In today’s episode you are going to hear the honest stories of two powerful change-makers who are passionate about lifting up the human spirit through the power of love. You will laugh, cry, and leave this conversation with your spirit intact, motivated to keep doing the amazing work you are doing in the world.
What’s in this episode for you:
The powerful way that pain can shift us out of despair and connect us back to love
The biggest deficit in our world and the 20 cent solution that literally saves lives
The world famous Chicken Soup for the Soul story that will have you in tears
Experience a ceremony that will change your life
The ceremony is the same one that has healed divorce, crime, violence, bullying, disease, increases school performance of kids, and prevents suicide. We all need to hear this message so stick around to the very end to be celebrated.
Poem: What Life Should Be, by Pat A. Fleming
To learn while still a child what this life is meant to be. To know it goes beyond myself, it's so much more than me. To overcome the tragedies to survive the hardest times. To face those moments filled with pain and still managed to be kind. To fight for those who can't themselves to always share my light, with those who wander in the dark, to love with all my might. To still stand up with courage, those standing on my own. To still get up and face each day, even when I feel alone. To try to understand the ones that no one cares to know. And make them feel some value when the world has let them go. To be an anchor strong and true. That person loyal to the end, to be a constant source of hope, to my family and my friends. To live a life of decency to share my heart and soul. To always say I'm sorry, when I've harmed both friend and foe. To be proud of whom I've tried to be in this life I chose to live. To make the most of every day by giving all I have to give. To me, that's what this life should be. To me. That's what it's for. To take what God has given me and make it so much more. To live a life that matters to be someone of great worth. To love to be loved in return and make my mark on Earth.
Who’s in circle with us:
Helice 'Grandma Sparky' Bridges is the First Lady of Acknowledgment and Founder of Blue Ribbons Worldwide. Creator of “Who I Am Makes A Difference”® Blue Ribbon Acknowledgment ceremony which has impacted over 50 million people in over 12 countries. She is an outrageous Pioneer, Speaker, Trainer, Mentor, Author, Edutainer. She is also a TEDx Presenter, winner of TKF Gandhi Non-violence Award, a keynote speaker at The Environmental Earth Summit Rio de Janeiro following The Dalai Lama and Vice President Al Gore, the winner of “Speak for Success” Women Changing the World and recipient of the Statue of Responsibility Award. She is a contributing author in “Mentor Digest” alongside authors Eckhart Tolle, Wayne Dyer and Jack Canfield. She was the keynote Speaker for US Army 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War, and was invited to Bangladesh to honor Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammed Yunus. Grandma Sparky’s mission is Giving Youth a Voice to Unite Humanity through the Power of Love. She is a remarkable women that you don’t want to miss.
Connect with Grandma Sparky through, www.Blueribbons.org, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Walker Brandt’s image and personality have been utilized in the entertainment and advertising industries for over 25 years. She has appeared in international blockbuster films, TV shows, Advertising Campaigns, and dozens of commercials for global brands. Walker’s first book AWAKEN – Discovering Yourself Through the Light of Your Innocence an Amazon #1 International Best Seller shares her personal journey overcoming growing up in a violent and alcoholic family, feeling helpless and suicidal. As a teen runaway her commitment to personal development along with what she discovered in the creativity of nature helped her navigate unsafe environments. These skills and her craft as a professional actor harmonized to inspire tools she used to rewrite her story personally and professionally leading to happiness and seven-figure success. One of her biggest passions is helping others transform dysfunctional legacy and live a life they choose
Connect with Walker through, www.walkerbrandt.com, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Pick up the talking piece:
What came up for you as you listened to this episode? I'd love to hear your experiences with any of the reflections and exercises. Send me an email at podcast@humconsulting.ca or leave a voicemail (click the voicemail button on the right).
Gratitude:
Circle of Change is recorded on lək̓ʷəŋən territories.
Our opening and closing music was created by the talented E-Rol Beats. You can find his creations at www.erolbeats.com
My fabulous podcast coach, Mary Chan of Organized Sound Productions, brought this podcast to life www.organizedsound.ca
Transcript: (Some words may not be accurately recorded. Please let us know if something seems off.)
Change begins from within. As easy as it is to look outside of ourselves and want the world to change, the truth is, it never will if we remain the same. This podcast was created for change-makers like you who want more love and connection in your community. Today you are going to hear stories that will inspire you, and also challenge you to be the change. We are going to go deep, my friend, so take a deep breath and settle in. My name is Ame-Lia Tamburrini - Welcome to the Circle of Change.
Ame-Lia Tamburrin (AT): 0:50 Hi, friends, welcome to circle. I am so excited for you to be here today because you're gonna leave this episode feeling so good about yourself and the world. Today we are joined by two powerful changemakers who are passionate about lifting up the human spirit through the power of love. You are going to laugh, you might even cry. And you will leave this conversation with your spirit intact and motivated to keep doing the amazing work that you are doing in the world.
These two changemakers share the powerful way that pain can shift us out of despair and connect us back to love. They talk about the biggest deficit in our world and the solution that literally saves lives. They recount the world-famous Chicken Soup for the Soul story, that will probably have you in tears and you get to experience of ceremony that will change your life. And it's the same ceremony that has healed divorce, crime, violence, bullying, disease, and has prevented so many suicides. We all need to hear this message so stick around to the very end and take it in.
