We went to the Vancouver Wellness Show. We have never been to this event before although it has been going on for years. First of all, WOW.
This event was at one of Vancouver's very large trade and convention centres.
Although we have been doing a lot of research on eating healthier and just being more aware of what the “healthy” people eat, we hadn’t taken the time to go and actually see one of these shows. It’s kind of funny how we, as a people group, tend to put other people in little boxes that suit us so that we can know how to deal with people. ‘We’ tend to judge ‘those’ people and are usually critical of their lifestyle choices. ‘We’ will give ‘them’ labels and decide how they could change ‘their’ life to best fit into ours. Until…
Until ‘we’ become one of ‘them’, and apparently ‘we’ have. This show proved that to us.
- First, we didn’t feel out of place at all. We fit right in. Of course some of the people looked exactly the way we expected them to, like hippies right off of the farm, but most people looked ‘normal’.
- Second, we actually recognized a whole lot of the products that we use, have researched, are interested in, could actually talk about.
- Third, people were so friendly. The vendors were really friendly and most were just eager to share their merchandise and then there was the best part. The samples were crazy. At the door going in, you each received a canvas shopping bag with some little gifts in and that was a good thing because most of the vendors were giving away samples. Some were little taste samples but a lot gave away actual food samples. We came home with a 1 litre of Hemp Milk, an apple each, several energy bars, some great chocolate bars, and numerous other samples that we have long ago eaten and I can’t remember. There were appointments to be made with all sorts of health professionals and two grocery stores that were selling almost everything.
There was another part of the weekend that we didn’t even touch on and that was the live events. There was a cooking stage with demos all weekend and fitness demos as well as another corner set up for lectures.
I am glad that we stepped out of our own little world and ventured out to be with people that we thought that we wouldn’t fit in with and yet, we did. The overwhelming feeling that I got from the event was that the world is really too small to be comfortable. We need to expand our ideas and our minds and learn about new and different things. Food is a great place to start. Just experimenting with one new food, a new recipe, a new spice may make a big difference in the end. The world is so full of smells and tastes that most of us don’t get the chance to experience, it is worth it just to try.
So, next time you see an ad for an event that sort of interests you, give it a second look. You may find it way more fun than you thought. Worse case, you know not to go next year and you have found another experience to tick off of the ‘never do that again’ list. Best case, you find something new to interest you. A new food, new exercise, new knowledge, new friends, just something new.
The wellness and prevention market will outgrow the health care market. – Leroy Hood
