July 7, 2025 • 51 mins
Betsy Wurzel” featuring Julie Wignall- hereTo create this inspiring book, Julie interviewed 20 individuals who are actively changing lives through innovative and compassionate actions. She highlights:
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- Favio Chavez, founder of the Cateura Orchestra of Recycled Instruments in Paraguay. This youth orchestra plays music on instruments made from trash—license plates, scrap metal, and more—and has performed with Metallica and Stevie Wonder.
- Lisa Ann Gershwin, a biologist and mental health advocate in Tasmania, known as the “Jellyfish Guru,” who also raises awareness for autism.
- Ronnie Abergel, founder of "The Human Library"®, who created a global movement for dialogue and understanding after losing a close friend to violence.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I love everyone. This is Betsy Wurzel. You're a host
of Chatting with Betsy Passionate World Talk Radio Network, a
subsidiary of Global Media Network LLC. Our Mantra is to educate, enlighten,
and entertain the views that a guest may not represent
those a host of the station. Folks, Before I introduce
(00:23):
you to my wonderful guest, I want to just tell
you a backstory. Yesterday I met Julia Wi and Go
for the first time via the phone and I had
check issues and then Julie back today to interview again.
(00:45):
Not only that I had to change the time on
her again today because I was having a repair person
comes to my washing machine. And I want to tell
you something, folks. There's a lot of people who write
books on being the light you're, you know, showing your
your shining light. There's the very few who backed that
(01:06):
up with their with their walk. And I'm gonna tell
you Julie Wigdel she walks the walk, and that just
talks the talk of bringing light into the world. Julie
Wignell brought light into my life yesterday and today, so sweet,
(01:27):
so kind and understanding, and I would listen to whatever
she has to say and read whatever she writes. And
I just want to tell you about Julie Wignol and
that's spelled w I g n A l L. She
is an award winning author and writer. She won the
(01:52):
International Impact Book Award and the fire Bird Winner Award
of her book The Extraordinary Power of Fireflies, How to
Shine Your Life, Writer and Transform the World. Julie has
experience in business, national politics, international business, the arts, environmental conservation.
(02:20):
She is so muti talented. She is a sod after speaker, coach, consultant,
and she's a workshop leader, equipping change makers with tools
to align with their purpose and amplify their impact. Julie
is here to share how each of us can harness
(02:41):
our light to transform the world. Folks, you're not gonna
want to miss the show. You're gonna want to listen
to the fantastic, wonderful kind the Julie Wignol. Welcome Julie
to chatting with Betsy.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Thank you so much for anything, Nicer. I'm gonna have
to go on the road with you as my new manager.
It's wonderful to be here, it really is.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Oh well, thank you so much. You know there's there
are Juli. There are people who, because I've interviewed them,
write writing books about it. It's like ironic about you know,
being kind and show and light and some of them
could be the neatest people and the true I've had,
(03:33):
you know, an experience.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah, and then I'll follow through important. Yeah, and it's
so important I think, to to walk the walk.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Yes, yes, I have to tell the audience that it's
gonna be in the blog. I went. I went before,
but I went again yesterday because I signed up for
Julie Wignall's newsletter and oh my goodness, your website is beautifuful, folks.
(04:05):
You've got to go on the website. The way you're
the cover of your book, I know, the way you
have it on your website. It's just so spiritual to me.
It's just it brightened my day. And I was having
a very bad day yesterday. I didn't feel well, things
were going wrong. I went on your website. It's the
(04:25):
honest truth, folks. I went on Julie's website. I looked
at the cover of the book was beautiful, and I
signed up for the newsletter and for you had like
the what's it called the Lessons Fire fly lessons or something. Yeah, firefly, Yes, folks,
(04:48):
you gotta get it. I looked at it. I couldn't
really like comprehended all because I wasn't feeling well. I
had a migraine. But just looking at it, it just
made me feel some much better, Julie. And it made
me feel better because I know it's coming from someone
from you who means what you say. You show this,
(05:11):
thank you.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
That's the whole purpose that of this book. You know,
for me, this isn't a oh, you're gonna learn this,
you're going to It's a call to action. And the
reason I chose fireflies in the first place is because
whenever any of us think of fireflies, you know, or
I mentioned fireflies, our faces light up. We were reconnecting
(05:36):
to a magic, to the magic of nature. We're remembering
when we found fireflies when we were ten years old
in our backyards. We were connecting to something that's bigger
than ourselves. And the concept is, yes, there's magic and fireflies,
but it's just a reflection of the magic that's inside
every single one of us. So I really this book
(06:00):
is a call to action to say it's time to
get past standing on the sidelines with your wishes and
your hopes and your dreams, and it's time to put
them in action, because that's what creates the firefly. And
to get on the firefly path and to be happy.
(06:20):
That's what we're here for, is to be happy and
to connect with each other. And when you talk about,
you know, walking the walk, so many people today they
spend time trying to think about what's my purpose? And
I kind of focus on what is it that gives
your life meaning? But the next point in that that
(06:41):
I think that in today's world we've kind of forgotten
is along with that, what is your code of of values?
What's importance to you? And you know is it's being
authentic and having ethics and being kind. You know, like
you say, if my code of values is being kind
and then I turn around and I find a means
(07:02):
of people, then I'm not really adhering to that code
of ethics. And I'm sure you, like me, have seen
and talk to the people who go, oh, I'm one
with the universe and I am just so aligned with everything.
And then they get out with our car and they
start driving and the next thing you hear is that
(07:23):
idiot driver and that guy cut me off, and you
sit there and you think, well, what happened to that
alignment he just told me about five minutes ago. And it's,
you know, having that code of values. What is it,
you know, not lying, not cheating, being honest. Part of
(07:44):
my code of a value is being authentic. And so
I want to live in a world where you don't
have to pretend that everything's great when it's not. Wolve
So it's that the trul that I want to live in.
Then I have to be in that place where like
are you know I'm not having the best of days,
or like you have I'm frustrated. That's being authentic. And
(08:07):
every time you're authentic, every time you share from the heart,
you're actually illuminating a pathway and lighting that light for
other people to say, oh, Betty's being authentic. You know,
Julie's being honest that we're here. I can do that too,
and then we get to start working in a world
(08:29):
where we can really see that light in each other,
support each other, encourage each other, and inspire each other.
You know, there's too much of this how do I
pull people down? And you know, sometimes when I'm speaking,
I say, we seem to and I don't know how
we got here, but we seem to live in a
world where the new thing is I'm right and you're
(08:52):
an idiot, and no, let's like move beyond that. And
I call it in my book, rising in those faces between,
to say we've got to get beyond all that. We've
got to be honest, and we've got to be authentic.
So I actually describe and I define a firefly of
the human kind as someone who sees beyond the reality
(09:17):
of what is and they see what can be, and
then they take action to create about that better reality.
And what I've done is in my book, I have
highlighted twenty people somewhere around the world that are doing
just that. And these are people who continue to inspire
(09:37):
me every day. They're on every continent and they're in
every field, but they're all following their own special and
unique path. And I believe that's why we're all here.
You know, everything one of us has special and unique gifts,
and we have something really important to share the world.
(10:01):
And if we don't share it, you know, think of
what the world is missing out on from just sitting
on the sidelines and not taking that action.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
And that is so true when you're talking. I know
I've ever heard of this rabbi, but you don't have
to be Jewish to listen to the folks. Name is
Rabbi Simone Jacobson. He's with the Meaningful Life Center and
he does this. He has this video about why should
(10:34):
celebrate your birthday and it touched me so deeply I cried.
Because we're born to come here on this earth with
a mission. We each have our own individual mission to
do and to bring light into the world. And so
when I hear you talk Julie about you know, fireflies
(10:56):
and like illuminating the world that we that were in,
that just reminded me of why we came into this world.
And it really connects with not that I'm meant to
uh back to Bala, but that philosophy, you know, it
has such deep meaning of you know, and just like
(11:20):
when you wake up in the morning, you know, give
thanks to God, your higher power, whoever you believe in
that you woke up right as you woke up another day.
And I was almost in a car accident on Saturday.
(11:40):
People in New Jersey drive crazy. I looked back and forth,
back and forth to stop sign so it would have
been my fault. I look back and forth, back and forth,
and I go to you know, my cardy goo, and
my son goes, Mom, watch out, this car came flying
down the street out of nowhere. I h almost hit her.
