Episode 30: What to Do When the World's On Fire?

Welcome to the Carousel of Happiness Podcast.

On today’s episode, we explore what to do when it feels like the world is on fire. Join host Allie Wagner as she shares a TedTalk by writer and creative coach, Amie McNee, who makes the argument that creativity is not a selfish act, but rather the solution to our world’s current problems. 

On today's episode, we'll explore her argument by actually trying it out together. In real time. If the world has left you feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, and disconnected these days, this episode is for you!

Check out Amie's TedTalk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XZ9z6OewR0

Scott Harrison and the Carousel of Happiness were featured on a national CBS news segment! Watch it right here! (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carousel-daydream-helped-marine-get-through-vietnam-war-he-then-made-that-carousel-a-reality/)

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

Check out the carousel on the CBS national news! https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carousel-daydream-helped-marine-get-through-vietnam-war-he-then-made-that-carousel-a-reality/

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.org/once-donate/) 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 ou...

Transcript

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

It has been a very exciting week here at the Carousel of Happiness. In case you missed it, Scott and the carousel were featured last weekend on a national CBS news segment called, “On the Road” with Steve Hartman. 

In the program, Steve tells moving stories from the unique people he encounters and the special places he visits as he travels around the country. Steve and his team visited Scott’s shop and the carousel a couple of weeks ago and we are delighted by the story they told.

In case you missed it, you can check out a link to the segment in the show notes. 

As you can imagine, we have been inundated with emails and donations and all sorts of love as a result of the segment. Thank you all for reaching out and sharing how much Scott’s story resonates with you. If you are new to the podcast, welcome. Be sure to check out our first couple of episodes to learn more about Scott’s story and how this beautiful work of art was created 15 years ago.

For regular listeners of the podcast, as you know, on last week’s episode I shared a story of what happened to me when I showed up at the carousel one morning and seven of the animals were missing. Be sure to check out the silly circuitous hijinks that ensued as a result. 

On today’s episode, we’re going to explore what to do when it feels like your world is on fire. What to do when it feels like the world is on fire. Last week, I heard a TedTalk by writer and creative coach, Amie McNee, who made the argument that creativity is not a selfish act, like many of us believe, but rather the solution to our world’s current problems. 

On today’s episode, I’ll briefly summarize her argument, but I want us to focus on actually implementing her idea together by the end of the podcast. So, this episode is going to be more experiential than the others. I’m going to ask you to actively participate in the episode by choosing to find an activity in your current surroundings to occupy your attention for a few minutes. 

That’s it. Doesn’t matter what it is. Doesn’t matter where you are. You can tailor this experience to your current circumstances. You do not need to buy, do, or have anything in particular in order to participate. 

What do I mean? Grab a pen and a piece of scrap paper to doodle, perhaps? Decide to rearrange your pantry, maybe? Give yourself a haircut. Whatever sounds good and doable to you right now. I am going to guide us through the process, but you can start thinking, right now, about something that you can do for a few minutes simply for fun.

 Everything is on the table. Bake cupcakes. Chop wood. Walk around the park. Paint your fingernails. Finish a puzzle.  

So, let’s see, shall we? Is creativity for creativity’s sake the solution to the problems that surround us? Can doodling change our lives? Let us begin with today’s story.

GONG

Last week, I watched a TedTalk by writer and creative coach, Amie McNee. Its title? “The Case for Making Art While the World is On Fire”

Amie goes on to explain that creativity is actually not a selfish act during turbulent times, but rather it’s the thing that’s going to get us out of this mess. It is through acts of creativity, she argues, that we regulate our nervous system, we regain a sense of agency, and we reclaim our attention back.

Acts of creativity, according to Amie, can be anything. Posting YouTube videos, gardening, singing in the shower. Anything that humans do to create something with the intention of connecting. To ourselves. To our family. To millions of subscribers all over the world.

Your life is your art. Anything in your surroundings, like your home, your desk, your relationships. These are all elements of the work of art that is you. And what’s happened, because of the state of the world right now, is we have been led to believe that everything is a mess and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. And it’s left us feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, and disconnected from our power.

So what do we do? Amie suggests that we engage in creativity for creativity’s sake because it’s going to regulate our nervous system, allow us to regain a sense of agency about our lives, and reclaim our attention.

That’s all I’m going to say about her argument. For those of you who are interested, please check out the link to the video in the show notes. 

For the rest of us, we’re going to explore what her argument feels like in our bodies. It’s one thing to understand an argument from an intellectual level. There’s value in that, for sure. But we learn differently when we use our bodies. This visceral understanding lingers much longer than the intellectual understanding. 

We know this to be true, right? How many times were we told not to do something as teenagers, only to do it anyway and then really learn the lesson? That’s because words don’t teach. It’s only life experience.

Whatever you’re doing doesn’t need to be good. It doesn’t need to be finished. It doesn’t need to make it into an art gallery or even onto your fridge. Whatever you spend your time doing right now is an opportunity for you to play. To mess around. To do something solely because it feels good. 

If you are noticing resistance, right now, if you are tempted to turn the episode off. Notice that. What is bubbling up for you? How do you feel in your body? Anxious? Guilty? Does this feel silly? Notice the feelings and thoughts and either decide to listen to them or do it anyway. It is your choice.

So, I’ve got a little pad and some markers. I’m going to use them while I guide us through the process. You might hear some scratching in the background.