Changing the World One Person at a Time: Shamans Cave

Sometimes we feel with all that is happening in the world we need to meet the crisis and do more. Some people can do more, and some people are doing all they can. It is important to understand that when we can take actions that change one person or more in our community that creates a huge change that is not always visible.

In this inspiring show Renee Baribeau and Sandra Ingerman speak about how every time we can help one person we have no idea the positive ripple effect that is created. And we all could make a huge change in the world by helping to change even one person’s life.

Join us as we reflect on how how we all have the ability to create huge change if we stop comparing ourselves to the work of others. Visit our website shamanstv.com

Transcript

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Renee Baribeau: Hello everyone, it's Renee Barabold, the Practical Shaman here. Welcome to the Shaman's Cave!

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Sandra Ingerman: Hi everyone, it's Sandra Ingerman, and welcome to the Shaman's Cave. So, Renee and I have been talking, and

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Sandra Ingerman: I was sharing with Renee that I was such an active… I was such a political activist back in the 60s. I mean, I was out there every single protest.

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Sandra Ingerman: I… I don't want to talk about it on air, but I got myself into trouble. I went with really radical groups. I've just never have given up on the whole…

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Sandra Ingerman: Standing up for your rights, and I get… I get into fights with organizations, and they go, you're getting negative, and I go, I'm not getting negative, I'm standing up for my rights.

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Sandra Ingerman: And so, it's been really important for me to be out there politically, and I just don't have the health to do that at the moment. I don't have the health to go out there.

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Sandra Ingerman: be part of protests, and so I found myself processing that a lot, and judging myself on a lot of levels, which is kind of interesting, because there's no reason to judge. I did it, you know, and it was for my generation.

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Sandra Ingerman: But I got really inspired when I was reading an article about this woman, a Polish woman by the name of Irina Stanislav Sendler.

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Sandra Ingerman: I don't know the pronunciation of her name, but she was a remarkable woman in Poland. I think she's still alive, I think. I think she's 97, or she died at 97, one of the two.

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Sandra Ingerman: And this woman was amazing. She,

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Sandra Ingerman: she… back in the time when, they were sending children to… Jewish children to concentration camps.

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Sandra Ingerman: She could not live with the idea that children were being sent to concentration camps to be killed. She just couldn't live with it.

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Sandra Ingerman: So she started, a practice in Poland where she started hiding one child at a time in a box, in a casket, in a paper bag.

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Sandra Ingerman: And getting them to a Polish family who would adopt them and take care of them and raise them.

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Sandra Ingerman: And so, she did get… she did get captured by the Nazis, and she was really tortured. They wanted to know where these children were, they wanted to know the names, know the families that she…

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Sandra Ingerman: gave the children to. They broke her legs, they broke her feet, and she never spoke. She never gave a name.

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Sandra Ingerman: And what they shared in this article was.

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Sandra Ingerman: moving one or two children a day, it was one or two, never more than two, she ended up saving 2,500 children who all got married, all had kids, and ended up saving descendants.

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Sandra Ingerman: And so, you look at somebody like that.

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Sandra Ingerman: who didn't go out, didn't get herself killed, but was able to still do amazing work that one can say, oh my god, that's one of the most amazing stories I've ever heard. I know there's other people out there. I've taught a lot in Europe, and I've heard about other people like her.

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Sandra Ingerman: But it really gave me a place to think about, of…

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Sandra Ingerman: Is it more powerful? And I think we need to do it all. I'm not saying you should pick one, but…

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Sandra Ingerman: are we judging ourselves that we're not doing enough politically if you can help one family, if you can help one child? And so, I had to think back on my own life and the work that I did.

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Sandra Ingerman: And realized, just through my books and through my work, I saved tens of thousands of people from terminal illness, or committing suicide, or…

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Sandra Ingerman: going down with depression, and so I'm realizing that the most powerful work that we can actually do is when we change one person at a time.

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Renee Baribeau: That is just so profound.

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Renee Baribeau: I think it resonates a lot.

