In case we didn’t already know it, COVID-19 most certainly taught or reminded us that life is uncertain and that the best way to make God laugh is to have plans.
Victoria Labalme figured this out years ago, but sees the positive in it. There’s no need to lock in to one path, or to make a commitment to a choice because it seems like The Right Thing To Do (to you or the people around you).
Her own life started on the track familiar to so many young people in this region, with high expectations of what one is supposed to do after school. That continued into young adult life, as she traveled the world and studied the dramatic arts — while her friends settled into careers and marriages.
She felt somewhat adrift, a little alienated. And then two life-altering events took place within days of each other: Her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and Victoria watched the World Trade Center crumble from her bedroom window following the terror attacks of Sept.11, 2001.
Everything changed. When Labalme finally emerged from it all, she had become a successful keynote speaker and performance coach, finding the right gig for herself at a moment when finding direction had become the least important thing on her mind.
‘At the edge of not knowing…’
She took that as a lesson and began to do keynote speeches on, among other topics, something she calls Risk Forward. As she likes to say about this concept, and her new “Risk Forward” book: “Some people in life know exactly what they want to achieve. Risk Forward is for the rest of us.”
“Risk Forward” the book was started before the COVID-19 pandemic. But, Labalme said in a phone interview last week, “The message turned out to be so timely. The world is really ready for this book.” That’s what happens when you don’t over think: Things fall into place in unexpected ways, ways that wouldn’t have been possible if you’d tried to map them out.
“Risk Forward is about the value of not knowing,” she said. “It’s in that little window of not knowing that we need to pay attention — because once we’ve made a commitment, then … we’re in it.
“So the question is: How do we evaluate the choices in front of us? We all have choices, whether it’s what you make for dinner or what book you pull off the shelf or what movie you watch. With Risk Forward I want to give people permission to explore an idea — even if they don’t have a plan behind it.
“Because at the edge of not knowing is the beginning of the extraordinary.”
A creative life in Cornwall
One path that Labalme herself followed in an unplanned serendipitous way: Rediscovering her love of drawing, doodling, sketching.
“I was at a store in Kent [Conn.] years ago and saw something that delighted my imagination. I came home and started drawing again and that evolved over the years into the signature character I use in the book.”
Labalme has spent much of her life in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. Her father had gone to school here and fallen in love with the area. After he married, George Labalme Jr. and his wife, Patsy, bought a house in Cornwall, where they raised their four children as part-time residents.
Victoria’s brother, Henry Labalme, is still here in Cornwall. The family home was sold a few years ago, after George’s death in 2016. But Victoria returns to the area often, visiting from her home in New York City.
Visits to Connecticut can be a perfect antidote to a life spent in Manhattan and on the road (when there isn’t a pandemic).
“I think the mindset of the Northwest Corner is a very pure one,” she said. “There’s not a lot that I’ve seen up here that’s about showmanship. It’s about sincerity and integrity. There’s a lot of creativity here, too.”
Labalme was part of the creative community herself while in high school: She spent the summer when she was 17 working as the Inquiring Photographer for The Lakeville Journal, a job that was formative for her in some ways.
“The editor used to call me ‘Victoria 17 Going on 30,’” she recalled with a laugh. “But to be taken seriously at that age …”
On her next visit to the area, Labalme will stop by Oblong Books and Music in Millerton, N.Y., and House of Books in Kent to sign copies of “Risk Forward,” which is $24.99 and which is designed to be eminently gift-able. It’s fun and easy to read and populated with the lively illustrations that have become her trademark.
To find out more, go to www.RiskForward.com/Book. There are bonuses there for anyone who pre-orders the book; the bonuses disappear from the site after March 30.
A springy illustration, above, helps Victoria Labalme convey her message about leaning into risk, in her new book “Risk Forward.”
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John Carter
Carter arrived at his calling by a circuitous route. After graduating from Yale, he joined the Peace Corps, then returned to his hometown of Milton, Mass., where he founded and ran the Carter Tree Co. for seven years. After closing the business, he attended Virginia Theological Seminary, earning a Master of Divinity. During that time, he and his wife, Deborah, were involved in the hunger movement. Carter said every venture he undertook was made possible by Deborah, whom he described as his constant companion and indispensable partner in his pursuit of compassion and justice. Still, he questioned himself: “Who am I, and what should I be doing that I’m passionate about?”
John Carter and his wife DeborahPhoto by Deborah Carter
In the face of new challenges, volunteers joined the effort to revive the original program, VS1. The Rev. Heidi Truax, recently retired rector of Trinity Lime Rock, has been a strong supporter of Vecinos Seguros from its inception. Glenn Formica, an immigration attorney from New Haven, gave a presentation informing the community about the second Trump administration’s amended policies. Formica also generated written materials in English and Spanish, advising private citizens and employers how to prepare in the event of a visit from ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). William Tong, Connecticut’s attorney general, a proponent of many social justice issues, including the opioid crisis and fair pricing for generic drugs, has also provided support since the establishment of Vecinos Seguros.
The VS2 steering committee, which includes Carter, is led by Jill Drew, a local civic leader. Drew has worked with Judiciary Committee co-chairmen Gary Winfield and Steven Stafstrom in support of SB 91, a proposal by Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont to limit ICE actions in “protected areas,” including schools, hospitals and religious buildings. She has also supported HB 5499, which would place limits on the use of automated license plate readers, addressing concerns that the Trust Act is being circumvented through technology deployed for other purposes. Other committee members include Amy Lake and Lee and Sophia DeBoer.
VS2 has launches a range of initiatives, including distributing “know your rights” flyers; creating an online resource with local legal and social services for immigrants; hosting in-person events to educate neighbors and train volunteers; organizing a rapid response team to verify reported immigration enforcement activity and support those affected; providing financial assistance for legal expenses, rent and utilities; and advising employers — from farms and restaurants to stores and private homes — on how to protect workers if immigration agents arrive.
As the annual report states: “We are committed to building on the powerful work of Rev. Carter, who, in the first seven years of Vecinos Seguros, assisted a significant number of individuals and families. It is our mission to continue this important work.”
Few descriptions capture the moment more clearly than Carter’s own words:
“The human cost of current ICE practices is appallingly high. Evidence of the brutality and cruelty of these practices is everywhere. Minneapolis is a recent and egregious example. ICE enforcement is doing much more than deporting individuals. It is also the systematic destruction of families. According to some reports, 90% of deportees are male. They are husbands, partners and fathers, often the primary contributors to family finances. There is heartbreak, trauma and stress experienced by the families left behind. The humanitarian response to the violence and chaos in Minneapolis is inspirational and instructive. Both citizens and immigrants came to the aid of residents living in fear and peril. It should be noted that people of color, whether their status was legal or undocumented, were also deeply shaken by what they witnessed in their communities.”
Carter also described how communities responded. That out of devastation, he said, came something else:
“A new word was born out of the compassionate response in Minneapolis: ‘neighboring.’ In caring for each other, they were ‘neighboring.’ The mission of Vecinos Seguros 2 is to ‘neighbor’ members of the immigrant community whose lives have been turned upside down by current immigration policies.”
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