(12:03):
I came close. So God was protecting me. I believe that.
But you know, we're alive for a purpose. And I
think each person in your book, you know, you bring
that out and one of the interesting ones. And I
know yesterday we talked about it, but this is a
(12:24):
new recording. The man from Paraguay who had the music
Yeah made, he's an excellent.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Example of what that is and what this looks like.
You know, this is Favi and Chavez. Imagine, this is
a man loves music. He has no degree, he's got
no background, but he loves music and he loves playing.
And he was working as a sanitation engineer on the
largest landfill of twirl away material in Paraguay. And there
(13:02):
are people who live there that I give a whole
new definition to what poverty looks like. But these people,
the poverty is there, but they are very innovative. You know,
just because you don't have money doesn't make you stupid.
And these are people who are incredibly innovative, and they've
(13:24):
used the pieces that they've found within this landfill to
create their homes. This is like where they're living, and
Fabio's working there. He's getting to learn and to know
the families and their kids. And he thought to himself,
here's your hopestreams and wishes. He thought, you know, I
would love to see these kids learn music and to
(13:46):
create an orchestra here and really see if we can
change their lives and give them new opportunities. Well, what
happens with all of us, You know, we usually sit
on the sidelines and what great idea, but then fear
takes over, Oh I can't do that? Or who am
I to do that? And you know, as Mary and
Williams said, who were you not to do that? And
(14:09):
Favio his first thought was maybe I could get funding
to find the money to buy instruments for these kids here.
And then he looked around and he said, you know,
if I could find the funding, chances are I'd give
these kids instruments and i'd'll be stolen within twenty four
hours because it's it's worth money. So instead he took
(14:33):
an unconventional path and he went to the people who
were building their homes from pieces from the landfill and
say could you help me, could you teach me? Can
we make musical instruments from the trash and the landfill?
And Betsy, they did. They made violins out of discarded
(14:56):
car license plates. There's a timpany drum where the sides
of it were thrown away medical waste. They used giant
X rays for the drums. They created an entire orchestra
and he calls them to the today, the Recycled Orchestra
of Paraguay. The kids themselves being young, they were very
(15:20):
into different music, and he encouraged them to play all
kinds of music, you know, no matter what it was. Well,
we have a number of kids who are fans of Metallica,
so Fabia said, go ahead and just write them a letter.
Let them know who you are and what you were doing.
And most of the go, oh, why bother, they'll never
write back, but you never know. Not only did Metallica
(15:44):
right back, they showed up in Paraguay to learn more
about what the kids were doing, and they ended up
where the Recycled Orchestra they opened on concert tour for Metallica.
They've since gone on, they have opened for Steve Wonder today.
They travel around the world sharing their music and their
(16:07):
story everywhere. But Favio has them all wear these black
T shirts that I absolutely adore. On the back of
every one of their T shirts their uniforms for the orchestra,
it' says the world sends us trash and we send
back music and tell me what a wonderful, wonderful motto.
(16:33):
You know the people they've written about, These people found
different ways to express themselves to make the world a
better place. They're not all making the news headlines. They're
not on you know, the Today Show, the Good Morning
America Show. They should be, probably, but they're too busy
doing what they're doing to stop to say, oh, I've
(16:56):
got to tell everybody about what's what I'm doing. Because
they didn't do it for the fame, and they didn't
do it, you know, to for their notoriety. They did
it to make a difference and to connect with other
people in the world. And you know, the kids are
still touring today. And as said, it's no excuse for
(17:20):
doing nothing. So we all like that, right, you know,
we can all do And you know I always say
sometimes if you can do this on a global basis terrific.
But if you can only do it within your community,
you're changing your community. And if you can only do
it within your household and your family. You know, you
were talking about this wonderful Rabbi and in the Toement
(17:43):
and I combine things from every religion in the world,
but in the Tonement it's it says, if you can
reach one person and impact their life, then your life
is worthwhile and you've made a difference in the world.
And sometimes that part if us, if we take care
of ourselves, we're telling other people it's okay to take
(18:06):
care of yourselves. We have a huge, for example, mental
health crisis here in the United States and worldwide actually,
but if you take the time to take care of yourself,
you know, mentally, emotionally, and physically, again, you're getting permission
for someone else who sees that you're doing this to say,
(18:29):
you know what, that's really important. I need to do
that too. And that's all these things.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Yes, oh, Joey, I agree. I'm a huge mental health
advocate big time. I interview a lot of people about
mental health and I say myself, I see a psychologist
to deal with post traumatic stress and caregiving, plus dealing
(18:57):
with you know, grieving and which helped me immensely. And
I tell people that I go to encourage them because
maybe if they hear, oh, Betsy says, she goes, she's
not ashamed, I'll.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Go that that's it.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
And you know what, like I said this all the time,
don't judge anyone who goes for support or even if
they had to take a medication to get them through
a rough spot, because no one knows what White has
in store for them. And when live hits you upside
the head of the fledgehammer, you're going and you might
(19:38):
need support too, And how would you want people to
treat you when you're going through a rough time?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Exactly? And that's that's the importance I think of being authentic.
I have certainly benefited from dealing with therapists and therapy,
and I've spent forty years studying Carl Young and his
mode of therapy.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
But you know, in.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Our society, we talk a lot about the importance of
mental health, but we don't do a whole lot about it.
You know, Having worked within a fortune five hundred corporation,
you know, I've had staff member who were going through
difficult times, divorced, the loss of a loved one, where
(20:24):
you know this is a person who could benefit from therapy.
But within the work force and within schools as well,
within our communities, we say, oh, mental health is so important,
But the sin of someone says yes, I think I
could benefit from a psychologist or a therapist, everybody points fingers.
(20:46):
And within a corporate situation, this was really sad. I
had to suggest and recommend staff members to say, I
think that you could benefit from this, but I don't
want you to go through our human resources to apartment,
and I don't want you to go through the insurance.
I want you to see if you can pay out
of pocket, because otherwise they're going to put this on
(21:07):
your file. And when you want to go for another position,
if you want to climb up the ladders, they're going
to go maybe he's unstable. That's not what we're supposed
to be looking at this for. You want to say,
this is a person who took care of themselves. So
and actually, I'll tell you another one of the people
that I wrote about, Thesa is she is the we
(21:33):
call her in the field of marine biology, we call
her the jellyfish guru. She has been a road scientist.
She is known the world over as the world's foremost
authority dealing with jellyfish. And you think, ah, this is
this crazy little animal without a backbone that's in the ocean.
How important is it. Lisa has actually consulted with the
(21:59):
defense the apartments in Australia where they had an area
where they had submarines and in the water. So this
is not a place you want to be, says Lisa,
because there's too many jellyfish that's gonna clog your intake pipes.
So she's worked the world over. Lisa was in her
early forties when she finally got diagnosed and discovered one
(22:24):
of the issues she had been having socially all these
years ago with the She's got Aspergers and today she
calls herself an Asby baby. She is very forward with
this and it's like, you know what, I might have
this great reputation, but I you know, I have to
(22:47):
deal with different mental health issues and I'm going to
continue to do this. And today Lisa lives in Tasmania.
She actually ran for a position in parliament there based
on an entirementtal heal health platform saying we've got to
pay attention to this more. But yes, it's when people
like you or me, or at least this stand up
(23:08):
and say, yes, I use therapy. I mean, this is
part of what gives me balance in my life. I
know when it's time to check in, and I know
when I can take a break from it. But we all,
if we want to continue to grow, we always need
to be looking at ourselves.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yes, yes, and you know what I'm I do interview.
I feel though mental health. It's a shame that in
corporate America especially, and also in the medical field and
police officers and firemen or women, there is a stigma
(23:48):
still attached to going for support. Now, I've heard this
example used. If you have the injury, if you fail
and you know, fracture your arm or your leg, you
could get that fixed. Nobody thinks anything about it. But
if you are having mental health issues and you go
for support to fix yourself your mental health, that's frowned upon.