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Renee Baribeau: with what I've been saying a lot on the Shaman's Cave for the last couple years is, like, go back to your community. If you can't do anything else, you know, talk to your neighbor. There was…

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Renee Baribeau: A man next door who was sick and he had become a hermit.

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Renee Baribeau: And… you know, I would… I would bring them over a plate of food.

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Renee Baribeau: And you just don't know what one plate of food can do for somebody else. Or… I think that's why I love living on Whidbey so much, is that people do things for their neighbors.

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Renee Baribeau: like, oh yeah, I can do… I can bring you some wood, and I can help you chop the wood, or…

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Renee Baribeau: And it's, like, a simple thing, and… and so we… we think, like, oh, I've got to go out and, like, do something so profound.

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Renee Baribeau: But that just isn't really true. I did happen to go to the last march, and

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Renee Baribeau: one of the things about the march is everyone assumed that they knew why I was marching.

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Renee Baribeau: And the truth was, was I was marching because Sandra couldn't. I was marching for my friends, my mother who couldn't, and I was just…

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Renee Baribeau: I was of that generation that we did so much in the world to get those rights to vote. My mom couldn't get a loan on her house without a cosigner, and so…

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Renee Baribeau: I don't have one political view or another, but I just know how… how much work, how many times you went to those protests, Sandra, so that we could have some of these fights that we have. And so that's just one way I show up.

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Renee Baribeau: I didn't make a sign.

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Renee Baribeau: Those people who are all gung-ho in it, they made a sign, but I just…

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Renee Baribeau: sat there and had a cup of coffee, and just made my presence known. So, even though it looks one way or another, it's just about where am I putting my energy?

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Sandra Ingerman: Yeah, I was… I was doing a reunion for,

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Sandra Ingerman: People on my, my, teachers list.

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Sandra Ingerman: And I can't… I really don't remember what the reunion was on, and I really can't remember what we were talking about. But I was really touched when one of the women was talking about, in the Midwest.

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Sandra Ingerman: This wasn't a political situation, this was one of those big storms that came through. You know, a lot of the country's really been struggling with some of the storms coming through.

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Sandra Ingerman: And she just talked about how every single person in her neighborhood was checking on their neighbors and making sure…

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Sandra Ingerman: They were okay, and bringing people food, bringing people water, helping people out who didn't have heat,

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Sandra Ingerman: And I was so touched by that, because you don't really see that as much anymore. You know, that's the world that I grew up in. The world I grew up in was neighborhoods, and everybody coming together, and block parties, and making sure everybody was okay, and how can we support each other.

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Sandra Ingerman: And, you know, I never had to worry about going out without my parents, that somebody was gonna hurt me, or, that my Halloween candy wouldn't have a razor blade in it. You know, now you have to put Halloween candy through an x-ray machine before you can let your kids have it.

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Sandra Ingerman: And so, I grew up with that kind of support, but I don't see it as much in my own life anymore, and that's why this story touched me so much, and…

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Sandra Ingerman: And that's why what you just said about bringing that person a meal touches me so much, because I know what that does for a person. I know the change that that does for a person.

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Sandra Ingerman: That they feel that there is… that they do have a right to still be alive, and that somebody cares about them, and that there is support. And so, I… I still believe, absolutely, I'm a protester at heart. I just… I have it in my bones. I'm from Brooklyn, and…

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Sandra Ingerman: And I'm always telling people at organizations, I'm not mad at you, I'm just fighting for my rights. That's all I'm doing, is I'm just fighting for my right. I'm not angry at you.

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Sandra Ingerman: And I think that that's so important that we still stand up for ourselves, we don't cower.

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Sandra Ingerman: when somebody is saying, I want you to do this, and it's like, no, this doesn't feel right to me, it's not my ethics, it doesn't feel right to me, I'm sorry. So I do believe we still

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Sandra Ingerman: have to share our voice, but I really, really believe that

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Sandra Ingerman: It's the people who are working invisibly, who we don't even see.

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Sandra Ingerman: Who are helping their neighbors, who are blowing that whistle, or doing whatever to help one person

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Sandra Ingerman: I still believe that that's some of the most powerful work that we could be doing right now.

