Episode 20: Celebrating 20 Episodes and the Finding the "Joy" in the Journey

Welcome to the Carousel of Happiness Podcast.

On today’s episode, we’re taking a quick break to celebrate and reflect on how far we’ve come together on the podcast. Host, Allie Wagner, tells you about a camping trip she's planning, and we’ll explore why it makes sense to celebrate “what is” on your way to accomplishing "what's next."

Don't forget to vote for Mayor of the Carousel – voting ends May 26!

• Learn more about the Mayor Election and the perks of voting! (https://carouselofhappiness.org/mayor-of-the-carousel/) 
• Ready to cast your vote? Here's the link to the ballot. (https://carouselofhappiness.org/mayor-ballot/)

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. 

It is May 6th and we are less than three weeks away from electing the 2025 Mayor of the Carousel. That’s right – Dragon, Lion, and Pig have been shaking hooves and kissing baby yaks this election cycle in order to court your favor and garner your support. Mayor Giraffe, meanwhile, has been surfing the Internet at his desk, daydreaming about his retirement. But, the rumors going around last week that he purchased a timeshare in Pompano Beach are false. Giraffe’s press secretary, Dolphin, confirmed that Mayor Giraffe will be staying at the carousel after his term because, quite frankly, everywhere else is a little scary right now.

Amen. 

If you are just joining us, we are in the middle of an election of a special sort. In this election, there are no political parties, there’s no lesser of two evils, there is only animals, silliness, and, most regrettably, puns. 

But the puns are almost over as well, and we need your help getting to the finish line. This mayoral election is a fundraiser for the carousel and each vote for mayor is $1. All of the money we raise between now and May 26th, is 100% tax deductible and goes directly back into the carousel to keep us spinning. 

There are so many ways to participate. You can vote – either online or in-person. You can become a Wonder Scout and rally others to vote. If you get 10 people to vote for the candidate of your choice, you get a free ride on the carousel. If you get 20 people to vote, you get a free t-shirt.

Or maybe you’d like to become a campaign partner. If you donate $100 or more to the candidate of your choice, you get a free 15th anniversary t-shirt and a mention on our website and this podcast. If you donate $250 or more, you get all of that stuff, plus a free copy of Scott Harrison’s new coffee table book, Carousel Soul. This is the one I was talking about last week. In this book, Scott explains the story behind each and every carving in the carousel – the riding animals, the hitchhikers, the Somewhere Else Wall, all of it. If you’ve ever wondered why the rooster has a pearl necklace or why the cow has horns, you can find all of those answers, and more, in that book. Plus, Scott reveals some of his secrets for how he carved each and every animal and why.

A big thank you to Buffy Collison. Dragon apparently melted Buffy’s heart and softened her pocketbook when she became a campaign partner at the $100 level for Dragon. 

Not to be outdone, the Lion camp responded, wooing one of the highest profile celebrity votes of this election cycle. That’s right, Darryl Purpose, the singer-songwriter whose lovely voice you hear on this podcast’s theme song, became a campaign partner at the $100 level for his “mane” man, the Lion. Hakuna Matata, Darryl. Hakuna Matata.

And a big thanks to Pam Wagner, AKA Gaga, Garth’s mom and my mother-in-law, who stuck her snoot out for Miss Piggy and sent in her check this week. Thank you.

If you are listening to this podcast and are inspired to vote, let us know. Write it in the box on the online form, or tell someone behind the desk when you vote in person. Let me know you’re voting because you listen to this podcast and I will mention your name here. It’s really fun to hear your name on a podcast. Just ask my mother-in-law.

Speaking of Pig, it’s not looking too good right now. Lion has a commanding lead, with 514 votes, Dragon is breathing down his neck with 358 votes, and our dear pig is bringing up the rear with 284.

And while the election might be ending on Memorial Day, we have a couple of celebratory events going on that week that I’d love to tell you about.