AT: 2:10 Let me introduce these two beautiful souls to you. Walker Brandt's image and personality have been utilized in the entertainment and advertising industries for over 25 years. She has appeared in international blockbuster films, TV shows, advertising campaigns, and dozens of commercials for global brands. Walker's first book, Awaken: Discovering Yourself Through the Light of your Innocence, is an Amazon number one bestseller. In that book she shares her personal journey of overcoming growing up in a violent and alcoholic family and feeling helpless and suicidal. As a teen runaway, her commitment to personal development along with what she discovered and the creativity of nature helped her navigate unsafe environments and then she uses these skills and her craft as a professional actor to inspire tools that she now uses to rewrite her story. As a teen runaway her commitment to personal development, along with what she discovered in the creativity of nature, helped her navigate unsafe environments. These skills and her craft as a professional actor harmonized to inspire tools she used to rewrite her story personally and professionally, leading to happiness and a seven figure success. One of her biggest passions is helping others transform dysfunctional legacy to live a life they choose.
AT: 3:36 Helice Bridges, also known as Grandma Sparky, is the first lady of acknowledgment and the founder of Blue Ribbons worldwide. She is the creator of, Who I Am Makes a Difference, Blue Ribbon acknowledgment ceremony, which has impacted over 50 million people in over 12 countries. She is an outrageous pioneer, speaker, trainer, mentor, author, and edutainer. She has been a TEDx presenter. She's also the winner of the TKF Gandhi Non-Violence award. She was a keynote speaker at the environmental Earth Summit, following speakers such as the Dalai Lama and Vice President Al Gore. She is the winner of speak for Your Success: Women Changing the World and the recipient of the Statue of Responsibility Award. She is a contributing author to mentor digest, who Eckhart Tolle, Wayne Dyer and Jack Canfield are also contributing authors of her mission is giving youth a voice to unite humanity through the power of love.
AT: 4:41 Now if you're asking about grandma Sparky, what's with that name, which I absolutely adore. She does share her story with me and I'm just going to relay it to you with her permission. So in 1984, she gave herself this nickname. She then just started inviting everybody to call her Sparky so that she herself lighten up. She says she was taking herself too seriously and now when she feels overwhelmed, she remembers what this blue ribbon has taught her, who I am makes a difference. Bing! Oh my goodness, you are just going to love these women. Welcome to circle.
AT: 5:51 Helice and Walker, I'm so deeply touched to have you both here with me in circle. Admittedly, I'm pinching myself a little bit and asking, my goodness, how did this come to be? It's nothing that I could have planned to be sitting here with you. Helice bridges, you are a multi-award-winning changemaker who has literally changed the lives of over 50 million people and I'm sure it extends way beyond that. It's an honor to have you here.
Helice “Grandma Sparky” Bridges (GS): 5:56 I'm smoking with you.
AT: 5:59 And Walker, you know, you're you're just such an angel, also a best selling author really supporting people to live in their passion, which I think is just so essential for making this world a better place. And so thank you two for joining me here and circle.
Walker Brandt (WB): 6:22 Thank you. Very excited to be here.
AT: So I'm going to start the way I start all the circles is just by reading a poem. And that's really to help you as well as whoever's listening to transition from wherever, whatever they're doing right now in their lives into this space, where we can really just be present with the stories that are about to be shared. So if you want to close your eyes and take this in, and if the listener is in a safe space and wants to do that, that's great. And I will read this poem, which is by Pat A. Fleming. And the poem is called, What Life Should Be.
AT: 6:58 To learn while still a child what this life is meant to be. To know it goes beyond myself, it's so much more than me. To overcome the tragedies to survive the hardest times. To face those moments filled with pain and still managed to be kind. To fight for those who can't themselves to always share my light, with those who wander in the dark, to love with all my might. To still stand up with courage, those standing on my own. To still get up and face each day, even when I feel alone. To try to understand the ones that no one cares to know. And make them feel some value when the world has let them go. To be an anchor strong and true. That person loyal to the end, to be a constant source of hope, to my family and my friends. To live a life of decency to share my heart and soul. To always say I'm sorry, when I've harmed both friend and foe. To be proud of whom I've tried to be in this life I chose to live. To make the most of every day by giving all I have to give. To me, that's what this life should be. To me. That's what it's for. To take what God has given me and make it so much more. To live a life that matters to be someone of great worth. To love to be loved in return and make my mark on Earth.
Guests: 8:32 Wow. That was magnificent. Drink that in like, every single word is spoken from your heart and just elevated me right now. Thank you beautiful, beautiful poem for giving us with that. Wow, she touched so much. She left nothing unturned.
AT: I agree. And to me, you know, I love that these poems, they really just come to me. It so aligns with the two of you and the work that you're doing in this world. And so I feel really honored to ground us in these beautiful words as we launch into this conversation.
AT: 9:17 So we are going to get into talking about all the amazing work that you're doing in the world. However, I really want to start by allowing the listener to get to know you a little bit better. So the first question is, who are you? And I fell in love with this question a while ago, but recently, I took a speaking and writing program with Lisa Nichols and The Walker. That's where I met you as one of the amazing coaches of that program. And we just took this question to a whole new level in that program. So it just it has a new energy for me and I love to gift it to whoever joins me in the circle. So whoever wants to pick up the talking piece first feel free if you brought a talking piece, feel free to introduce it in this round as well. So with that, who are you?