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Renee Baribeau: when you said that, it just reminded me that, you know, I have former clients.

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Renee Baribeau: I guess we all have former clients, but I, like, watched some of my former clients who are now doing well 10 years later in their life, and 12 years later, and I was… I was writing to one this morning.

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Renee Baribeau: And…

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Renee Baribeau: you know, she said, oh, I miss you, and I said, well, I miss you too, but I love the mother you've become. I love seeing how your daughter is thriving in the world, and how the other one, it makes me laugh. I haven't, you know…

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Renee Baribeau: And that little piece of love that I send that way, with a little heart emoji or something like that, matters.

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Renee Baribeau: It matters a lot, and Sandra, I know the thousands of people you've… you know, I don't know them, but I know the results of the thousands of people you've touched, one at a time, because you're that giving person who… even…

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Renee Baribeau: since I've known you, do you need this healing, or… and I've seen you do that over and over again. So, the ripples that you've had in your own life just…

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Renee Baribeau: Are probably like a tidal wave.

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Sandra Ingerman: Yeah, and I, I think, I think, it's not just me. I think if everybody reflected on how many people did… and we've done shows on this before.

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Sandra Ingerman: And I really love those shows. How many people did you affect because you were… you smiled at somebody at a store, or said something nice to somebody, who wasn't expecting it?

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Sandra Ingerman: And I don't think we give ourselves enough credit for the little things that we do that actually do save somebody. You never know, I was at… I've shared this before, I was at the post office once on a Saturday, and there was a guy who…

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Sandra Ingerman: I was reading a piece of mail, and you could see he was so upset, and I asked him if he was okay, and when he left, he said to me, you have no idea the change that you did for one person.

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Sandra Ingerman: by just showing some care to me today. You have no idea.

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Sandra Ingerman: And if you… if I think if everybody listening could really…

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Sandra Ingerman: Go dive deep inside of yourself and start to think about the people who you touched one by one in your own lives.

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Sandra Ingerman: If you're feeling like you're not doing enough for the world right now, because we are coming into kind of a crescendo of chaos, and as I said that, it just, boom, thunder outside my window.

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Sandra Ingerman: And, we're getting ready to have a storm, which is nice. We're in drought, so… But if you think about, if you go inside and you think about how many people's lives have you changed by an act that you did, or by taking care of somebody.

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Sandra Ingerman: You know, maybe you didn't hide a child, but maybe you took care of somebody's child for a little while.

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Sandra Ingerman: and gave them a different future, just because of the love that you were able to share. It really makes a difference. It's amazing how many people I've gotten letters from

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Sandra Ingerman: You know, back in the day, where,

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Sandra Ingerman: I taught them how to journey as a child, because I really focused a lot of my work on children, and I taught them how to journey as a child, and now they're a parent, or a grandparent, and their grandkids and their children are journeying and have access to the spirits.

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Sandra Ingerman: And so, it's… you have no idea of sometimes the simple act that you do that ends up affecting a whole entire generation, or a whole entire life for a person.

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Renee Baribeau: Yeah, and if you don't believe us, I have this little experiment that I do.

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Renee Baribeau: You know when you're wearing a color that looks really good on you? You know, and how you feel, like, really special? When I see somebody wearing a color in a grocery store or something that…

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Renee Baribeau: I think really resonates with them.

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Renee Baribeau: because it's not always easy, we don't know people what to say, but they're like, wow, that is such a great sweater you have, or wow, those are really great, cool sneakers. Somewhere that I just find something about some… some stranger

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Renee Baribeau: And give them that little compliment, and they light up.

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Renee Baribeau: Always.

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Renee Baribeau: It… you just can see how it just lights them up. So if you don't believe me, try it.

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Sandra Ingerman: Yeah, and the thing about what you're saying, Renee, is I bet you that those people who you said, I love your… the color that you're wearing, or the sneakers that you're wearing, still remember you for doing that.

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Sandra Ingerman: Those things don't go away. Those acts of kindness don't just dissolve. People don't blow those things off.

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Sandra Ingerman: I still remember being in Hawaii, and being sick, and being on a long line at the grocery store.

