Episode 3: How Animals Help Humans Heal

Welcome to the Carousel of Happiness Podcast. On today's episode, we’ll discuss the role animals can play in the healing of human beings. Plus, you'll hear the story of Rabbit the First, the first animal Scott Harrison carves for the carousel, and Scott's first teacher.

Want to learn more about the rest of the carousel animals? Check out Scott's new book, Carousel Soul (https://carouselofhappiness.org/product/carousel-soul-inside-the-carousel-of-happiness/). 

The Carousel of Happiness is a nonprofit arts & culture organization dedicated to inspiring happiness, well-being, and service to others through stories and experiences.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider visiting the Carousel of Happiness online (https://carouselofhappiness.org/), on social media (https://www.facebook.com/carouselofhappiness), or in real life; or consider donating (https://carouselofhappiness.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general-donation) to keep the carousel and its message alive and spinning 'round and 'round.

If you have a story to share, please reach out to Allie Wagner at outreach@carouselofhappiness.org

Special thanks to songwriter, performer, and friend of the carousel, Darryl Purpose (https://darrylpurpose.com/), for sharing his song, "Next Time Around," as our theme song.

Transcript

Welcome to the Carousel of Happiness Podcast. I’m your host, Allie Wagner. 

On our most recent episode of the podcast, we heard the story of what life was like for carousel creator and carver, Scott Harrison, when he returned home from Vietnam. As he struggled to reintegrate with civilian life, he found himself using the skills he acquired as a Marine to escape and evade the internal tension he felt inside. This tension eventually drove him to build a sailboat and sail into the Pacific, never to be seen again. However, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, he had an encounter with a whale that changed the trajectory of his life.

On today’s episode, we’ll discuss the role animals can play in the healing of human beings, and I’ll tell you the story of the first animal Scott carves for the carousel.

Welcome, dear listener, to the Carousel of Happiness Podcast. Let us begin with today’s story.

GONG

After returning to the United States, Scott Harrison begins to find meaning and purpose in his life. He starts working for Amnesty International in San Francisco as part of their Urgent Access Network. He, later joined by his wife Ellen, would spend the next 32 years writing letters for the release of prisoners of consciousness all around the world.

But even as he’s doing this, he still thinks of the image of a carousel in a mountain meadow. There’s something about the image that lingers. He can’t quite shake it.

And one day, in 1982, 14 years after being injured in Vietnam, with two young children in tow, Scott visits a small exhibit of carousel animals in Oakland, California. And while his kids ran from one animal to the next, Scott found himself transfixed by one animal in particular. 

A rabbit. 

As part of the exhibit, the paint on this particular rabbit had been stripped down so that visitors could see the different layers of raw wood underneath, and learn more about how the animals were constructed.

As Scott tells the story, he saw that rabbit and couldn’t move. He was glued to the floor. As his kids ran around the exhibit, Scott found himself motionless as he watched the rabbit and the rabbit watched him. Just like in the case of the whale, he felt like the animal had something to say to him. It felt like, to Scott, he was saying:

“Hey man, look at me. This is how it’s done. You can do it.”

Scott took a picture of the rabbit and later, with the help of a friend who was an artist, drew a full-sized line drawing of it on a large sheet of heavy paper. 

That he promptly rolled up and put away.

But the seeds were planted. Scott and his family moved from San Francisco to Nederland, Colorado shortly thereafter.

And, it was at this point, that Scott began toying with the idea of carving the rabbit he saw in Oakland.

So, after spending his work days advocating for victims of torture, Scott would retreat to his workshop and carve.

It’s important to note, at this point in the story, that Scott was never trained as a carver. He did not go to school for it, and hadn’t carved anything before he started to work on the rabbit.

Typically, carousel animals are carved out of basswood. It’s a softer hard wood that makes carving intricate details easier. It’s what the turn of the century carvers used. But Scott, at this point, is not so sure this carousel thing is going to work, and basswood is very expensive. So, he decides to use what he has on hand: leftover lumber from building the family home in Nederland. 

Rabbit the First, is a collection of pine and fir boards glued together with 4x4 pieces of Douglas fir for his long ears. And while he’s clunky and a bit awkward, Scott couldn’t help but be proud of himself.

And one night, after many hours of carving, Scott finally glued the rabbit’s glass eyes into his body.

It was in this moment, Scott felt the rabbit looking back at him. Just like the whale on the sailboat.

Carving Rabbit the First was enough to get Scott hooked on carving. He eventually bought some basswood, and gradually, with much patience, his work became better and better. The act of carving, using his hands to create animals, was very soothing to Scott. 

And, he found himself wanting to learn more about the animals he carved. So, he’d go to the local library and check out as many books as he could about, let’s say a panda. He’d learn about the animal itself. What did it eat, where did it live, how did it move. He’d ask questions like, what are pandas known for? What do they represent to the local people? There was something about this research that made him feel like he had a deeper relationship to the animal. He found that the more he learned about the animal, the better he could understand what it was that they had to teach him. 