(24:12):
And even doctors well could get penalized for that. Yes,
and that's you know, that is just not right. I
mean I would rather have a doctor take medication, go
for therapy than to be high, you know, on drugs
or drinking booze when he's operating on me, he or
(24:34):
she exactly, you know. And I worked at a hospital
many years ago and there were doctors known for operating
while drunk. Wow, and it's looked the other way. They
people looked the other way. You didn't get reported.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
That's what I think. It's time that we, you know,
we start from the grassroots up that you know, I
don't see as much as i'd like to. There are
companies that are trying and working at changing things more
on a corporate level. I think a lot of the
changes they start at the grassroots community level, and when
(25:22):
we're looking out for each other, when we're supporting each other,
when we're encouraging each other to say, you know, oh gee,
you feel a need to go back to therapy. I
support that, you know, and let me know if there's
anything that I can do that can help along the way.
And to be aware of what we're all going through.
(25:44):
You know, there's a lot of unrest in the world today.
And I don't know if I had brought this up before.
I was looking at this thing where someone was just
complaining and yelling about women's issues today and oh, we
can't do this, and we can't do that. I feel
like we've moved backwards. And there was a woman in
(26:06):
her late sixties who said, well, I can't believe that
I'm still at this age and I'm still fighting for
women's rights. Okay, I get that she's right. It's frustrated.
But then there was a woman who was eighty three
and she said, I've been working for women's rights longer
(26:27):
than you have. And I want to say that when
I was young, I was in an abusive marriage. I
had a young son, and I was saved, not by
any shelter, because these were before there were women's shelters,
nothing like that existed. That It was a couple in
(26:47):
my community that knew what was going on and said,
come and live with us, leave your husband until you
get your feet on the ground. And she said, without them,
I would not be where I am today. She went
on to become a lawyer and found her way. But
I thought, you know, we keep looking for politicians and
(27:14):
all of these different systems that are in place to
help save us, to help make things better. And yes,
while we all want to see this systems change, politicians change,
what doesn't change is community, and when we start at
that grassroots level to say that no matter what, if
we're going through good or bad, we're there to help
(27:37):
each other. We got each other's back, so we're going
to support each other and we're going to build community.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Absolutely, joy I feel that one act of kindness can
change someone's entire life. It really can.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Yes, it can.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
And I will give a very short story. No I
told you yesterday, but I'll share this with the audience.
I worked in a preschool. I'm Jewish. My coworker's Muslim,
and she helped me get on Facebook, which is very
kind of her. Her doing that simple act of kindness, folks,
(28:23):
changed my life. Literally. I went on support groups and
then eventually got a smartphone. I did videos. I put
them out in different support groups. People heard me, they
said that I helped them. I met Genie White, who's
the station manager of the show. I'm not sure the station.
(28:44):
And that's how I became a podcast host because Guinny
discovered me. All because someone helped me get on Facebook.
That's just simple act and it didn't matter. You know,
of different faiths at each other, and you know what,
I say this all the time. Julie You don't have
(29:04):
to like someone's lifestyle, you don't have to prove of it,
you don't have to prove of what they believe in.
But there's respect exactly.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
One of my yes, one of my one of the
people that I highlight because of that is Ronnie Abergil.
You want to talk about a different way to deal
with a problem. Ronnie lives in Denmark and when he
was a teenager, he and his brother were friends with
local community and one of their friends was murdered, was shot. Instead,
(29:42):
how do you deal with that as a kid and
a lot of people we know would become violent in
turn become angry. Ronnie instead, there was there's a big
festival that takes place in Copenhagen every year, and he
and his brother and remaining friends they set up a
(30:03):
tent and this was a literary festival and they said,
instead of being a book, we're going to be a
book where you can check us out the people, because
we have this horrific experience and we want to share
it with people so that you know what it feels
like from our perspectives to have lost someone to gun violence.
What a different way to deal with that? Well, this
(30:26):
grew so big they have lines around the block for
two days of people who wanted to experience this. And
Ronnie went on to found what he calls the Human Library,
his model of unjudged somebody. And it's like, no, you
might have to agree with somebody's lifestyle, way with what
(30:49):
they do, but you know what if you don't understand
what the you know, the immigrant story is, you check
out people instead of books. Here's someone who's an immigrant
who's going to share their story with you. It doesn't
mean you have to become best friends or like them
or you know, if you don't understand someone's sexual orientation
(31:11):
or their gender or whatever, it's a chance to read
the book. It's a chance to ask them questions one
to one so that you can see something through somebody
else's eyes.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
That is so funny that you brought that up in
the way, because I'm going to tell you why. Last
months I interviewed someone as Chevy Rose and she's a
publicist in New York City. She was one of the
Human Libraries. She trained and she went to Brooklyn because
(31:48):
she's in New York and she went to the Human
Library in Brooklyn and did something some kind of an
event so yeah, and really she said fantastic. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
And the more that we know each other, the more
that we understand what each person is going through, the
more the more we connect with each other. And that's
really the key to everything, are those connections and connecting
with just as people. And that gets back to that
Buddhist principle of the light in me sees the light
(32:29):
in you. When you hear people say nonasty, that's exactly
what that means. I see your light. And that's because
we all have a light no matter what we believe.
And to know that there are many different paths up
to the top of the mountain and we want to
share those experiences so that we're sharing our journeys.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Absolutely, and that's where you know, storytelling comes in and
sharing our experiences which connect us because in this world today,
we could connect to anyone anywhere and we have let's
said connection, but yeah, we're disconnected, Julie, because you could
(33:09):
just disconnect that connection, but then people still they have
a right to break someone being a bully behind the keyboard.
And it's great to connect and I know I have
a friend. She was my first mentor with in the
(33:30):
land of dementia. Her name is Marcia Burr, and she
would always say, you know, we need to share stories,
and she's a great storyteller. We need to share our stories,
share our experiences. That brings us together, and we are
more alike than we are different. We all bleed red blood,
(33:50):
and we all want to live in peace and happiness
and safety. We all want the same things, So why
can't we do it?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Absolutely? I work from four pillars. I say, every single
person on this planet wants to be seen. Every single
person wants to be heard. We all want to feel
like we're doing something that's meaningful, that we're important, we're
important to somebody or to something, or that we know
what we're doing, our reason for being here as meaning
(34:21):
and we all want to connect to something greater than ourselves.
You know, some people find that religion, some people find
that in communities, some people find that in their belief system.
But we all want to be part of something that's
that's bigger. And when we start reconnecting because we've kind
(34:42):
of fallen off the bandwagon with that, because everything becomes
done online, everything becomes m technology. But I'll tell you, Busy,
there's a wonderful movement that is that hit Europe that
I am just hoping really soon and starts making its
way through the the United States. And this is the
(35:02):
concept of doing what they call offline events. This is
getting back to using whether it's libraries or museums or
coffee shops, to say, Okay, let's put away the computers,
let's put away the cell phones, and let's go back
to having conversations, and let's do silly art projects, and
let's remember how to laugh with each other and see,
(35:24):
let's do community poetry. Let's do something that helps us
remember that we're human and we're connecting with each other.
You know, there's so much that AI can do today,
but what it cannot do is connect us to each
other as human beings.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Oh that's very true. That is I agree one hundred percent.
I think people today, especially young people today, are missing
that connection because I well, this is what I hear.
I don't know because I have a dated at number
forty something years, but you know, they go on these
(36:02):
apps and it's all like it's not to me, it's
not really personal. It's on an app. They have discussions
before they meet in person, or I hear about people
breaking up over you know, through a text they didn't
have that. You know, we met in person and lolante
(36:25):
chickens do along dating, but it's not.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
For me, So I agree. I find that a lot
of people in younger generations so they crave they are
craving connection. They're looking for ways to do this. And
that's why one of the things I love is when
I work on projects and I encourage everybody to do
the same. I have absolutely had it up into my
(36:54):
head with all of these this is going to be
a youth led movement. This is going to be a
senior led movement. I think we need more human led movements,
and we need a mixture of generations. We need to
have people in their twenties mixing with people in their sixties,
in their eighties and in their forties. And we also
need that ten year old that's going to stow up
(37:16):
and say when is it time to play? Because we
all need to remember to play and that we're supposed
to have some fun with all of this. And it's
only then when we have all of those perspectives, you know,
across the generations, that we're really learning how to move forward.
(37:36):
You know, Yes, we like I said, and a lot
of people are anxious today. You know, yes, politics to
climate change to everything else. But I say we're here
right now for a reason, and this is our time
to shine. This is not a matter of saying, oh,
we need to go back to the way things were.