GS: Walker, are you go first.
WB: I am a child of God. First and foremost I am a divine creation in this universe at play with my family and all of creation. I am from a family of Vikings. I am from a family of survivors and a family of adventurers. I am from some really crazy food like a belt fish, and I am from amazing desserts, incredible cooks, I am from my great aunties. I am from exploring in nature, I am from overcoming. I am from grace. I am from love, in love. I am from joy. I am a discovering person. I am here with you. Wow.
GS: 11:18 I’m so glad you went first. You know, who I am makes a difference. Snd who I am is lives in the moment. Who I am, feels the grace of God in every cell of my body. Who I am, sees only the beauty and people and their evolution. Who I am is the breeze against my face and thanking God to remind me that I don't have to create wind, or the earth twirling or photosynthesis. Who I am is the gravity that I was given to make a difference who I am is the spirit of unconditional love and who I am is a player. I am full of fun. And I am the spirit of unconditional love. That's who I am. Because of my parents.
GS: So beautiful. Thank you both. Yes.
Guests: thank you for that fun. That was good.
AT: I love how you both took it and played with it and just expressed from your heart. So thank you.
GS: That was good. I've never done it by that way I just learned from you, Walker, how to be and Ame-Lia and that's why I asked you to go first. Okay, because I was thinking about how I always say like who I am like, the founder of stuff and everything. And I went now that, you know, like, Thank you so as to step back. Okay, go ahead.
AT: I think we're gonna have some great stories here. And that's one thing I love about circle is that is such a beautiful place for people to share their stories. I also think storytelling is such a powerful way to communicate, you know, because these experiences connect us heart to heart and it changes the way people listen, it changes how people hear things, you know, both of you are so dedicated to making a difference in people's lives and I'd love to ask you a question that will help the listener understand a little bit more about how you got here. So would you be willing to share a story, a story in your life that really has shaped who you are today and what you do in the world.
GS: 13:39 I just don't know how we all get shaped, because I'm 79 years young now. So in my early shaping, it was you know, you go to school, then you, you didn't go to college yet. You get a guy get married, you have children, you fix their teeth, you get a good job, you buy a house, you know stuff like that, not about making a difference. That kind of conversation just wasn't, wasn't there, not about being a woman making a dream. Your dream was your family. So given that foundation, I think when I popped up, like popcorn, like, you know, then when something shifted 100,000% in me was 40 years ago and I was 37. I just want to say this, we never know when God touches us in being a millionaire at the time and having all the luxuries of a home on the ocean and luxury cars and a very successful career at that time and preteen kids. If love is missing, which was for me and my marriage, that wasn't that my husband was absolutely a brilliant entrepreneur and beloved by everybody, but behind closed doors he was a very controlling and abusive man in that he verbally abused me and then eliminated me from any decision making about anything. I had to ask him for permission to buy a dress and and I had money. So I want to say that I decided to commit suicide and instead of doing that, and this is where I want to give it up to God and Ame-Lia and Walker, because I wouldn't know you, I wouldn't know you or this world or this curtain that opens up in the second act of, of a life, is falling to my knees on the day I was going to take my life and just shouting to the heavens, stop the world, I gotta get off, and find a place where people love each other, I can't live in anymore and what comes down, as a download, was just a little sweet angel inside of me, I never before whispers you can't take your life. Because you're going to sing, dance, right? And have a musical and star in a musical on Broadway in New York and you can bring love to the world And I just sit back and I go, Hmm. And that is like, all of a sudden, I'm going to be a singer, dancer, a writer, I can bring love to the world. And I don't have a clue how to do that. And then, of course, the curtain opens to the third act where I begin to find a way to, for people to love each other with a blue ribbon. Like that. So that's just the beginning of that little pebble on the pond that ripples. And we all don't know who we are. To listen to that inner voice, even if you don't know what it is and even if you can't sing, dance, write. And you don’t know any of that, right? God’s gravity works.
WB: 16:40 I love that, God's gravity works, saying doesn't it?
GS: You can't wiggle out of it.