Our 15th anniversary is this Memorial Day. 15 years ago, almost, Scott and his team of volunteers and donors and neighbors and friends and family gathered to celebrate the manifestation of a dream. A moment in time when, after 26 years of carving and 42 years of healing, Scott Harrison brought his dream of a carousel in a mountain meadow to life and the Carousel of Happiness became real, in real life.

And on that day, 15 years ago, the carousel was dedicated to the memory Christian Lengenfeld and Paul Christmas, two Marines who served with Scott in Vietnam and who lost their lives on the exact same day Scott was injured.

From that opening day until now, each year on Memorial Day, we honor the human beings who died while serving in the U.S. military. The ceremony is open to everyone, and we gather in a circle around the carousel. At noon, taps are played, and visitors are invited to remember a fallen veteran with a name and a quick story. 

Then, we turn the carousel a few slow, silent, riderless turns before inviting surviving veterans for a ride, and then we open the carousel up to the public. And veterans and their families are invited for coffee next door at the Train Cars. If you are in town and available, please join us on this very special Memorial Day.

And then, the Thursday after Memorial Day, on May 29th, we’ll have our official 15th Anniversary party!  We’ll be offering free rides at the Carousel from 5pm - 7pm, with cake, party hats, and lots of smiles. And, according to Pat, I’m told there will be tutus.

Please consider joining us to celebrate.

Now, on to the podcast. On last week’s episode, we continued our conversation about creativity and the creative process by focusing on the Muse. How do Muses inspire creativity? Who was Scott’s Muse? On last week’s episode, you met the Twirling Girl and the other 9 “hitchhiker” muses – the animals you see hitching a ride on the carousel in the wooden sweeps and metal supports just above the riding animals.

On today’s episode, we’re taking a quick rest. And a break to reflect on how far we’ve come together on this podcast. I’ll tell you about a camping trip I’m planning, and we’ll explore why it makes sense to celebrate “what is” on your way to accomplishing big goals.  

Let us begin with today’s story.

GONG

In October 2024, I arrived at the carousel for the first time. It was for my job interview, and I met with Executive Director Melody Baumhover, now my boss, and carousel Board Treasurer, Lucy Strouse, to convince them to hire me as the carousel’s new assistant director.

But I did something in that interview that I’ve never done before. Instead of prepping answers for questions like “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” or “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” I was inspired to show up to my interview a bit differently.

What happened was, I started to do the “interview prep” thing, but in the process of answering one of those pretend questions in my head, an idea popped in my mind.

A podcast. The Carousel of Happiness needed to have a podcast. And, more importantly, they needed me to do it for them. And, as soon as that idea came to me, I couldn’t shake it. I stopped prepping for the interview, stopped answering the pretend questions, and instead started drafting an outline of what I thought a Carousel of Happiness podcast would look like, and how I, uniquely as I am right now, could bring it to life. 

And, as is common in this place, I was encouraged to run with it. To make it my own. To put my unique stamp on it.

And 20 episodes later, here we are. This podcast has been downloaded 1,170 times over the last four months. Most of you have listened from the United States, although we have a tiny, yet loyal following in Frankfurt, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Tokyo, Japan. Of our American listeners, Denver, Golden, and Boulder are our cities with the largest number of listeners, but we’ve also seen folks tune in from Brooklyn, NY; Las Vegas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Richmond, VA; Seattle, WA, just to name a few.

While the first three episodes about Scott remain our most popular episodes, we’ve got JoLee Wingerson, the Boulder-based animal communicator; Jess Osborne and her menagerie over at the Tail of Two Cities Animal Sanctuary; and Carousel Operator, Burt Rashbaum, competing for our most popular episode to date. 

But, more than numbers, are the stories we’ve experienced together. The people we’ve met. The places we’ve seen. The lessons we’ve learned. 

On the battlefield in Vietnam, we learned that sometimes our darkest moments lead to the ones with the most light. We learned how something alchemical seems to happen when we sit with the discomfort of what is, pushing through to what will be. 

