The Reason Why We Are Here

[NoizMaker]

Hey all,

In terms of importance when it comes to the other posts of mine on this forum, this video is hands down the most important I have ever made. ​

In the last year, we have had fights over nicotine quality control; bullying, trolling, fighting, animosity between many and mending between too few. The way some of the people in all of the vaping community have acted is a bitter reminder of the human condition and after the loss of staples in this community such as SteelJan over these issues... I myself have been trying to come to a sense of why exactly I am even here to be perfectly honest with everyone.

That was, actually, until now.

Last evening, I received a private message from a Facebook friend whom has truly touched my heart with her words about her Mother and boyfriends Uncle. I was blown away by her words and it brought me to the actualization of why I feel so compelled to help people as best as I can in this community and also the smokers who need an escape from the clutches of tobacco and are so confused by what they see on the market.

This is why we are here. This isn't a game, it's not a simple matter and we all know we have saved our own lives by making the switch. If I can help a woman make her mothers last remaining days on this planet even a slight bit better, how many countless others have been helped in turn by all of you. And you may very well have no clue it was yourself whom provided them with the right seed of information.

Very much like trees; ideas can be planted, they can grow, and can re-seed themselves until a forest stands in pride.

This is what we all should be here for.

 

[Samyaza]

Thank you for sharing that with us.

I believe we are all so passionate about vaping because without it we would all probably be in that situation at some point. Dying for our addiction and with no way out.

Thank you as well to all the reviewers and YouTubers who have helped every one of us at some point.

 

[ChellyNelly]

Thank you very much for sharing that. This is the reason why I'm here. I originally came to ECF months before I got into vaping, simply to research. When I finally jumped in and bought a kit, I signed up so I could ask questions and learn more. I've come a long way in the last 4 months. My boyfriend and I have both been smoke free for almost 4 months. Our goal since we began vaping was to help others find out about this, see how helpful it is, and eventually help them switch over to it. And that has become my mission on ECF now. Every noob thread I see, I never hesitate to open it and give my own bits of advice and show my support in the great decision this new person is making. In my everyday life me and my boyfriend have the same goal as I do on this forum. Anyone who asks us about our PVs or talks about wanting to quit, we give them business cards of our favourite vendors and offer to have them over to test our devices and explain things to them, and eventually help them to order what they need to get started. When we have extra juice, batteries, atties, whatever, we give them to the people who we've recently helped. It's especially helpful to the people in our neighbourhood because we live in a very low income area. Smoking rates are high and income is very, very low.

That is what I'm here for.

 

[Toronto_Mike]

Thanks Noiz for the great video. Every now & then, things get out of control & it's videos like that one, that bring us all back to what's really important. A "reality check" if you may.

 

[Darkside77]

I love these reality checks they bring us all right back to the same page and cuts right thru all of our personal bulls__t focusing us on a common goal.

 

[Danesnpits]

Great Job Noiz! I am glad to be apart of your team. Sick and tired of the drama, and more sick and tired of watching all the veterans leave 1 by 1 because of it. We are here to help save lives, not fight each other. We need to unite together to fight HC not ourselves. Great reminder to all of us that we can make a difference in someone's life, like you just did Noiz for that lady who passed on.

 

[Mindfield]

Thanks for the post and the video. I certainly agree and am also sick and tired of the drama. I try and stay out of it because I don't see the purpose for it. We all came here for the same reasons, we all stayed for the same reasons, and most of us turned around and helped others for reasons that made us stay here in the first place -- to give back some of the help that was given to us when we were just starting out.

So it just truly baffles me when I see drama flare up, when I see trolls attacking beloved members of our community, when infighting flares up among vendors or fanboys -- it truly baffles me that this even happens here of all places. I realize and recognize that human nature is what it is, but I wanted to think that at least here perhaps such nature could be suspended in the name of helping to save or extend the lives of others the way others have saved or extended our own through helping us discover all that vaping had to offer. That maybe the importance of that missive if not the simple gratefulness we should all feel for being able to finally throw off the shackles of tobacco should take precedence over petty and vindictive BS and trolling.

Obviously I was mistaken.

But maybe we can take heart that it's only a handful of bad apples trying to spoil the orchard and that it won't effect the rest of us who will continue to do what we do and maybe try and fill the gaping holes left by those who have left us with redoubled efforts to help those as others have helped us.

Yeah, vaping is fun, it's enjoyable, it's even a hobby, but lest we forget that at the core of it all is the very serious, very real, very vital issue of harm reduction and getting others off of tobacco just like we were able to with the help of others. That's what it's all about and, like Noiz said, why we are all here.