WB: This is why Sparky and I are together. She still when she's just when she was saying the beginning of what she does shared. You never know when God is going to touch you. And that little quiet voice and that moment of missing, knowing that you're missing something, something isn't in this family. I loved how you said, Grandma's Sparky, about for women, it used to just be the family, was our dream was given to us. And it was sort of in this, it had a very clear framing. We stepped into that frame. And that's what we kept ourselves in for a long time. And something in you knew there was more and something in me as a child, I knew there was more too and I had a very similar. I knew in my as a very young person as a little girl, that love was missing from my home. And I wasn't getting love. I would feel it in nature. It was a violent alcoholic home, there was daily abuse. And I just knew that there was something very important missing. And it was in me. And it wasn't being reflected back. Only out in nature. And so I would escape it as often as I could too. And I heard, in a moment of desperation, in a very similar way as Grandma Sparky just said, I was suicidal, by the time I became a teenager. You know everything that you go through as a teenager, it's such a moment, as a young woman, everything's changing physically, everything's changing emotionally. It's like you're this pressure of becoming a woman. And if there's anything that you've been dealing with, it becomes almost unbearable during those years, because that's when you need the most support. And at that point, it was, I was, it was unbearable. And in a moment of almost taking my life, the closest I had tried several times, and this time I was the closest, I heard a voice that said, stop, leave, and I listened and I left. I was 15 years old and I never went back, So 15 and a half, I never went back and became emancipated at 16. And I was on my own from that day forward and dove deep into love, deep into trying to understand what this was. I knew I needed to learn it and so I sought it. And this is where I think that Grandma Sparky and I, as one of her dear friends said who was one of the students at 12 years old that she changed the life at one of her assemblies at a school she changed Amanda's life by having her come on stage and share what her pain was to all of her peers. So everyone could release it and everyone could transform and embrace one another. So she looked at me recently and said, I think you and Grandma Sparky signed a contract up there. And that's why we are so connected. And I think she's right in the sense that for both of us, love became our primary. Love became what we wanted people to feel and what we wanted to feel ourselves. So Grandma Sparky went out there and said, Okay, if nobody's going to show here, I'm going to go and get myself by showing others what I need. And I did the same thing. I did it with my family. I just did it differently. And it was, you know, I raised children. And, you know, I did all kinds of things in here, Sparky, but I wasn't told I was going to be a Broadway star by the way, although I ended up in the entertainment industry, and I've done you know, huge films and TV shows and what not, I had no idea that's where I was gonna go and where my road was going to take me, because obviously, that was in there, too. So there's all these interesting, symbiotic things that we share together. But love is at the core. It is the most important thing for both of us that people know that they are loved, appreciated and respected. Yeah, that's what I want to share, right this moment, that question,
GS: 21:08 May I just say something about what you said about Amanda. I just want to just give a flavor and a background. This was 1991 when I was doing an anti-bullying assembly, at a middle school, and I asked kids 800 were in the audience and I said, if you've ever been bullied, if you are a bully, and you've heard somebody, come to the microphone, state, your name, what you did who you did it to and apologize, have that person come up, shake your hand, give a hug, clean it up. If you have been harmed by someone get up and share what happened to you and Amanda had broken her pelvis and was in a wheelchair, 12 and a half years old and she came up and said, out loud, she said, you all have damaged me and hurt me and bullied me. And I'm afraid to come to school. And when the assembly was over, when she walked out, kids rallied around her and apologized. And she is now in her 50s she has three teenage children. She's a student of mine. But when she came to my home a few years ago, because she saw a blue ribbon from a podcast like yours and she started to cry and didn't know what it was and she got introduced to me. We were just chatting, she lives near me and I said, oh, by the way, one of the things I do is do this assembly and she goes in 1991 were you at the my junior high school and I said as a matter of fact, that was, I just had opened my archives and I said you mean this four page article in the Los Angeles Times, with kids hugging each other and crying and she goes, that was my birthday. I'm in that picture. 1991 that's how we all work, we all do with love. It's just constant and ends bullying and brings people together.
AT: 23:13 So beautiful. It's a message that resonates so deeply with me. And it's why I have this podcast, it was this love was also my transformative moment where I woke up one day in a lot of pain and very alone in my life and realized that, yeah, I did not feel any love and I was not really giving it either. For a number of reasons. Yeah, committed in that moment, but love and jo - that was the purpose both for myself, but to be able to give that to as many people as possible. And that's why I am so grateful that both of you are here on this show, because this is exactly what it's all about. I think we've built up some good suspense for the listener in terms of what you do and what this blue ribbon is all about. So on the weekend, I took an hour and just listened to story after story after story of people who have been impacted by the Blue Ribbon campaign and I was just amazed at the impact it has, like it didn't matter if it was healing long standing divides between people or communities or just somebody having self worth at the end of this. And then so many stories of people deciding not to commit suicide. It didn't seem where the ceremony took place, who is involved, this message has a profound impact on people. So please, please can you share I know not going to say the message. you've already said it. But what is the Blue Ribbon? What's the ceremony and what is it about this message that is so impactful? And please feel free to share more examples if you would like.