That’s what Rebecca Linn did. When her daughter died of a fentanyl overdose, Rebecca chose to sit in the pain and discomfort, and somehow push through. She now honors her daughter, Skye’s, memory by offering life-changing, community-based acupuncture to others at the carousel twice a week through her Acudetox program. Garth and I have become regulars on Friday afternoons, from 12 -1, or you can swing by the carousel on Monday evenings, from 5pm - 6pm.

And Rebecca’s not the only local you’ve met on the podcast. Remember Guy Pfiefer and his “Loverator” – the whirligig he built specifically to sit atop the carousel roof and spread love, peace, and joy with the wind. 

But we haven’t just stayed in town have we? Together, on the podcast, we’ve taken field trips to the Warrior Storyfield in Longmont where we met Robert Bellows and his veteran collaborators who have been working on two massive metal sculptures together – a 16ft dragon and an 18ft phoenix.  

And we visited Boulder County Open Space Ranger, Kevin Grady, and his “Miracle Dog,” Dottie. Remember Dottie? She and Kevin taught us so much about the power of unconditional love, confidence, and being in the present moment.

The healing relationship between humans and animals remains the most popular topic on this show. You loved hearing about what animals really want humans to know from animal communicator, JoLee Wingerson. 

And in addition to Ms. Dottie, you met Bolton and Berlin, our piggy friends down at the Tail of Two Cities Animal Sanctuary, as well as their baby yak sister, Tallie, and the sneaky, Darwin, a Great Dane/Pyrenes mix who wants so badly to get out of the house and play, that he requires an elaborate door locking system in the house. 

Side note, Garth and I went to visit Jess a couple of weeks ago, and what did I do within 2 minutes of being there? I accidentally let Darwin out. That’s right, before I could even say hello to Jess, he was galloping in a field far, far away, and Garth was traipsing through the snow after him. Sorry babe.

And, of course, in addition to Rebecca, you met some of my colleagues, my friends at the carousel. First, Pat Hagberg, our Bottisatva behind the counter, and Carousel Operator and multi-hyphenate artist, Burt Rashbaum, our very own “Brooklyn Boy.”

And I’m taking you on this trip down memory lane for a reason. This life, if we are blessed, is long. And there will always be something to do or want or achieve. 

But what I want us to get better at, what I want to get better at, is celebrating the moments along the way. The joy truly is in the journey. We are eternal beings whose lives are comprised of a series of moments. A series of episodes, if you will. 

And there’s this tendency for us to constantly be pushing forward. To be constantly reaching for that next thing. And, sometimes, in doing so, we lose sight of what is.

What is, right now. What is plentiful, what is abundant, what is easy, what is fun, what is joyful, what is right now in front of you for you to enjoy and savor.

Because, in my personal experience, when I’ve given myself permission to celebrate what is and how far I’ve come, I’m better equipped for what’s next.

So, next week, I’ll be celebrating our first 20 episodes together with a solo camping trip. Whether I’m sleeping under the stars or riding my mountain bike, I commit to being present in a state of being. In a state of celebration. In a state of wonder. So that I might ready myself for what’s next. So that I might ready myself for the next bi idea.

And I invite you to do the same. Next week I will not be recording an episode, but I encourage you to find some way of celebrating where you are…right now. Go for a walk, call a friend, take a nap, doodle. Whatever calls to your heart. Whatever calls to your soul.

Because, as we’ve seen time and time again on this podcast, the good ideas come to those who are ready. To those who are paying attention. If you are overworked, overwhelmed, or overstimulated, you are not ready. And you are not paying attention. 

But, as we’ve seen time and time again on this podcast, you can always bring yourself back. It is never too late. Because we are, and always will be, in a state of becoming. We are never done. Which means there’s always time to reset. There’s always time to reboot.

I’m going to head out into the woods and reboot. I invite you to do the same. And I’ll see you back here on May 20th, ready for what’s next.

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.