Royal Spirit Alive! How to be a Beacon in a 40-watt World

Once in a while you are blessed to meet an individual who emanates friendly fellowship. A smile illumines her face when she sees you. A joyous lilt resonates in her voice when she greets you. When she reaches for your hand, she extends a two-handed clasp—the kind that enshrouds your hand in warmth like a cashmere-lined glove on a cold day. When your eyes meet, you feel like you are the center of her universe. You know in an instant you are in the presence of an ambassador of good will.

Joan Calvert

Joan Calvert, Community Service Representative for Home Instead Senior Care in Greensboro and an Ambassador for Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, is that kind of blessing. Throughout the Triad Region, she’s known for her spirit of kindness, which is Joan’s personal brand of gift-giving to each person she meets and each organization she serves.

As a newcomer to the south in the early 1970’s, Joan put Manhattan and a Big Apple corporate lifestyle in her rearview mirror. Joan wanted to become active in her new community and she actively sought out ways to do so as she and her husband, Cal, embraced with zest Greensboro and his new executive position with Lorillard Tobacco Company.

The Greensboro Chamber of Commerce was Joan’s gateway to community service. Joan became involved in the membership department at the Chamber, a place where she could apply all of her Human Resource background and training from her career in a Fortune 500 company prior to her marriage to Cal. She also became a volunteer at Moses Cone hospital and the Symphony Guild. She says each area of service gave her opportunities to meet people and to see what people were doing in the city.

Several years ago, Joan’s fairytale romance and lifestyle changed dramatically when Cal became gravely ill. Joan’s deep reservoir of selfless giving brought richness to the last years of their marriage. “If you do things from your heart, and do things willingly and with love, you don’t have any guilt. The one thing that helped me move through the grief of Cal’s death was the sense of peace I had because I knew I didn’t have any what-ifs,” says Joan.

Joan Calvert with Jill Willis, TRLA President

Nearly 30 years since her arrival in Greensboro and initial involvement at the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, Joan is once again involved in the Chamber’s Ambassador Program. It appears to be an ideal place for a networking maven with a heart for service. “[The Ambassador Program] is the present love of my life. After Cal died, I felt a need to come back and re-identify in business myself. Joining the staff at Home Instead Senior Care and coming back to the Chamber in a volunteer capacity gave me a sense of belonging. That’s really important because it reconnected me to volunteerism in Greensboro.”

Recently, the Triad Retirement Living Association (TRLA) honored Joan for her special brand of gift-giving, the gift of selfless service. She is the first recipient of the Cal Calvert Volunteer-of-the-year Award in appreciation for outstanding dedication and service. The award, named in honor of Joan’s late husband, Cal Calvert, was presented to Joan by Jill Willis, President of TRLA. In presenting the award, Jill shared how Cal’s philosophy of community involvement lives on in the service Joan gives to the community. Joan says it’s a loving tribute to her beloved spouse.

The past is a blessing to Joan, yet she’s looking forward to the future. She chuckles when she says she’s learning to adopt the Colonel Sanders Philosophy—to be more successful after 65 than before. “I want to feel these next years, no matter how many years I live, have opportunities out there that I can reach out to.”

What about you? Are you experiencing a major lifestyle transition? Here are Joan’s tips for how to let your Royal Spirit shine as you embrace change:

	To build hope for the future while journeying the path of loss and grief: “Whatever your pace, whether your pace is to be more reflective or to be surrounded with people, do what comes naturally to you, but do something.”
	To be of service to others: “Do with energy and exuberance. If it’s something that you aren’t interested in doing, then try something else, but don’t be somewhere or do something that isn’t right for you or doesn’t’ make you happy.”
	To create a meaningful life: “Know where your interests are and how you can act with a sense of direction, rather than doing busy stuff. Don’t do just to be doing.”

Choose today to be an expression of your inner spirit of kindness, no matter what situation you are in. Like Joan, your Royal Spirit will bring forth a joyful message because you’ve become an ambassador of good will. Then, get ready to receive an abundance of blessings because the Universe loves a joyful giver. Happy New Year!