GS: 25:05 So here's the deal. I created this blue ribbon, you can see it, it's upstairs of me. Upstairs, I always say upstairs, it's upstairs. But what I didn't realize is that love was missing in our society. It's acknowledgement is missing in our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our neighborhoods, we're always trying to do something and get better. But we rarely know who we are. We don't know how to love ourselves, let alone love anybody else. When I created the Blue Ribbon, it came because I was co chair the San Diego Hunger Project, I left my husband, I became volunteer co chair of the San Diego Hunger Project and I spoke at assemblies of schools and churches, I was all over. And then people came up to me. And this is where you're saying that no matter who you are, how old you are, whether you are a president of a major corporation, a general in the military, a janitor, it didn't make any difference. When you get loved, it's what's missing. And how I came to this is at the end of my talks to support the end of hunger and talk to people about what they could do to help end world hunger and wasn't feeding people it was learning inside what we could do to serve. So people come up with their ideas and empower each other, so that hunger could end, often, there would be a crowd around me and one day, one boy said, my dad, it was starving ourselves, my father lost his job, and we're gonna lose our home. And a little girl says my mother's got cancer and we don't know what to do. And a teacher says, My son just got arrested for drugs. And I go home, I'm going through a divorce and I'm thinking I don't know what to do myself. And I thought maybe they needed to be loved like me. So I created a blue ribbon and I went up to my kids, teachers and my neighbors and I began to tell them what I loved about them, what I admired about them and I'd asked if they would accept my gift of a blue ribbon. And they would kind of shrug their shoulders and I said, may I have permission to place it on you? I learned not to just go, Hi I’ve got a great idea. You know, they go, get away from me, you know, it's like, well, don't touch me. And so I would just say, may I have permission to place it on you, and if they said yes, I would place it above your heart pointing up toward all your greatest dreams coming true. And then it became tradition for me to take the spark from my heart, put it in the cheerleaders that I put in this ribbon, always wanted to be a cheerleader for people who couldn't jump, so I put it on the ribbon. And I said spark from my heart and put it in the ribbon. And the sound is Bing! and all of a sudden they caught on and I gave him two extra ribbons, never charged for anything said no, this is a gift. And the first three months 35,000 people were honored, you can't quit it, everybody wanted to be loved. And I didn't understand what was happening, because I didn't know how to even love myself. It’s taken many, many, many years for me to really realize the difference that even I make today. Or I've made it all over the years because I would come home I go, how is it that those families got back together? Because they put a ribbon on each othe? And how is it that that girl did not commit suicide? Or that boy didn’t commit suicide because his father honored him? How is it that Walmart you know, started this in a little town of Indiana and it went to quarter of a million employees. How does that happen without any money and a blue ribbon in an idea to say I love you.
WB: 29:00 Yeah, you put it on a scale too weren't there, wasn't there? Oh, like what the heck is on this day and she's weighing it like something.
GS: I actually came home, that's exactly right. I came home every time I honored somebody, see, I didn’t know you get filled up with this dopamine stuff and serotonin and everything I even body's natural high. You know, it's like, wow, I just honored somebody, how cool is this world? And then I come home and I feel so good - I didn't need any money. you know, I was a millionaire before, but you're right. I came home and I put it on a scale and I said I don't understand you don’t weigh anything. But how do you do that? And that was true. I was just flabbergasted for years. How quickly? And how for 20 cents, which is the cost of a ribbon when people buy them, online on the line, how it changes lives in a minute or less.
WB: And wasn't there a period Grandma Sparky where it was overwhelming to you? The responsibility you felt when you got in your head about it, like so much of us were human. That's what we do. We sometimes are given a gift and then we get in our human head of it. What was that like for you?
GS: 30:14 Wow, you gave a good question. Thank you for the help about that. You start something and it's the need is so great. I couldn't walk out the door of my house without paparazzi following me. Cameras chasing after me. People falling on their knees in a restaurant, grabbing my legs and saying, please honor me or telling me a story that they had been honored and I had no privacy. And then the demand was so great, everywhere I went, I just I went into my home and for about over 10 years. And by the way, trying to get this in schools and education, because it's a ribbon and it was touchy feely. I got booted out more places that I can tell you, it was too overwhelming for educators, they said, it's too emotional. It's not academic. And I kept trying and trying and the kids were screaming for it teens, were saying, please, we need you, don't give up, don't give up and I promised them I would never give up. Just like you said, as a teenager, kids would come up and say, give us a voice and I said I promise I'll give you a voice. And today I can do that. I can do that now.
WB: 31:27 Yeah, it's one of those things, you Ame-Lia - Grandma Sparky and I, right now are co-teaching two different courses, one of them standing together and then we taught a course called making dreams come true. And one of the administrators, principles of this amazing school, of these beautiful children and teens have been through the worst of the worst, said,
I'm so excited to have this program, because it's always been my belief that these kids, especially our kids who've been through trauma, need this kind of care first, before academic learning, they need the emotional support, they need to know their voice matters, they need to know they're loved and cared for. I was one of those students. I was in a school like this. I didn't get to meet grandma's Sparky at that age. I know what it would have been like if I had. And that's part of our connection too. And that's why it was like, you know, oh my goodness, this has always been a dream inside of me to be able to share and what I've been through to support another child so they don't have to walk the walk I went through, if I can help them not trip, stumbles many times if I can support them, if I can be that, you know, trampoline, that they can, you know, fly from instead of fall from and some and it's just simple thing love and support. So yeah, that that is something that has been a huge blessing for me and I think for Grandma Sparky too, to, to be with us together. I'm like I said one of the students even though I didn't meet her, I'm one of those students that she's impacted that the person in me the teen in me is receiving that from her now from the day we met a year ago during COVID in April of 2020 it was like, okay, that part of me it was when I was just finished writing my book, I had just gone through the launch and it was the first time I really shared my my experience with the world, I kept it so hidden and then you know, I was very clear about what I wanted and I asked and Grandma Sparky boom appeared and then my teenager was able to receive that gift then and it was just amazing and then here we were in January creating a course for kids like I was you know and watching them go from this so hidden, hoodies, masks I mean literally they're like this they don't want anyone to see them. And in this last class we just finished, now like this, they're like they're making faces up to the camera like this. And I can't even stress to you what that does to see that transformation. Grandma Sparky always says in a minute or less, this ribbon changes your life because what's inside this ribbon. Love expands. It just kicks out contraction. It's a magnificent gift and magic to watch happen.