And, slowly, over the next 26 years, he would carve over 50 unique and original animals this way.

In the case of Rabbit the First, Scott was initially embarrassed to share this first carving with others. As people in town started to hear about the “guy who was doing this thing with a carousel,” they wanted to see his work. Since the animals that followed Rabbit were better and more refined, Scott found himself showing off those animals first. After a while, he put Rabbit the First in his shed, a little embarrassed about his first attempt. 

And Rabbit would stay in storage for the next 26 years.

But something nagged at Scott. Something didn’t feel quite right. Rabbit the First had been so generous to Scott in allowing him to be the first one carved. Scott knew that, and he felt guilty about hiding him away.

So, several years ago, Scott dug Rabbit the First out of storage and spent a lot of time making it up to him. He told him how much he loved him. How he always loved him. How he never meant any disrespect.

It was just…that he was the first. At 60 pounds, he was entirely too heavy for the carousel frame. But Scott didn’t know that at the time. Rabbit was the first. And, if Scott were being honest, he had to admit, rabbit was a little plain looking. He was the first.

As Scott sanded Rabbit, recarved different features, and gave him a fresh coat of paint, he could feel forgiveness from him. As he lovingly restored Rabbit the First, he could sense a feeling of understanding from him; a sense of compassion.  

I reached out to Philip Tedeschi, Founder of the Institute for Human-Animal Connection at Denver University’s School of Social Work. The Institute works to elevate the value of the living world and highlight the interrelationship of people, animals, and the environment. They offer educational programs in areas such as canine-assisted intervention and equine-assisted mental health. 

I was curious what he would have to say not only about Scott’s moment on the boat with the whale, but also, about how these animals seemed to be healing Scott, one by one by one. What was going on?

According to Philip, the moment of communion with the whale that Scott describes on his sailboat is actually not as crazy as it might sound. The type of nonverbal transmission of information he describes is actually our primary form of communication as human beings. The thing is, we’ve gotten a bit lazy. We don’t tap into this form of direct communication as regularly or as easily as animals do because we’re now relying almost entirely these days on verbal and visual communication.

When human beings are hurt by other human beings, it can be difficult to be healed by other humans. It all just gets too confusing. Animals, by contrast, can offer people an opportunity to heal that removes the human element.

On that boat, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, without a single person in sight, Scott allowed himself to be seen for the first time in a long time. Maybe this could have been done by another person, a therapist, a friend, but at that time that felt too scary to Scott. There was something about the animal’s non-humanness that allowed Scott to rediscover his.

And then later, each time he sat with an animal to be carved, learning about them, what they ate, how they lived, what they could teach him, he was slowly and gradually over time altering his neurobiology. Animal by animal, step by step, he was sitting in compassionate silence with these animals and allowing them to guide him toward his own healing.

There’s an important moment for Scott when he’s carved enough of an animal that they’re ready for a pair of eyes. Scott frequently describes this moment when, after so much time together, he and the animal he’s carving can finally see one another.

On that boat, so many years ago, the whale was able to do for Scott something his fellow human beings couldn’t quite do just yet. Or, perhaps, Scott couldn’t allow them to do just yet.

See him with loving compassion.

In the case of Rabbit the First, and every animal that followed, Scott learned so much about himself through the act of carving. From Rabbit the First, Scott learned about forgiveness, about patience, about understanding. From Rabbit the First, Scott learned about respect. And friendship. Rabbit the First never judged him, even though he was put away for 26 years. Rabbit the First always loved him.

Now, you can find Rabbit the First displayed prominently along the highway above the carousel’s sign. Rabbit the First is now the first animal most visitors see of the carousel as they drive by along the highway. Rabbit the First is typically a visitor’s first step toward experiencing the magic of the carousel, just like it was for Scott. A pretty special honor for a pretty special animal. 

How about you? Have you experienced a healing moment with an animal? If you’re following along with the podcast and have something to share, I’d love to hear it. You can DM us on social media or send me an email directly at outreach@carouselofhappiness.org. Or maybe stop in and experience the carousel for yourself. 

If you are curious about each carousel animal, you can check out Scott’s new book called “Carousel Soul.” In it, he goes through each animal, in the order in which they were carved, and shares some of the research he’s done about them, as well as his own personal thoughts and feelings about each one. Check out the show notes for a link.

Next up on the podcast, we’ll talk about the carousel itself. How did a 1910 carousel from Salt Lake City, UT end up in Nederland, Colorado? Where exactly is Nederland and why are the people here just so darn quirky? 

In the meantime, take care. Be well. And, as we like to say at the Carousel of Happiness, “don’t delay joy.” And we’ll see you next time around.