(37:59):
No as ever thing it kind of feels like it's
falling apart. This is the time to say, how do
you want things to be? We are the architects of
our future. So stop looking at again what's around you
and what's happening, and start thinking about what would you
like it to be. We have, you know, war and
(38:22):
salm and all these things in other countries. We have
people who are hungry right here. When we establish communities,
we need to learn how to take care of one another.
If we want worse to stop, we have to show
that we can live in peace here, that we don't
go around shooting people up, and that there's mental health
services when we're feeling a little bit overwhelmed. But we are.
(38:47):
It's up to us to architect what kind of future
that we want, and now's the time to start planning
and start working at creating what we want that to
look like. What do they say it's not over till
the fat lady sings, and that's as a scientist, and
you know, having dealt in environmental issues for over thirty
(39:10):
years and all the fear factors with climate change, it's
not over and it's not a done deal. And there
are incredibly innovative people. We've got some great thought leaders.
We need to support them and we need to get
them off the sidelines too. Another person who I talked
about who I love is Layla ajarlu is a who's
(39:37):
a designer. Think about this. We say, oh, you have
to be careful. This is terrible when you need to
do things that are good for the environment. And we
shame everybody. How dare you get on an airplane? What
do you mean you have to drive a car to work?
This is terrible for the environment. And we say one
of the top things that ends up in our landfills
(39:57):
is food, and people shame, Oh, you've got you've got
too much food that's gone bad. This is all going
to end up in a landfill. And think about this.
The average person. We go to the grocery store and
we go, I'm going to eat really healthy this week,
and you buy fruits and vegetables and then you know what,
life happens, and somehow we're eating on the run. We
(40:20):
don't have the time to prepare something. And a month
later we go back and we've got science experiments that
we're having things in the back of our refrigerator, and
we go we're terrible. We're not being very good to
the environment. And Laylas is, why are we always blaming
the consumer? This is life. Maybe we should stop making
(40:44):
people feel badly for this and say we understand life happens.
Let's start designing things better. Yeah, how many people change
their cell phone every two years. We need a new
computer every two to three years. This is all electronic
where grows into landfills. Well, is it our faults? Our
systems can't keep up, And Layla turns around and says, no,
(41:06):
this is a design issue. Let's design them better. So
maybe there's a small, little little plug in that you
can do that will upgrade your computer, upgrade your cell phone,
so that we don't have this electronic waste in the
first place. It's a completely different way to look at things.
It's a paradigm shift. But to say we don't have
(41:29):
to walk around feeling like the guilty parties all the time.
There are paths forward, and we have to decide what
we have that's to look like.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
That's a good point, Julie about making smartphones, computers, or
you can upgrade instead of having to throw them out.
As a matter of fact, appliances, you know, washers, dryers, refrigerators,
and I have talked to many a maintenance man that's
(41:58):
been in my house and they said that unfortunately, they
said that they are not making appliances today to last.
The average appliance last five years. Now. I have Matt's,
my husband's grandmother's refrigerator. That's a dinosaur, the things. I
(42:20):
don't even know how old that thing is. It's still running.
I don't use it, but it's in here. It would
take a lot of people to remove it is. It's solid,
it's heavy, and you could just tell the looking at
that versus a modern refrigerator, the quality. And they're just
(42:42):
not making appliances to last. So and that takes up
space somewhere in a landfill. I mean, what do they
do with these appliances, right, washers and drive refrigerators where
they go they asked to go, they have to go
to a landfill somewhere or recycling center. So to make
things last like they used to back in the old days.
(43:06):
But everything's disposable. You know, we live in a multiple society.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
Part of this is, you know, it's time to start
looking at things differently. And you know so many people
who are you know, whether they're working with impliances, or
they're teaching, or they've got fabulous ideas, and these are
the things that truly can help propel us forward, because
(43:32):
forward in that future doesn't have to be doom and gloom.
We don't have to go, oh my god, I'm so
scared for the future. We need to step up. We
need to shine our lights brighter and we say I
have a different vision for the future. We can change
we can change things. And you know, it's easy to
look at companies and corporations and oh, they're such bad
(43:55):
guys and they're so greedy. But it's not corporations that
are greedy. There are people within the corporations that are greedy.
And that's again where we need to do a paradigm
shift to say, you know what, yes, there are those
that are, but there are also those that want to
see a better world, and those are the people that
(44:15):
we need to be supporting and encouraging and looking at
things through a brighter light.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
I agree absolutely, Julie. Why would you like people to
take away from your book? And now you want to
call it.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
Action, I'd make it a call out. And actually within
the book there are they're not long chapters, because this
is a call to action. Each chapter has some lessons
that I've learned and I encourage people to incorporate. It's
got It's not my way or the highway, it's find
your own way. Here are two different fireflies and different
(44:55):
parts of the world who are doing this in different ways.
But every chapter actually ends with an exercise to say,
how can you take what you've learned and bring it
into your life from theory into action, because that's what
this book is encouraging, that every single person has a
(45:16):
special and unique light to shine and the world needs it.
We need you, and we need you now, not yesterday,
and that's where we need you, like right now, that
the time is right. And that's why I also have
the free download on my website which is Flying Lessons
for Fireflies, which is just five exercises just to get
(45:40):
you to start shining brighter and to see your own
self worth, to start doing that right now, and that
puts everybody on an email list where once a week
I send out something that is going to be something
to inspire, something to encourage, something to remind mind you
(46:01):
of how special you are, because I think that's the
whole point. People don't realize how special they are, and
they are, every single one.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
Absolutely, I'm looking forward to mine. I am looking forward
to receiving my folks. I'm telling you honest truth. I
went on the website yesterday and I signed up, so
I'm looking forward to it. And I have to go
back when I have time and do the exercises that
(46:32):
are on the the for the fireflies. I don't know
why that's the tone twister for me, Antleia wrap it up.
What is your website, joy, where people can buy your.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Bulk and remember you can remember just extraordinary Fireflies. It's
www dot extraordinary fireflies dot com. And that has the
links to all of the sudden social media pages where
I work to share things that are positive and uplifting
as well. There's links to by the book but you know,
(47:09):
you can go into any bookstore and request it. But
but yes, and the concept of that is let's start
building community in community everywhere because everybody deserves to be inspired.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
Oh I agree. I love the building community and I
know that I try to do my part from my
little corner of the world here in New Jersey, using
my voice to help other people. And I'm blessed to
do that. And I'm don't take it lightly. I'm very
(47:47):
grateful to Genie White and the link called well for
well because let me platform sharing that lights.
Speaker 2 (47:57):
You are a firefly, So are.
Speaker 1 (48:01):
You, Julie. Folks. I may sound redundant, and that's okay,
because we do need to shine our life right. We
need to change the world around us. First, change ourselves
and make have a better version of ourselves. And you know,
(48:24):
transform that and it's never too late. You're never too old.
I started at the age of sixty. I'm sixty seven now,
and you know you don't stop learning as long as
you're living. So I want to thank you Julie Wignol
for coming on and sharing the stem about your book.
(48:48):
The book, Folks, is the extraordinary power of fireflies. Have
to shine your light brighter and transform the world. All
the information about Julie Wignoll will be in the blog
that Jeanie White writes as the station manager and produces
the show, and I want to thank William Quodewell, CEO
(49:10):
makes it all possible. And I want to thank you
the listeners. Thank you for listening and subscribing. Please share
the show to help other people. That's what I'm here for.
Passion World Talk Radio Network isn't just an internet station.
We're a resource center. You can look up several topics
and you will see a blog for a topic and
(49:32):
you'll see people who are resources. I have excellent resource
people on my show. If I have to toot my
own horn, I will too too. I have wonderful guests
on because I want everyone to know about resources that
I wish I knew about in my youth caregiving. And
(49:54):
you know, we all need help. We all need support.
And if you can to learn now you're a young person,
and you can learn now to shine your light and
to be yourself and to love to accept yourself when
you're young, all the better for you. It took me
(50:17):
until I was sixty and it's still a battle for
me to be honest, but you know, it's really never
too late. And I just want to thank everyone for listening.