GS: 34:48 See, see how she is? Just want to say how God the universe, whatever anybody says how brings us all together? Yes. So we get a lot of orders for our blue ribbons. Yes, online and I see them coming through, but I don't really ship. It ships out of our corporate office, and I'm in California and out of Salt Lake City. And so I seen this order for $20 for 100 ribbons, and I can't get my eyes away from it. And I go, huh, interesting, and all of a sudden I go, because I, I'll call somebody if they're 1000 ribbons, order a 10,000 ribbons, you know, I want to know what they're doing that, you know, 20. So $20 and I, and I said, call her up, and I say Walker,I said, Thank you for honoring 100 people. And Walker says, I know you. And I said, how do you know me, and she said, I just heard you speak on make it ring - it was Was our mutual mentor, Susie Carter and she said, Susie gave me a ribbon a month ago. And I said, What do you do? And she said, I'm an actor. And I said, I got a musical. It's called being the sound of a billion dreams. And we have to develop the characters. And you go, shoot, I can do that with my eyes closed. And I said, Really? She said, yeah, we can start next week. We've been a year over year together now every day all the time, and took two and a half months to develop all the characters. But she's a genius at everything that Grandma Sparky, at 79 years, young, has no clue about the technology, about the production, about stuff. She just 100,000 feet miles ahead of me on to go, oh, if you do this, and you want to billion people and you want to verge, what do you call them a landing page, I think you know, and virtual, that's another thing I learned - and tab in an address bar, okay, like that.
WB: We created a virtual Blue Ribbon during COVID together because we were not going to stop getting that ribbon out there. So we had to create a virtual blue ribbon. So we did that.
AT:36:57 I love it. I love both of your deep commitment to this. And obviously you've seen the impact, you've experienced it yourself. Thank you also for sharing the story of how you connected because I'm sure our listener was curious about how you two beautiful souls came together. There's a deeper message here. We've talked a lot about the individual impacts. But I think you use the wording, like uniting humanity through the power of love. Those are big words, and they resonate so deeply with me. And I'm curious, what does that mean to you, uniting humanity through the power of love? And how does this relate to what you're doing?
GS: 37:41 I agree with you. It's a very, very big conversation. And to have a tagline of blue ribbons worldwide is our foundation, our name and I actually asked about 14 of my colleagues who are graduates of my program, who are also world leaders. I said, I don't know, the tagline underneath this. And collectively, we all came up with uniting humanity to the power of love. Just a few years ago, actually. And I've been living inside of that and it is very big conversation. Because in our divided States of America and the world, how do we as one person, unite just a family member, let alone a community, a country, and a world. Love those that. We may not know what love is, but if I hand you if I honor you with a blue ribbon and give you two more ribbons, and say pay it forward, please, people will always say two things to me. One is, well, first, they'll cry and say, I never knew I mattered. So we're united at that moment, without even saying anything. So our compassion and our understanding of each other. And then when I give them extra ribbon, they'll go, I know exactly who I need to honor. And it might be to say, I'm sorry to somebody. It might be to say, thank you. It might be that they just leave that sucker on somebody's computer, and note, and they never have to say a word. And somebody reads that, and says, really? Where did that come from? And it's in the curiosity of it. I stand in this uniting conversation of my own heart and soul every day, like how can I unite my own heart? My own mind, body and spirit? How can I be one with this moment, and not a human doing but a human being? How can I blossom my own curiosity and self without trying to meet the needs of everybody all the time, that's too difficult. I can only be what I can. I invite everybody to just be who we are. And just keep breathing like we did it and know the poem that you wrote at the beginning. And I think that the uniting part for me is just it’s a really big conversation. But I also want to say that the ribbons are in 12 languages. And it all came just because people called up and said, We want to honor somebody in the Soviet Union or in China, or in Israel, or, or all over the world. And all the translations are there. And we're going for a billion people to be honored now. So that is my commitment is why Walker and I are hooked at the hip and everybody else, is I'm inviting everybody, one person at a time to honor people. And watch the exponential growth of that. Because the minute you tell somebody that they matter, and give them two extra ribbons, the world changes for the better. And I don't cost a whole bunch of money. Yeah, and it actually, it saves lives, and enhances self worth. It uplifts the health and well being of people that ends bullying, crime and violence, and makes dreams come true in a minute or less. Well, hello, thank you very much for the ribbon and the commitment.
