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An interview with Marge Clark of Natures Gift.

INDEX

Who is Nature's Gift?

Well what we DO is seek out the absolutely best essential oils we can find, the ones that when you smell them and get very still and let yourself "feel" them and their power gives you goose bumps.

We find them, and try to make them available to the people who will appreciate them, who will love them. My grown daughter once described what we do here "Mom, every day, you send out boxes full of joy and healing, all over the world."

I love that. It's what we are about. WHO we are varies; right now it's Debi (our resident wisewoman), Anne (our watersprite, aka "the mad pourer"), Debbie G. (who is/was, a skeptic about the power of the oils, until "this" would happen, and we'd suggest she try "that", and it made a difference), Rick, my very first assistant and all- round expert (he's the only one who knows how to do everything we do here), Linda (who answers the mail addressed to "Order Desk" because that's where she sits, mostly) and me, Marge.

But how we got here, now THAT is a story, because it's not possible to get from there to here.

I was fascinated by herbs, by their taste, their aromas, how they made me feel. At one time in my life, I was able to grow them, but that was in another place and another time.

So I bought dried ones, and tried making herbal pillows, and potpourris and such. Some book or other suggested adding Lavender essential oil, so I bought some.

Then, of course, I had to read about it, and about the others, and FIND the others. I was hooked. Every book on the topic of Essential Oils that was in print in the late 80's and early 90's is either in my library, or out on loan.

I started blending; our Reunité synergy for anxiety, and a WakeUp blend, and friends said "This is really good, you ought to sell it." So I did. To them. And, later, online, on an old Fidonet Bulletin Board. Meanwhile doing everyday things in a very mundane every day life.

And I would discover new, or better. And want it. And since I had no money, I had to sell what I had so I could buy more and better. I guess I'm still doing that, looking for better, and selling what we have so we can bring in better.

In the early 90's my world rather fell apart. I was told I was "permanently disabled" and would never work again. And the oils carried me through that. The worst fear had come true, and it contained the greatest gift. The disability gave me TIME.

Time to study, time to explore the oils, time to learn about the Internet (I had been online since the early 80's, before there was an Internet, so I was comfortable online, but
websites? What were they?). So while learning about the healing powers of the oils, I loved, I was also learning to code web pages, and what worked and what didn't work in this new venue.

I live in Middle Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, which seems, to me, to be an Aromatherapy desert. So the online aromatherapy community was a revelation for me.

There were others who were in awe of these oils, who respected and loved their healing power. There were mentors, there were friends to share this aromatic journey. I will always be grateful to the men and women in this field who so generously shared their knowledge and experience with me. They know who they are, and there aren't thanks enough.

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