You can follow me on Facebook excuse me at ce
worzels w u or Zel. If you need a support
(50:38):
group you're a caregiver hashtag kick Alzheimer's s movement. And
I just want to say that you can listen to
Spotify Spreaker. You could subscribe for free on those stations
also Amazon Music. I am on and I just want
(51:02):
to tell everyone you're gonna want to listen to a
show I did by myself where I talk about how
I became a podcast host and I made number seventeen
on the seat Spot's top seventy caregiver podcast list. So
thank you everyone, And as I always say at the
end of my show, in a world where you could
(51:23):
be anything, please be kind and shine your life right
because we need it now more than ever before. This
is Betsy Worthal. Your host is Jenny with Betsy. I've
Patcher will Talk Radio Network, a subsidiary of Global Media
Network LLC. Bye bye now
I love everyone. This is Betsy Wurzel. You're a host
of Chatting with Betsy Passionate World Talk Radio Network, a
subsidiary of Global Media Network LLC. Our Mantra is to educate, enlighten,
and entertain the views that a guest may not represent
those a host of the station. Folks, Before I introduce
(00:23):
you to my wonderful guest, I want to just tell
you a backstory. Yesterday I met Julia Wi and Go
for the first time via the phone and I had
check issues and then Julie back today to interview again.
(00:45):
Not only that I had to change the time on
her again today because I was having a repair person
comes to my washing machine. And I want to tell
you something, folks. There's a lot of people who write
books on being the light you're, you know, showing your
your shining light. There's the very few who backed that
(01:06):
up with their with their walk. And I'm gonna tell
you Julie Wigdel she walks the walk, and that just
talks the talk of bringing light into the world. Julie
Wignell brought light into my life yesterday and today, so sweet,
(01:27):
so kind and understanding, and I would listen to whatever
she has to say and read whatever she writes. And
I just want to tell you about Julie Wignol and
that's spelled w I g n A l L. She
is an award winning author and writer. She won the
(01:52):
International Impact Book Award and the fire Bird Winner Award
of her book The Extraordinary Power of Fireflies, How to
Shine Your Life, Writer and Transform the World. Julie has
experience in business, national politics, international business, the arts, environmental conservation.
(02:20):
She is so muti talented. She is a sod after speaker, coach, consultant,
and she's a workshop leader, equipping change makers with tools
to align with their purpose and amplify their impact. Julie
is here to share how each of us can harness
(02:41):
our light to transform the world. Folks, you're not gonna
want to miss the show. You're gonna want to listen
to the fantastic, wonderful kind the Julie Wignol. Welcome Julie
to chatting with Betsy.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Thank you so much for anything, Nicer. I'm gonna have
to go on the road with you as my new manager.
It's wonderful to be here, it really is.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Oh well, thank you so much. You know there's there
are Juli. There are people who, because I've interviewed them,
write writing books about it. It's like ironic about you know,
being kind and show and light and some of them
could be the neatest people and the true I've had,
(03:33):
you know, an experience.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah, and then I'll follow through important. Yeah, and it's
so important I think, to to walk the walk.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Yes, yes, I have to tell the audience that it's
gonna be in the blog. I went. I went before,
but I went again yesterday because I signed up for
Julie Wignall's newsletter and oh my goodness, your website is beautifuful, folks.
(04:05):
You've got to go on the website. The way you're
the cover of your book, I know, the way you
have it on your website. It's just so spiritual to me.
It's just it brightened my day. And I was having
a very bad day yesterday. I didn't feel well, things
were going wrong. I went on your website. It's the
(04:25):
honest truth, folks. I went on Julie's website. I looked
at the cover of the book was beautiful, and I
signed up for the newsletter and for you had like
the what's it called the Lessons Fire fly lessons or something. Yeah, firefly, Yes, folks,
(04:48):
you gotta get it. I looked at it. I couldn't
really like comprehended all because I wasn't feeling well. I
had a migraine. But just looking at it, it just
made me feel some much better, Julie. And it made
me feel better because I know it's coming from someone
from you who means what you say. You show this,
(05:11):
thank you.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
That's the whole purpose that of this book. You know,
for me, this isn't a oh, you're gonna learn this,
you're going to It's a call to action. And the
reason I chose fireflies in the first place is because
whenever any of us think of fireflies, you know, or
I mentioned fireflies, our faces light up. We were reconnecting
(05:36):
to a magic, to the magic of nature. We're remembering
when we found fireflies when we were ten years old
in our backyards. We were connecting to something that's bigger
than ourselves. And the concept is, yes, there's magic and fireflies,
but it's just a reflection of the magic that's inside
every single one of us. So I really this book
(06:00):
is a call to action to say it's time to
get past standing on the sidelines with your wishes and
your hopes and your dreams, and it's time to put
them in action, because that's what creates the firefly. And
to get on the firefly path and to be happy.
(06:20):
That's what we're here for, is to be happy and
to connect with each other. And when you talk about,
you know, walking the walk, so many people today they
spend time trying to think about what's my purpose? And
I kind of focus on what is it that gives
your life meaning? But the next point in that that
(06:41):
I think that in today's world we've kind of forgotten
is along with that, what is your code of of values?
What's importance to you? And you know is it's being
authentic and having ethics and being kind. You know, like
you say, if my code of values is being kind
and then I turn around and I find a means
(07:02):
of people, then I'm not really adhering to that code
of ethics. And I'm sure you, like me, have seen
and talk to the people who go, oh, I'm one
with the universe and I am just so aligned with everything.
And then they get out with our car and they
start driving and the next thing you hear is that
(07:23):
idiot driver and that guy cut me off, and you
sit there and you think, well, what happened to that
alignment he just told me about five minutes ago. And it's,
you know, having that code of values. What is it,
you know, not lying, not cheating, being honest. Part of
(07:44):
my code of a value is being authentic. And so
I want to live in a world where you don't
have to pretend that everything's great when it's not. Wolve
So it's that the trul that I want to live in.
Then I have to be in that place where like
are you know I'm not having the best of days,
or like you have I'm frustrated. That's being authentic. And
(08:07):
every time you're authentic, every time you share from the heart,
you're actually illuminating a pathway and lighting that light for
other people to say, oh, Betty's being authentic. You know,
Julie's being honest that we're here. I can do that too,
and then we get to start working in a world
(08:29):
where we can really see that light in each other,
support each other, encourage each other, and inspire each other.
You know, there's too much of this how do I
pull people down? And you know, sometimes when I'm speaking,
I say, we seem to and I don't know how
we got here, but we seem to live in a
world where the new thing is I'm right and you're
(08:52):
an idiot, and no, let's like move beyond that. And
I call it in my book, rising in those faces between,
to say we've got to get beyond all that. We've
got to be honest, and we've got to be authentic.
So I actually describe and I define a firefly of
the human kind as someone who sees beyond the reality
(09:17):
of what is and they see what can be, and
then they take action to create about that better reality.
And what I've done is in my book, I have
highlighted twenty people somewhere around the world that are doing
just that. And these are people who continue to inspire
(09:37):
me every day. They're on every continent and they're in
every field, but they're all following their own special and
unique path. And I believe that's why we're all here.
You know, everything one of us has special and unique gifts,
and we have something really important to share the world.
(10:01):
And if we don't share it, you know, think of
what the world is missing out on from just sitting
on the sidelines and not taking that action.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
And that is so true when you're talking. I know
I've ever heard of this rabbi, but you don't have
to be Jewish to listen to the folks. Name is
Rabbi Simone Jacobson. He's with the Meaningful Life Center and
he does this. He has this video about why should
(10:34):
celebrate your birthday and it touched me so deeply I cried.
Because we're born to come here on this earth with
a mission. We each have our own individual mission to
do and to bring light into the world. And so
when I hear you talk Julie about you know, fireflies
(10:56):
and like illuminating the world that we that were in,
that just reminded me of why we came into this world.
And it really connects with not that I'm meant to
uh back to Bala, but that philosophy, you know, it
has such deep meaning of you know, and just like
(11:20):
when you wake up in the morning, you know, give
thanks to God, your higher power, whoever you believe in
that you woke up right as you woke up another day.
And I was almost in a car accident on Saturday.
(11:40):
People in New Jersey drive crazy. I looked back and forth,
back and forth to stop sign so it would have
been my fault. I look back and forth, back and forth,
and I go to you know, my cardy goo, and
my son goes, Mom, watch out, this car came flying
down the street out of nowhere. I h almost hit her.
(12:03):
I came close. So God was protecting me. I believe that.
But you know, we're alive for a purpose. And I
think each person in your book, you know, you bring
that out and one of the interesting ones. And I
know yesterday we talked about it, but this is a
(12:24):
new recording. The man from Paraguay who had the music
Yeah made, he's an excellent.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Example of what that is and what this looks like.