WB: And it inspires academic excellence in kids, because they start to see their excellence in themselves, they start to see that, you know, when we're speaking earlier about, you know, where we are, who we are, where we come from, that overwhelming moment of a team that I expressed, this is the time when we need to know what we matter, to that we're perfect, just the way the way we are that we're enough that we are loved, that we are respected, that we are appreciated. This is the beginning of the foundations, not just when we're little babies, but when we're teens, everything changes. It's so important to experience that from your peers from multiple generations, not just your own from your human family is what I'm saying that moment from your peers. But also like when Grandma Sparky would create the assemblies, you need it from your peers, but you also need to know that there's somebody that you may have thought you can't relate to, that's why our courses are multi generational, because there's this strange thing that happens, we think that we can't communicate to somebody when we're a teenager, in our 30s, or 40s or 50s. There's a strange thing, especially in our culture, where you know, if you're a kid you don't know anything kind of thing, which is so bizarre. Every generation has, every age has a gift. We're all beacons of light and love from God. You know, it's so much for us to give to each other. So for me, uniting humanity is about being in that place, being true to the innocence of who you are, the light of your innocence, which is the subtitle of my book, discovering yourself through the light of your innocence, because that is ageless. That is divine. It is the connection that we are, it has no name. It has no culture, it has no color. It has nothing that separates it, it's everything is connected. We're because we're at our purest form energy. That's something that for me uniting humanity is connecting in that very pure place. And love is the magic about place. Acceptance is the magic collaboration, cooperation, commitment, acknowledgement that we are all connected is the core of it, that there is no separation. And even in our deepest isolation, feelings of isolation, we are connected. If there's that understanding, that uniting of humanity, the whole experience changes, and that's, that's something that, you know, is deep in my heart. And you know, the Blue Ribbon, one of Grandma Sparky’s statements is, you know, a 99 through the power of love creating positive social change, because when you honor a billion people, you've reached such a number, that it's, it's a big ripple. And you can turn around like we were talking yesterday, our excitement is to be able to turn on, you know, walk down the street and turn around and go, did you get one? Yeah, I got. Yeah. You know, because it's like, once you understand that, who you are makes a difference. There is no wondering what your purpose is, there is no questioning if you matter, you know, you're here, you chose to be here because you make a difference because your energy is integral to this experience in the world.
GS: 44:50 I love what you just said, I want to say two things to unite and to acknowledge, because how did things start so that it's all simple. So you get a ribbon, right? This is like 40 years ago, when I first started, there's that big burly man, he's he's taking boxes off of a dolly off of the truck and putting on a dolly in downtown San Diego, and he's going to go into a bank building. And I'm watching the man hold his butt back straight and his and he's breathing. And he's picking up the boxes. I'm thinking that's really good. He gets in the elevator with me, I pull out a ribbon. I said, Sir, I said, I want to honor you for bending and breathing. To do it really well. Would you accept my gift? He kind of looks at me like, I don’t know old lady. And I said, may I place it on you. And he said slap it there baby. And I put the ribbon on him and as he stepped out of the elevator, he's still kind of turning and staring at mem I'm still in the elevator and he says, you know, there ought to be more people in this world like you. And with that, I took out two extra ribbons. I said here go be one of those people, please. I never found that man. But I do know he said something to me. Here's the big burly guy that just went well, wow! And when you meet somebody and you don't know the influence that we all have, with just 20 seconds or a minute, the signature story that most people know that was written in Chicken Soup for the Soul was made into a television movie. And we saw on our homepage and our on our website. It is the same kind of circumstance. Where this is in was in 1988, a teacher in New York. I left my husband, I'm living in a garage of a friend's house, I've got a one 800 number. And this teacher who I don't know, I don't have a computer, don't have nothing happens to order the ribbons. I don't know there's word of mouth in those days. And she says I gotta tell you a story. And I said, Okay, and she tells me that she honored each of her students individually in her high school senior class, walked up to them, told them how much they mattered and cheered him on for their dreams, placed a ribbon above their heart, and gave them three extra ribbons. Each of them said go out and do a community building project. Just talking about unity in a way that we didn't know back in the day. And that afternoon as a high school senior, went to a junior executive and he honored him for helping with career planning. This is Wall Street now. And he places a ribbon above the junior executives heart and gives them two extra ribbons and said we're doing a class project, which you honor somebody and then have them pay it forward. And that afternoon, the junior executive honors his grouchy boss for being a creative genius. And he gives him the ribbon and he cheers him on and gives him a bang. Then he says, here's the last ribbon honor somebody and let me know what happens so that I can tell this boy in the school so he can report it. And that night that a grouchy boss drives home to his decides to honor his 14 year old son, sits him down when he gets home and takes out the ribbon and tells it says son I yell at you every night for not cleaning up your room and not getting better grades in school but tonight I just want to say that who you are makes a difference and that I love you and these places the ribbon above his boys heart, and the boy starts to sob he cannot stop crying, he goes over to a drawer opens the drawer, pulls out a gun, looks at his dad. And he says I was planning on committing suicide tomorrow dad, because I didn't think you love me. And now I don't have to. That teacher called me to tell me that story in 1988. And I said, I will, that's community - one teacher impacts the classroom and one student saves a life with a ribbon. And that story goes into the first Chicken Soup for the Soul book, which later goes into a television movie, which later goes into YouTube, and becomes number one on YouTube for 10 weeks that story, and is responsible for 50 million or more people being honored actually, because of one teacher, can you imagine how we get to a billion now, just because of that, just one heart connecting.
