My Granola Bar Practice

My life has been transformed by granola bars. Through a practice I will describe, I have found deeper compassion, moments of kindness and human connection that I did not think was possible.  Granola bars have helped me achieve this. My Granola Bar Practice. A practice of helping and human connection.

Compassion on a Dark Day

The first calling I had to this practice was from a very insightful friend and from my Dad. My friend, a deeply compassionate and generous woman, often spoke of her hard days and the kind things she did for others on those days. A bad day? She would buy flowers for her neighbour. This was entirely new to me however, I was curious about her approach to distress in her own life; kindness to others. I wanted to learn from her and to approach my own distress with kindness; I simply didn’t know how or why that would help.

Many moons later, I was very lost. I was in a time of great turmoil and was weathering the storm as best I could. My Dad reminded me of the teachings of my Great Aunt; she was a nun in Cairo, Egypt who taught at an orphanage for her entire life. She ran a convent that I stayed at, and for a time was Mother Superior. She loved hundreds of children and had a heart of gold. Her name was Mahabet which means ‘to love many things’. He reminded me that she, and many other inspirational individuals, had modeled service to others as a path to happiness. He advised me to focus on, as best I could, service to others as a way to get through my own troubles.

Facing troubles. Our human connection

I took the advice from my father, as he did and does live a life of service to others, as well as my friend who is a great mentor to me. I was struggling at that time and had significant stress in my life so, I felt sick to my stomach all the time. Stress impacts your gastrointestinal system and I needed proper nutrition to face the storm with resiliency and strength. Deciding to utilize nutrition as a coping skill, I made a person vow to carry a granola bar on me at all times.

One day, I saw a man on the corner of the street asking for money. I noticed judgment in my mind arise and in that moment, I grabbed my granola bar. I didn’t know what would happen. After opening my window, I removed my sunglasses and gave him my granola bar. In that moment, there was a pause. I believe the individual was expecting pocket change and since it was not, it created a space. In that space I said ‘take care of yourself, ok?’. The man’s eyes filled with tears. He said ‘thank you. I’ll try. You as well’. I said thank you. And that I would try too.

It was a powerful human connection. I was deep in despair and you would not know it from my seemingly well put-together life. My despair was more covert than someone on the street. In that space of giving, it was not simply exchanging a granola bar. It was exchanging encouragement for life. It was seeing someone who, perhaps, isn’t truly seen very often. And they truly saw me.

Granola Bar Lady

This powerful interaction spawned the idea of becoming an official ‘granola bar lady’. I take the title very seriously. I have also perceived patterns in the emotive language; patterns that delve deep into a global consciousness that impacts us all.

The cost of a large box of granola bars is less than the cost of purchasing a cup of coffee. Did I need more coffee? Actually?

Yes. I did. Always yes.

For the past seven years, I have given a granola bar to every person on the street asking for help. I roll my window down and remove my sunglasses so I can make real and true eye contact. Commitment to saying an authentic, helpful statement is a part of the Granola Bar practice. Typically it is ‘take good care of yourself’. In my entire seven years and thousands of granola bars, I have had two people say ‘no thank you’. That has been the full extent of my ‘negative’ responses (and we don’t all like granola bars and that’s completely ok).

The Granola Bar Practice and Humanity

The benefits of this practice, aside from helping someone in need, are truly extraordinary. It is a practice of non-judgment. The only reason I will not give a granola bar is if it puts people in danger (traffic) or if my intuition tells me ‘this is not safe’. Yes, there have been those moments however, there is always a next time and I have never put myself in danger.  I have given boxes of granola bars to children at birthday parties and left instructions in the card as to what they get to do with them. Give them out and help ANYONE they want. You can’t imagine the happiness you’ll see when you give a child an entire box of granola bars and tell them they get to choose ALL the people they help. It’s beautiful.

I have also had some of my most profound human interactions. People have said ‘God bless you’ to me and I burst into tears. My own grief, deep and real, is another layer of connection. We all suffer. It is a part of our common humanity. This practice has been healing, gratifying and awakening.

Paying it Forward

There is a movement right now that has taken off in a beautiful way. It is called Pay It Forward Winnipeg. Since then, acknowledgments and ideas about how to pay it forward have sprung up everywhere. I love the ‘buy a coffee for the person behind you’ one and the ‘buy a slice of pizza for someone in need’ one. I love this movement; it teaches contribution, kindness and honestly – humanity. We need to relearn humanity and unlearn judgment.

If you feel uncomfortable offering someone money, you are not obligated to. If you would like to help but cannot detach from that layer of judgment (the egoic mind is normal), perhaps consider this simple and profound Granola Bar practice. I promise it will bring you and others more joy and purpose than you can imagine. It directly connects you to humanity; we all have to eat in order to survive. Moreover, it gives you a moment to see. To notice. To be noticed and to feel a sameness between you and a total stranger than is transcendent in nature. It is invisible, impermanent and continuously flowing.