You know, this is Favi and Chavez. Imagine, this is
a man loves music. He has no degree, he's got
no background, but he loves music and he loves playing.
And he was working as a sanitation engineer on the
largest landfill of twirl away material in Paraguay. And there
(13:02):
are people who live there that I give a whole
new definition to what poverty looks like. But these people,
the poverty is there, but they are very innovative. You know,
just because you don't have money doesn't make you stupid.
And these are people who are incredibly innovative, and they've
(13:24):
used the pieces that they've found within this landfill to
create their homes. This is like where they're living, and
Fabio's working there. He's getting to learn and to know
the families and their kids. And he thought to himself,
here's your hopestreams and wishes. He thought, you know, I
would love to see these kids learn music and to
(13:46):
create an orchestra here and really see if we can
change their lives and give them new opportunities. Well, what
happens with all of us, You know, we usually sit
on the sidelines and what great idea, but then fear
takes over, Oh I can't do that? Or who am
I to do that? And you know, as Mary and
Williams said, who were you not to do that? And
(14:09):
Favio his first thought was maybe I could get funding
to find the money to buy instruments for these kids here.
And then he looked around and he said, you know,
if I could find the funding, chances are I'd give
these kids instruments and i'd'll be stolen within twenty four
hours because it's it's worth money. So instead he took
(14:33):
an unconventional path and he went to the people who
were building their homes from pieces from the landfill and
say could you help me, could you teach me? Can
we make musical instruments from the trash and the landfill?
And Betsy, they did. They made violins out of discarded
(14:56):
car license plates. There's a timpany drum where the sides
of it were thrown away medical waste. They used giant
X rays for the drums. They created an entire orchestra
and he calls them to the today, the Recycled Orchestra
of Paraguay. The kids themselves being young, they were very
(15:20):
into different music, and he encouraged them to play all
kinds of music, you know, no matter what it was. Well,
we have a number of kids who are fans of Metallica,
so Fabia said, go ahead and just write them a letter.
Let them know who you are and what you were doing.
And most of the go, oh, why bother, they'll never
write back, but you never know. Not only did Metallica
(15:44):
right back, they showed up in Paraguay to learn more
about what the kids were doing, and they ended up
where the Recycled Orchestra they opened on concert tour for Metallica.
They've since gone on, they have opened for Steve Wonder today.
They travel around the world sharing their music and their
(16:07):
story everywhere. But Favio has them all wear these black
T shirts that I absolutely adore. On the back of
every one of their T shirts their uniforms for the orchestra,
it' says the world sends us trash and we send
back music and tell me what a wonderful, wonderful motto.
(16:33):
You know the people they've written about, These people found
different ways to express themselves to make the world a
better place. They're not all making the news headlines. They're
not on you know, the Today Show, the Good Morning
America Show. They should be, probably, but they're too busy
doing what they're doing to stop to say, oh, I've
(16:56):
got to tell everybody about what's what I'm doing. Because
they didn't do it for the fame, and they didn't
do it, you know, to for their notoriety. They did
it to make a difference and to connect with other
people in the world. And you know, the kids are
still touring today. And as said, it's no excuse for
(17:20):
doing nothing. So we all like that, right, you know,
we can all do And you know I always say
sometimes if you can do this on a global basis terrific.
But if you can only do it within your community,
you're changing your community. And if you can only do
it within your household and your family. You know, you
were talking about this wonderful Rabbi and in the Toement
(17:43):
and I combine things from every religion in the world,
but in the Tonement it's it says, if you can
reach one person and impact their life, then your life
is worthwhile and you've made a difference in the world.
And sometimes that part if us, if we take care
of ourselves, we're telling other people it's okay to take
(18:06):
care of yourselves. We have a huge, for example, mental
health crisis here in the United States and worldwide actually,
but if you take the time to take care of yourself,
you know, mentally, emotionally, and physically, again, you're getting permission
for someone else who sees that you're doing this to say,
(18:29):
you know what, that's really important. I need to do
that too. And that's all these things.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Yes, oh, Joey, I agree. I'm a huge mental health
advocate big time. I interview a lot of people about
mental health and I say myself, I see a psychologist
to deal with post traumatic stress and caregiving, plus dealing
(18:57):
with you know, grieving and which helped me immensely. And
I tell people that I go to encourage them because
maybe if they hear, oh, Betsy says, she goes, she's
not ashamed, I'll.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Go that that's it.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
And you know what, like I said this all the time,
don't judge anyone who goes for support or even if
they had to take a medication to get them through
a rough spot, because no one knows what White has
in store for them. And when live hits you upside
the head of the fledgehammer, you're going and you might
(19:38):
need support too, And how would you want people to
treat you when you're going through a rough time?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Exactly? And that's that's the importance I think of being authentic.
I have certainly benefited from dealing with therapists and therapy,
and I've spent forty years studying Carl Young and his
mode of therapy.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
But you know, in.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Our society, we talk a lot about the importance of
mental health, but we don't do a whole lot about it.
You know, Having worked within a fortune five hundred corporation,
you know, I've had staff member who were going through
difficult times, divorced, the loss of a loved one, where
(20:24):
you know this is a person who could benefit from therapy.
But within the work force and within schools as well,
within our communities, we say, oh, mental health is so important,
But the sin of someone says yes, I think I
could benefit from a psychologist or a therapist, everybody points fingers.
(20:46):
And within a corporate situation, this was really sad. I
had to suggest and recommend staff members to say, I
think that you could benefit from this, but I don't
want you to go through our human resources to apartment,
and I don't want you to go through the insurance.
I want you to see if you can pay out
of pocket, because otherwise they're going to put this on
(21:07):
your file. And when you want to go for another position,
if you want to climb up the ladders, they're going
to go maybe he's unstable. That's not what we're supposed
to be looking at this for. You want to say,
this is a person who took care of themselves. So
and actually, I'll tell you another one of the people
that I wrote about, Thesa is she is the we
(21:33):
call her in the field of marine biology, we call
her the jellyfish guru. She has been a road scientist.
She is known the world over as the world's foremost
authority dealing with jellyfish. And you think, ah, this is
this crazy little animal without a backbone that's in the ocean.
How important is it. Lisa has actually consulted with the
(21:59):
defense the apartments in Australia where they had an area
where they had submarines and in the water. So this
is not a place you want to be, says Lisa,
because there's too many jellyfish that's gonna clog your intake pipes.
So she's worked the world over. Lisa was in her
early forties when she finally got diagnosed and discovered one
(22:24):
of the issues she had been having socially all these
years ago with the She's got Aspergers and today she
calls herself an Asby baby. She is very forward with
this and it's like, you know what, I might have
this great reputation, but I you know, I have to
(22:47):
deal with different mental health issues and I'm going to
continue to do this. And today Lisa lives in Tasmania.
She actually ran for a position in parliament there based
on an entirementtal heal health platform saying we've got to
pay attention to this more. But yes, it's when people
like you or me, or at least this stand up
(23:08):
and say, yes, I use therapy. I mean, this is
part of what gives me balance in my life. I
know when it's time to check in, and I know
when I can take a break from it. But we all,
if we want to continue to grow, we always need
to be looking at ourselves.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yes, yes, and you know what I'm I do interview.
I feel though mental health. It's a shame that in
corporate America especially, and also in the medical field and
police officers and firemen or women, there is a stigma
(23:48):
still attached to going for support. Now, I've heard this
example used. If you have the injury, if you fail
and you know, fracture your arm or your leg, you
could get that fixed. Nobody thinks anything about it. But
if you are having mental health issues and you go
for support to fix yourself your mental health, that's frowned upon.
(24:12):
And even doctors well could get penalized for that. Yes,
and that's you know, that is just not right. I
mean I would rather have a doctor take medication, go
for therapy than to be high, you know, on drugs
or drinking booze when he's operating on me, he or
(24:34):
she exactly, you know. And I worked at a hospital
many years ago and there were doctors known for operating
while drunk. Wow, and it's looked the other way. They
people looked the other way. You didn't get reported.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
That's what I think. It's time that we, you know,
we start from the grassroots up that you know, I
don't see as much as i'd like to. There are
companies that are trying and working at changing things more
on a corporate level. I think a lot of the
changes they start at the grassroots community level, and when
(25:22):
we're looking out for each other, when we're supporting each other,
when we're encouraging each other to say, you know, oh gee,
you feel a need to go back to therapy. I
support that, you know, and let me know if there's
anything that I can do that can help along the way.