WB: 49:30 More than ever, the game needs to be out there. Every school needs to have this experience, a blue ribbon community building experience. Because what it will do is such a simple, it's like we're blessed with love, it's at our core. We just need a vehicle and a tool to go and express it and that's what this ribbon is. It’s the most amazing thing Ame-Lia, when I first honoured somebody, the first person I honored was my husband and then I honordered my daughter and it was amazing. And the experience, what happens this bubble comes around you, you become, it is the the humanity of us, the grace of us in that ribbon and what it creates in those moments, when you look at somebody who they are and you honor them, it creates a beautiful space of reflection of care and love and acknowledgement.I was talking to Grandma Sparky over a phone call, it's like I don't know, a few weeks after I got and I was so excited. You know what’s so amazing about this ribbon is so incredible, because even if you're not ready to honor yourself, you're doing it because you say I have a ribbon that says who I am makes a difference, so you're literally honoring yourself, you are bringing yourself. Even if you aren't ready, you get the honoring by giving the honoring, it literally blesses you. And she looked at me and she goes, I'm glad you figured that out, took me 15 years. I started laughing and I was like because you were so busy out there honoring everyone, you didn't have a moment like I need to sit here and stare at this and just go My gosh, this is an amazing thing. And I was thinking a similar thing, like what’s inside this thing. But it's what you have inside, you grace it with. And it becomes this amazing, full of who you are, reflecting who somebody is. And just like Grandma Sparky said, every time I honor somebody, they look at me and say, gosh, I've never, I've honored nurses and doctors and they're like, I never really felt that I mattered, this is a nicest thing anyone ever done. I've never been complimented like this. And it blows my mind when I hear that. It just blows my mind. So we need this, we need to do this to give our doctors, give our children, our husbands, our neighbors. Because it's huge. It's a ripple that it carries with it peace, love and change.
AT: 52:10 I honestly think that this is what we need to change the world. And I've been reflecting on how complicated we make things right with policies and bureaucracy and all of the programs and oh, we need to develop this and that and actually all we need to do is love ourselves and tell other people that they matter and love them as well. And I just think that is the most beautiful message and work that you're doing. So thank you. Before you provide this ceremony, Grandma Sparky and I'm so grateful for you to do that. I want to share how people can help you. Because I would love to just end on your words. How can people support the Blue Ribbon campaign and get involved and really help you reach a billion people and beyond because we need this so badly?
GS: 53:03 Yes, so you can go to blueribbons.org/get-involved and right there, it just has three steps of how to get free ribbons sent to you, 10 free ribbons, you could virtual blue ribbons, you could sponsor somebody into our training programs or you can be in our training program standing strong together or ask us about school programs. We're going for a quarter of a million kids elementary, middle high school and college students to be sponsored, so that they can help lead our nation and world in uniting humanities to the power of love in a minute or less.
WB: 53:48 You can also donate when you go through one of the programs, donate to Blue Ribbons Worldwide and when you go through one of the programs standing strong together, community building, leadership certification training, you become a blue ribbon ambassador. So you learn you can you can teach what Grandma Sparky teaches, and it's powerful. And yeah, we have an amazing group of ambassadors over the years that I've met as I’ve become a guest speaker so yeah, there's blueribbons.org/virtual-ribbon. Go there, you can send a virtual Blue Ribbon as well through social media and you can download it. There's videos there showing you how to honor somebody from Grandma Sparky and a beautiful example of a virtual Blue Ribbon. From Lourdes one of our standing home together graduates.
GS: Yeah, yeah, you can see the video. And by the way, I want you to email me say sparky@blueribbons.org and say hey, Sparky, talk to me and I will talk to you. Okay, I will say something good. That will engage you and I will show you how one person can make a difference for your family, for humanity, your school, your country and world and in a minute or this will lighten people up?
AT: Yes, yes. Absolutely.
GS: 55:06 May I honour now?
AT: Yes, please.
GS: Okay, cool. So it's a blue ribbon and it says who I am makes a difference, Ame-Lia and everybody listening around the world. I have a blue ribbon for you and it says who I am makes a difference. And it would be such a privilege for me to honor you and tell you how much you matter. And the mattering is that you're expressing your inner self, you're going for your dreams, you're asking for help. You're never giving up. You're taking the risk. You're being courageous and you're having fun, have fun. Ah, would you, would you accept my gift, you will? Cool, may I have permission to place it on you and placing it above your heart. And there's cheerleaders in this ribbon jumping for your dreams in order to get in the air. I take the spark from my heart and put my finger on it. The sound that makes dreams come true and the sound is BING! every time you hear a BING! you know the child inside of us just that our dream. Blue Ribbon being world I love you.
AT: I love you. I love you both. Thank you so much for teaching us that small acts of humanity matter. This is what it's all about. So and I want you both to know that you Walker and you
Helice, Grandma Sparky that you make a difference. Just keep doing what you're doing. Thank you so much for being here.
Guests: Thank you. We love you - you’re that gift.
I'm now passing the talking piece to you. If you feel called to put your voice in this circle, please head to www.humconsulting.ca/podcast and share your story there. I cannot wait to hear what has come up for you as you have listened to what has been shared here today.
I wish you love and joy beyond your wildest imagination. Thank you so much for being here in the Circle of Change.
I also want to express my gratitude to the following peeps: Circle of Change is recorded on the Lekwungen territory and I am so grateful to live on this land. Our opening and closing music was created by the talented E.Rol Beats. You can find his creations at erolbeats.com. And special thanks to my coach, Mary Chan of Organized Sound Productions for bringing this podcast to life.
Until next time, Ciao.