeling mediocre, I think it's just introducing the idea that there's a whole opportunity out there to really experience the options. There are many ways to eat and many of them can really help you feel good. And so I think it's just a matter of taking that step to understand how could I feel better and don't accept feeling mediocre. You should feel great and we should empower people to have a good life.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Michelle, thank you for helping create this community around food and thank you for talking with us today.

Michelle Goldman:

Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have been listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast show number 37, airing for the first time on May 27, 2012. This show's title and theme was Creating Community. And as part of our show, we visited with Arlen Smith, one of the new owners of Hugo's Restaurant, Paul Knoll of Trust yout Spirit, and Michelle Goldman of the Sea Change Cooking School, each of whom described the ways in which they are creating community in their worlds. As we mentioned in our Deep Dish earlier today, Genevieve Morgan and I believe strongly that what we are doing with the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is indeed creating a community. And we know that you as a listener are part of our community and indeed part of our world. We also hope that you will listen to our podcast, become a subscriber like our Dr. Lisa Facebook page and let us know how you think we're doing as part of our community. Your viewpoints are very important to us. We thank you so much for joining us every week. This is Dr. Lisa Belisle. Thank you for being a part of our world. May you have a bountiful life.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Sa.