 

[sam.8]

Very nice post.

 

[Cokeybill]

That's the stuff ppl should be made of. But seriously, some can't help but be offended by the posts that the "handful" retort and perceive as offensive to them. The community has taken a downturn to a standard that wasn't here before. Maybe certain hard times in the life we lead cause the insinuations. But, the last word is compassion for one another. Hopefully, many who see your post will find that life does not rotate around themselves and learn to see past the one way mirror that they seem to live in. It takes a strong person to change their ways and a very strong person to realize it.
The message on ecigs will be an important message to those that smoke and some way the message has to be received by the smokers. It is a must that mainstream smokers get the info and not be afraid of change. HC will try to cause that fear, but we as ECF members can make a change, Thanks for the uplifting message sent out.

 

[nansc]

Thank you for posting this.

 

[Motivaper]

Thank you for making and posting that video. It puts a lot of things about vaping in perspective, and it helps to remember my own challenges and obstacles and how impossible it seemed to let go of cigarettes.

It's also the reason why I'm passionate about vaping, and doing what I can to further awareness and acceptance of e-cigarettes as the best option ever made available, BEFORE people get hospitalized!

 

[Zeeker]

Thank You Noiz. God bless you.

All the best...

 

[Jimilives]

Hey Noiz,
Thanks for the moment of clarity in the midst of all this crap that has been going on. I have to admit that even I have lost touch with what got me into this industry in the first place. There was an older gentleman that came to my house to buy what he called the only "canadian" tasting juice he could get and after 20 years was able to quit, i took the guys 20 bucks and went inside the house and cried for a time, it was one of the few moments as an adult I have been totally proud of what I did. That night I had a talk with my daughters and we decided that the benefits outweighed the risks and we opened JuicyClear about 2 weeks later, somewhere along the lines I forgot about that old guy and I started listening too much to critics, idiots at HC, and lawyers and started to think with my wallet and not my heart. After watching that video I actually feel ashamed of closing down and running because some bureaucratic ..... decided it was time to shut us down. How sad is it that at anytime of the day in my town you can get crystal .... easier than you can vape supplies.

Anyway I just wanted to take a minute to say that I have been VERY effected by this post of yours, somewhere along the lines we lost the community nature of our industry and started worrying more about the dollars than common sense (we the sellers and producers I mean). This MUST end now and I am here to do what I can, I will make more of an announcement about plans early next week.

 

[CanadaLady]

Noiz,

What a video! Thank you!

To all, Vape on!TOGETHER we stand.

 

[sabyrock]

Thanks for sharing this Blaine, very touching story. well done!.

 

[NoizMaker]

Thank you everyone for the amazing support! I truly have been moved by this testimony and am touched that it has effected others as it has myself.

I needed this, seeing the community come together, even if it doesn't affect everyone it has effected me and changed the way I perceive this industry.. and I won't ever be turning back.

 

[freakindahouse]

Thank you, Noiz, for posting your video, and helping everyone reconnect with our initial motivations. I'm coming up to three years vaping, and it's been quite a ride, but it was too late for my husband. If only ecigs had been available sooner, we might not have lost him.

He was 31 years old when he died. By the time he was diagnosed, he had cancer in practically every organ of his body. I lost my soul mate, 2 of my children lost their dad, and my unborn son never knew him.

Mine is one amongst many MILLIONS of tragedies, affecting families all over the world. With vaping, we have found something close to a miracle. (I prefer to deal in scientific terms, and the concept of a 'miracle' is anathema to me, but I personally found it miraculous that I could move away from smoking and replace it with vaping so easily.)

I am not a zealot, but I am passionate about it. Losing my husband to a smoking-related disease is not particularly a driving force for the work I do for the vaping industry, but it is definitely a factor. I cannot in good conscience become an anti-smoking fascist, because I chose to smoke for 27 years, so that would be hypocritical. However, it is enormously important to me to do whatever I can to contribute to the global efforts of this wonderful community to ensure that as many smokers as possible have access to the TRUTH about their options.

So thank you for bringing us back to the very heart of the truth about why we are all here.

Vape long, and vape proud!

Cheers,

Katherine

 

[ponytail girl]

Mahalo Noiz,
I wasn't aware people were fighting on here..but still new I guess..15 months vaping..I found this place because I was desperate ..I didn't know any other vapor's and living on the Big Island and in a rural area it was hard all by myself..I almost gave up..I found this forum and held on..I was given the help I needed on what to buy..I've learned everything from here..Last month I meant another vapor here and we traded juices and I told her about ECF it's a wonderful tool..Thanks to all you kind folks out here ,helping us new people..Keep up the good work we need you!!!