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Sandra Ingerman: And this was years ago, and the woman at the cash register was lifting up everybody's spirits, and I left feeling the store, not feeling sick. I still think about her, and this is probably the third time I've talked about her on our show.

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Sandra Ingerman: And we're going back, I was 50, we're going back 23 years ago.

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Sandra Ingerman: We're going back 23 years ago, and I still remember how she changed my day.

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Sandra Ingerman: You know, so we think these little acts of kindness are just a moment in our lives, but we don't always realize how people hang on to that.

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Sandra Ingerman: at a time of being depressed, or a time of feeling like, hmm, can I go on? A lot of times people will bring up the memory of, but somebody told me I wore a beautiful color today.

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Sandra Ingerman: And that can change everything. That can change where a person is moving to on the river of life, of…

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Sandra Ingerman: Staying on their path, or falling off their path, just by the kindness that we show, whether it's a word, whether it's cooking a meal, whether it's inviting somebody out who's lonely,

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Sandra Ingerman: whether it's offering a healing to somebody who can't afford it, all those kinds of things, I think that we kind of stuff them away of that that's not big enough to change the world, but that is actually how the world changes. That is how the world changes.

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Renee Baribeau: Absolutely. I think you guys could get the point of this, but just try it.

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Renee Baribeau: just think of, like, one person that I can influence today. Or maybe we go two by two, because remember.

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Renee Baribeau: two by two on the ark, they brought two of every animal, and look at how well we're populated today. So, I like the idea of twos.

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Renee Baribeau: Tuesdays would be good, so let's… let's make a commitment this week to do two nice things that are simple, easy to do, that… and you know what?

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Renee Baribeau: They never detract from you.

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Renee Baribeau: When I do this and somebody smiles, it makes me feel better. So, giving to somebody else is not gonna take from your quarters, in your pocket, ever.

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Renee Baribeau: Ever. Ever, ever, ever. So…

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Renee Baribeau: Let's see whose world you can light up this week, and let's see if your twos will multiply by our twos, and exponentially how many people's lives we're gonna save this week.

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Sandra Ingerman: Yeah, and the reason I really brought this topic up, what, to Renee was, so many people feel like they're not doing enough.

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Sandra Ingerman: And what is doing enough? What is the defini- definition of doing enough?

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Sandra Ingerman: And so I think that's where we have to come back to, is instead of, I'm not doing enough for the world, I'm not doing enough for the planet, staying present inside your own body and looking at who is standing next to you who needs some help.

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Sandra Ingerman: that's what helps you, come to the understanding that you are doing enough. You are changing. You are helping to change the planet. You changed one person, and that's all you have to do, and then…

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Sandra Ingerman: that ripples out and starts to change the planet. So, the real desire to talk about this topic was for those of you who feel you're not doing enough.

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Sandra Ingerman: or that the big efforts aren't creating huge change. We have to look at where are we doing the best we can, and where are we making those huge changes.

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Sandra Ingerman: But we're not acknowledging it, maybe because you feel you're not public, or you're not out there enough, but that's not what changes the world. It's the small things that change the world, not the big things that change the world.

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Sandra Ingerman: So, that was really where my heart was calling today, was about

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Sandra Ingerman: Looking at what we're all doing on what we think are small levels, but end up being what leads us out of the chaos that we're in right now.

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Renee Baribeau: Absolutely.

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Renee Baribeau: And maybe you want to share some of your tools and tips on our… the Shaman's Cave.

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Renee Baribeau: page over on Facebook, or in the YouTube, or where you do share, or where you listen, and…

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Renee Baribeau: And one little small thing you could do for us is hit the share button on this podcast. Share it with your friends, because you don't know who else might need this. What we're sharing today may just be the light on the color of their new shirt.

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Sandra Ingerman: That's right. Well, thank you, everyone. Thank you for all your support, and it's been really wonderful, looking at the Facebook page on the Shaman's Cave, and more people talking about the show, and, it's nice to see that even the Shaman's Cave is…

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Sandra Ingerman: Changing many people's faces, one at a time. So, sending much love to all of you.

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Renee Baribeau: Thank you.