And to be aware of what we're all going through.
(25:44):
You know, there's a lot of unrest in the world today.
And I don't know if I had brought this up before.
I was looking at this thing where someone was just
complaining and yelling about women's issues today and oh, we
can't do this, and we can't do that. I feel
like we've moved backwards. And there was a woman in
(26:06):
her late sixties who said, well, I can't believe that
I'm still at this age and I'm still fighting for
women's rights. Okay, I get that she's right. It's frustrated.
But then there was a woman who was eighty three
and she said, I've been working for women's rights longer
(26:27):
than you have. And I want to say that when
I was young, I was in an abusive marriage. I
had a young son, and I was saved, not by
any shelter, because these were before there were women's shelters,
nothing like that existed. That It was a couple in
(26:47):
my community that knew what was going on and said,
come and live with us, leave your husband until you
get your feet on the ground. And she said, without them,
I would not be where I am today. She went
on to become a lawyer and found her way. But
I thought, you know, we keep looking for politicians and
(27:14):
all of these different systems that are in place to
help save us, to help make things better. And yes,
while we all want to see this systems change, politicians change,
what doesn't change is community, and when we start at
that grassroots level to say that no matter what, if
we're going through good or bad, we're there to help
(27:37):
each other. We got each other's back, so we're going
to support each other and we're going to build community.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Absolutely, joy I feel that one act of kindness can
change someone's entire life. It really can.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Yes, it can.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
And I will give a very short story. No I
told you yesterday, but I'll share this with the audience.
I worked in a preschool. I'm Jewish. My coworker's Muslim,
and she helped me get on Facebook, which is very
kind of her. Her doing that simple act of kindness, folks,
(28:23):
changed my life. Literally. I went on support groups and
then eventually got a smartphone. I did videos. I put
them out in different support groups. People heard me, they
said that I helped them. I met Genie White, who's
the station manager of the show. I'm not sure the station.
(28:44):
And that's how I became a podcast host because Guinny
discovered me. All because someone helped me get on Facebook.
That's just simple act and it didn't matter. You know,
of different faiths at each other, and you know what,
I say this all the time. Julie You don't have
(29:04):
to like someone's lifestyle, you don't have to prove of it,
you don't have to prove of what they believe in.
But there's respect exactly.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
One of my yes, one of my one of the
people that I highlight because of that is Ronnie Abergil.
You want to talk about a different way to deal
with a problem. Ronnie lives in Denmark and when he
was a teenager, he and his brother were friends with
local community and one of their friends was murdered, was shot. Instead,
(29:42):
how do you deal with that as a kid and
a lot of people we know would become violent in
turn become angry. Ronnie instead, there was there's a big
festival that takes place in Copenhagen every year, and he
and his brother and remaining friends they set up a
(30:03):
tent and this was a literary festival and they said,
instead of being a book, we're going to be a
book where you can check us out the people, because
we have this horrific experience and we want to share
it with people so that you know what it feels
like from our perspectives to have lost someone to gun violence.
What a different way to deal with that? Well, this
(30:26):
grew so big they have lines around the block for
two days of people who wanted to experience this. And
Ronnie went on to found what he calls the Human Library,
his model of unjudged somebody. And it's like, no, you
might have to agree with somebody's lifestyle, way with what
(30:49):
they do, but you know what if you don't understand
what the you know, the immigrant story is, you check
out people instead of books. Here's someone who's an immigrant
who's going to share their story with you. It doesn't
mean you have to become best friends or like them
or you know, if you don't understand someone's sexual orientation
(31:11):
or their gender or whatever, it's a chance to read
the book. It's a chance to ask them questions one
to one so that you can see something through somebody
else's eyes.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
That is so funny that you brought that up in
the way, because I'm going to tell you why. Last
months I interviewed someone as Chevy Rose and she's a
publicist in New York City. She was one of the
Human Libraries. She trained and she went to Brooklyn because
(31:48):
she's in New York and she went to the Human
Library in Brooklyn and did something some kind of an
event so yeah, and really she said fantastic. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
And the more that we know each other, the more
that we understand what each person is going through, the
more the more we connect with each other. And that's
really the key to everything, are those connections and connecting
with just as people. And that gets back to that
Buddhist principle of the light in me sees the light
(32:29):
in you. When you hear people say nonasty, that's exactly
what that means. I see your light. And that's because
we all have a light no matter what we believe.
And to know that there are many different paths up
to the top of the mountain and we want to
share those experiences so that we're sharing our journeys.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Absolutely, and that's where you know, storytelling comes in and
sharing our experiences which connect us because in this world today,
we could connect to anyone anywhere and we have let's
said connection, but yeah, we're disconnected, Julie, because you could
(33:09):
just disconnect that connection, but then people still they have
a right to break someone being a bully behind the keyboard.
And it's great to connect and I know I have
a friend. She was my first mentor with in the
(33:30):
land of dementia. Her name is Marcia Burr, and she
would always say, you know, we need to share stories,
and she's a great storyteller. We need to share our stories,
share our experiences. That brings us together, and we are
more alike than we are different. We all bleed red blood,
(33:50):
and we all want to live in peace and happiness
and safety. We all want the same things, So why
can't we do it?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Absolutely? I work from four pillars. I say, every single
person on this planet wants to be seen. Every single
person wants to be heard. We all want to feel
like we're doing something that's meaningful, that we're important, we're
important to somebody or to something, or that we know
what we're doing, our reason for being here as meaning
(34:21):
and we all want to connect to something greater than ourselves.
You know, some people find that religion, some people find
that in communities, some people find that in their belief system.
But we all want to be part of something that's
that's bigger. And when we start reconnecting because we've kind
(34:42):
of fallen off the bandwagon with that, because everything becomes
done online, everything becomes m technology. But I'll tell you, Busy,
there's a wonderful movement that is that hit Europe that
I am just hoping really soon and starts making its
way through the the United States. And this is the
(35:02):
concept of doing what they call offline events. This is
getting back to using whether it's libraries or museums or
coffee shops, to say, Okay, let's put away the computers,
let's put away the cell phones, and let's go back
to having conversations, and let's do silly art projects, and
let's remember how to laugh with each other and see,
(35:24):
let's do community poetry. Let's do something that helps us
remember that we're human and we're connecting with each other.
You know, there's so much that AI can do today,
but what it cannot do is connect us to each
other as human beings.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Oh that's very true. That is I agree one hundred percent.
I think people today, especially young people today, are missing
that connection because I well, this is what I hear.
I don't know because I have a dated at number
forty something years, but you know, they go on these
(36:02):
apps and it's all like it's not to me, it's
not really personal. It's on an app. They have discussions
before they meet in person, or I hear about people
breaking up over you know, through a text they didn't
have that. You know, we met in person and lolante
(36:25):
chickens do along dating, but it's not.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
For me, So I agree. I find that a lot
of people in younger generations so they crave they are
craving connection. They're looking for ways to do this. And
that's why one of the things I love is when
I work on projects and I encourage everybody to do
the same. I have absolutely had it up into my
(36:54):
head with all of these this is going to be
a youth led movement. This is going to be a
senior led movement. I think we need more human led movements,
and we need a mixture of generations. We need to
have people in their twenties mixing with people in their sixties,
in their eighties and in their forties. And we also
need that ten year old that's going to stow up
(37:16):
and say when is it time to play? Because we
all need to remember to play and that we're supposed
to have some fun with all of this. And it's
only then when we have all of those perspectives, you know,
across the generations, that we're really learning how to move forward.
(37:36):
You know, Yes, we like I said, and a lot
of people are anxious today. You know, yes, politics to
climate change to everything else. But I say we're here
right now for a reason, and this is our time
to shine. This is not a matter of saying, oh,
we need to go back to the way things were.
(37:59):
No as ever thing it kind of feels like it's
falling apart. This is the time to say, how do
you want things to be? We are the architects of
our future. So stop looking at again what's around you
and what's happening, and start thinking about what would you
like it to be. We have, you know, war and
(38:22):
salm and all these things in other countries. We have
people who are hungry right here. When we establish communities,
we need to learn how to take care of one another.
If we want worse to stop, we have to show
that we can live in peace here, that we don't
go around shooting people up, and that there's mental health
services when we're feeling a little bit overwhelmed. But we are.
(38:47):
It's up to us to architect what kind of future
that we want, and now's the time to start planning
and start working at creating what we want that to
look like. What do they say it's not over till
the fat lady sings, and that's as a scientist, and
you know, having dealt in environmental issues for over thirty
(39:10):
years and all the fear factors with climate change, it's
not over and it's not a done deal. And there
are incredibly innovative people. We've got some great thought leaders.
We need to support them and we need to get
them off the sidelines too. Another person who I talked
about who I love is Layla ajarlu is a who's
(39:37):
a designer. Think about this. We say, oh, you have
to be careful. This is terrible when you need to
do things that are good for the environment. And we
shame everybody. How dare you get on an airplane? What
do you mean you have to drive a car to work?
This is terrible for the environment. And we say one
of the top things that ends up in our landfills
(39:57):
is food, and people shame, Oh, you've got you've got
too much food that's gone bad. This is all going
to end up in a landfill. And think about this.
The average person. We go to the grocery store and
we go, I'm going to eat really healthy this week,
and you buy fruits and vegetables and then you know what,
life happens, and somehow we're eating on the run. We
(40:20):
don't have the time to prepare something. And a month
later we go back and we've got science experiments that
we're having things in the back of our refrigerator, and
we go we're terrible. We're not being very good to
the environment. And Laylas is, why are we always blaming
the consumer? This is life. Maybe we should stop making
(40:44):
people feel badly for this and say we understand life happens.
Let's start designing things better. Yeah, how many people change
their cell phone every two years. We need a new
computer every two to three years. This is all electronic
where grows into landfills. Well, is it our faults? Our
systems can't keep up, And Layla turns around and says, no,
(41:06):
this is a design issue. Let's design them better. So
maybe there's a small, little little plug in that you
can do that will upgrade your computer, upgrade your cell phone,
so that we don't have this electronic waste in the
first place. It's a completely different way to look at things.
It's a paradigm shift. But to say we don't have
(41:29):
to walk around feeling like the guilty parties all the time.
There are paths forward, and we have to decide what
we have that's to look like.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
That's a good point, Julie about making smartphones, computers, or
you can upgrade instead of having to throw them out.
As a matter of fact, appliances, you know, washers, dryers, refrigerators,
and I have talked to many a maintenance man that's
(41:58):
been in my house and they said that unfortunately, they
said that they are not making appliances today to last.
The average appliance last five years. Now. I have Matt's,
my husband's grandmother's refrigerator. That's a dinosaur, the things. I
(42:20):
don't even know how old that thing is. It's still running.
I don't use it, but it's in here. It would
take a lot of people to remove it is. It's solid,
it's heavy, and you could just tell the looking at
that versus a modern refrigerator, the quality. And they're just
(42:42):
not making appliances to last. So and that takes up
space somewhere in a landfill. I mean, what do they
do with these appliances, right, washers and drive refrigerators where
they go they asked to go, they have to go
to a landfill somewhere or recycling center. So to make
things last like they used to back in the old days.
(43:06):
But everything's disposable. You know, we live in a multiple society.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
Part of this is, you know, it's time to start
looking at things differently. And you know so many people
who are you know, whether they're working with impliances, or
they're teaching, or they've got fabulous ideas, and these are
the things that truly can help propel us forward, because
(43:32):
forward in that future doesn't have to be doom and gloom.
We don't have to go, oh my god, I'm so
scared for the future. We need to step up. We
need to shine our lights brighter and we say I
have a different vision for the future. We can change
we can change things. And you know, it's easy to
look at companies and corporations and oh, they're such bad
(43:55):
guys and they're so greedy. But it's not corporations that
are greedy. There are people within the corporations that are greedy.
And that's again where we need to do a paradigm
shift to say, you know what, yes, there are those
that are, but there are also those that want to
see a better world, and those are the people that
(44:15):
we need to be supporting and encouraging and looking at
things through a brighter light.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
I agree absolutely, Julie. Why would you like people to
take away from your book? And now you want to
call it.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
Action, I'd make it a call out. And actually within
the book there are they're not long chapters, because this
is a call to action. Each chapter has some lessons
that I've learned and I encourage people to incorporate. It's
got It's not my way or the highway, it's find
your own way. Here are two different fireflies and different
(44:55):
parts of the world who are doing this in different ways.
But every chapter actually ends with an exercise to say,
how can you take what you've learned and bring it
into your life from theory into action, because that's what
this book is encouraging, that every single person has a
(45:16):
special and unique light to shine and the world needs it.
We need you, and we need you now, not yesterday,
and that's where we need you, like right now, that
the time is right. And that's why I also have
the free download on my website which is Flying Lessons
for Fireflies, which is just five exercises just to get
(45:40):
you to start shining brighter and to see your own
self worth, to start doing that right now, and that
puts everybody on an email list where once a week
I send out something that is going to be something
to inspire, something to encourage, something to remind mind you
(46:01):
of how special you are, because I think that's the
whole point. People don't realize how special they are, and
they are, every single one.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
Absolutely, I'm looking forward to mine. I am looking forward
to receiving my folks. I'm telling you honest truth. I
went on the website yesterday and I signed up, so
I'm looking forward to it. And I have to go
back when I have time and do the exercises that
(46:32):
are on the the for the fireflies. I don't know
why that's the tone twister for me, Antleia wrap it up.
What is your website, joy, where people can buy your.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Bulk and remember you can remember just extraordinary Fireflies. It's
www dot extraordinary fireflies dot com. And that has the
links to all of the sudden social media pages where
I work to share things that are positive and uplifting
as well. There's links to by the book but you know,
(47:09):
you can go into any bookstore and request it. But
but yes, and the concept of that is let's start
building community in community everywhere because everybody deserves to be inspired.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
Oh I agree. I love the building community and I
know that I try to do my part from my
little corner of the world here in New Jersey, using
my voice to help other people. And I'm blessed to
do that. And I'm don't take it lightly. I'm very
(47:47):
grateful to Genie White and the link called well for
well because let me platform sharing that lights.
Speaker 2 (47:57):
You are a firefly, So are.
Speaker 1 (48:01):
You, Julie. Folks. I may sound redundant, and that's okay,
because we do need to shine our life right. We
need to change the world around us. First, change ourselves
and make have a better version of ourselves. And you know,
(48:24):
transform that and it's never too late. You're never too old.
I started at the age of sixty. I'm sixty seven now,
and you know you don't stop learning as long as
you're living. So I want to thank you Julie Wignol
for coming on and sharing the stem about your book.
(48:48):
The book, Folks, is the extraordinary power of fireflies. Have
to shine your light brighter and transform the world. All
the information about Julie Wignoll will be in the blog
that Jeanie White writes as the station manager and produces
the show, and I want to thank William Quodewell, CEO
(49:10):
makes it all possible. And I want to thank you
the listeners. Thank you for listening and subscribing. Please share
the show to help other people. That's what I'm here for.
Passion World Talk Radio Network isn't just an internet station.
We're a resource center. You can look up several topics
and you will see a blog for a topic and
(49:32):
you'll see people who are resources. I have excellent resource
people on my show. If I have to toot my
own horn, I will too too. I have wonderful guests
on because I want everyone to know about resources that
I wish I knew about in my youth caregiving. And
(49:54):
you know, we all need help. We all need support.
And if you can to learn now you're a young person,
and you can learn now to shine your light and
to be yourself and to love to accept yourself when
you're young, all the better for you. It took me
(50:17):
until I was sixty and it's still a battle for
me to be honest, but you know, it's really never
too late. And I just want to thank everyone for listening.
You can follow me on Facebook excuse me at ce
worzels w u or Zel. If you need a support
(50:38):
group you're a caregiver hashtag kick Alzheimer's s movement. And
I just want to say that you can listen to
Spotify Spreaker. You could subscribe for free on those stations
also Amazon Music. I am on and I just want
(51:02):
to tell everyone you're gonna want to listen to a
show I did by myself where I talk about how
I became a podcast host and I made number seventeen
on the seat Spot's top seventy caregiver podcast list. So
thank you everyone, And as I always say at the
end of my show, in a world where you could
(51:23):
be anything, please be kind and shine your life right
because we need it now more than ever before. This
is Betsy Worthal. Your host is Jenny with Betsy. I've
Patcher will Talk Radio Network, a subsidiary of Global Media
Network LLC. Bye bye now
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