Fuld transskription af How a Clown is Creating Belonging Around the World

00:02:32.080 Um, I just bought some crazy clothes and a big nose, and and we went from place to place. 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:35.680 And and I'll be quite honest, I really never thought I was going to do it again. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:45.199 Um, and if I and if I and yes, I really would explain myself this way to somebody that I just met because it's a really long involved process uh on how bullseye came to be. 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:48.560 Um, but really I never thought I would clown again after the Russia trip. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:53.439 I just thought this was gonna be like a one and done thing, then I'll figure out what I'm gonna do with the rest of my life and go from there. 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:55.599 But then things kept happening on this trip. 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:59.199 I was like, wow, there's something too clowny, you know, something very simple. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:04.560 One thing happened on our very first trip, we were heading to an orphanage, and we came to a stop at a stoplight. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:09.039 And while we were sitting there at the stoplight, I just happened to look out the window at the bus stop. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:16.560 There was an old woman holding a bag of groceries, and even though there were like 10 other people at the bus stop, nobody was really paying much attention to her. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:29.199 And so I just kind of tapped on the window and she looked up and I started to wave at her, you know, and um she was like, Oh, and so she kind of just like waved, and and then I waved a little faster, um, and then she kind of waved a little faster. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:36.159 And then by this point, all the clowns on the bus kind of noticed what I was doing, so they all turned and they all started waving at the woman. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:46.800 And so she kind of waved back, and then the light changed, and the bus pulled away, and as the bus pulled away, the old woman sat down on the bench that was there and she started to cry. 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:49.360 Now, why she started to cry, I have no idea. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:04:00.319 Maybe she was, you know, maybe that was the first time that day somebody noticed her, maybe it was first time that month somebody noticed her, or maybe she was just happy that a bunch of clowns didn't kidnap her in the middle of Russia. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:03.520 So I I don't know what I don't know what the reason would be. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:06.319 Um or sad that they didn't. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:07.680 Yeah, exactly. 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:23.600 And so it was in that moment I realized that what an impact as a clown that we had on the people around us, even without ever speaking a word to the woman, without ever talking to her, without ever actually like touching her hand or giving her a hug. 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:27.120 This was just an a quick interaction through a bus window. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:29.920 It was amazing the impact that we had on

that woman. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:41.839 And like I said, I don't know what her story was, and I will never know now if this was you know years ago, but things like that on this trip just kept happening over and over again, and I'm like, you know what, there's something to this clowning thing. 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:48.720 And so when I came home, I had to figure out a way to continue clowning, and I didn't know what that was going to look like. 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:59.920 Um, and so the first thing I did was a lot of the people that we encountered in Russia were seniors, so I created a clown fitness program that I traveled around to senior communities in Arizona. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:09.199 Um, I would go in with balloons and bands and things like that, and I would create a whole exercise program um for seniors, and that's kind of how it all started here. 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:19.199 And then I continued to go with Patch Adams to Morocco and Mexico and Costa Rica until then I launched into my own clowns on a mission uh tours. 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:21.360 So that's kind of a long answer to it. 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:24.399 So until no, it's a great answer. 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:35.199 Until that first time with Patch Adams, shortly after your father had passed, even though you'd done comedy for years, that was literally the first time you'd ever been a clown. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:36.000 Yes. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:42.000 And you know, and I should mention the the other difficulty to being a clown in Russia was I don't speak Russian. 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:44.160 The Russians didn't speak English. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:50.240 And so it I wasn't able to communicate verbally really with them, other than you know, sounds and noises. 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:59.040 Um, and so everything had to be done with like bas basically heart, facial expressions, and it all had to be done physically, you know. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:01.120 Um that's how we communicated. 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:06.639 You know, I learned a little bit of Russian, you know, like hello, goodbye, thank you, um, you're welcome, things like that. 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:09.439 But other than that, I didn't know any kind of Russian at all. 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:15.040 You know what that like it makes me think about our dependency on language. 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:16.560 Like we tried to do something good. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:27.839 Oh, I don't even speak their language, and yet I imagine a lot of the effectiveness was because of the presence that you brought and the atmosphere you created. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:31.120 The words had nothing to do with it, obviously. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:44.160 And I wonder how many times in our lives we depend on our intellect and being smart and saying the right thing instead of walking into a room ready to set the tone and bring our full selves into that present moment. 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:53.040 And you know, and I'll be honest, up to that point, I really never had, you know, like even when I did stand up, I would walk into a club and I already had my set list planned out. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:54.800 I knew exactly what I was going to talk about. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:58.800 And so I really, even though I was there, I had my mission. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:03.759 My mission was to tell these specific jokes. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:15.120 And um, and then what ended up happening was I would tell my jokes, and then if something happened in the course of, you know, somebody dropped a tray or did some, I was not prepared because I was not really in the moment. 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:18.000 I I had my vision of what I needed to do. 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:22.240 And so that's what clown tours taught me was how to be in that moment. 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:25.040 Um, and I'll admit at first it was it was terrifying. 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:33.759 It was like, you know, you walk in, you're ready to I had planned out okay, when I go in, I'm gonna say this and I'm gonna do this, and then I get in and I'm like, oh wait, they don't even speak English. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:34.639 Now what? 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:42.160 And so you just had to do something, you know, you had to be funny in some way without knowing what to say, because you can't say anything. 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:44.959 So I mean it really was a crash course in clowning. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:56.639 Um, and it was very for me, it was very difficult to be that present because a lot of times I was always performing at people and not necessarily involving them into what I was doing. 00:07:56.879 --> 00:08:03.519 So um yeah, so it was it was quite the uh it was quite the ordeal for me at first. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:14.160 You know, for that probably that first week was kind of like ah Yeah, it just got yourself way out of your comfort zone and into the unknown and just happened to figure it out in the moment. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:16.480 Yeah. 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:18.560 Yeah, I really like that. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:28.160 So I want to get back to a little bit of your work about the clown, but before there was bullseye, before you began to clown, who was Brian? 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:33.279 And where did you, where did Brian struggle to belong? 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:39.120 Well, actually, I mean I struggled to belong really from the beginning. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:41.200 Um, I was bullied as a kid. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:44.320 I was always a little overweight, so I was always a little overweight kid. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:49.440 Um I would have kids bully me at school, you know, pushing me into lockers and things like that. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:56.080 And so ironically, I mean I did become the class clown, but that was more of like a defense mechanism, you know. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:00.000 Um, and so but that really didn't make me belong. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:02.320 Um, in some respects, I would

withdraw. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:13.200 Um so it was like I would try to blend in and just try not to just make sure that nobody noticed what I was doing or where I was, and I would have to reroute my day based on where I knew that the bullies would hook up with me. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:16.480 So, and that just kind of started from probably from sixth grade on. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:36.080 Um, I mean, I don't really recall when I'm being younger than that and it happening, but then my parents divorced when I was really young, and so I went to live with my mom, and uh I had an abusive alcoholic stepfather that I lived with, and so even whenever I would come home from school, I would retreat to my room because if I was anywhere else, then I would get the wrath from my stepfather. 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:42.159 So it was just kind of all the way from probably sixth grade and through through high school, it was. 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:45.840 Um I never felt like I belonged anywhere. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:52.480 Um, and then when I went to college, it changed a little bit because I was a theater major, so of course I had my my theater group that I hung around with. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:59.440 But even then, in some ways, I don't think that I belonged there in some respects because I I stayed withdrawn. 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:06.720 You know, a lot of people thought that I was stuck up, uh even in my my college group, because I was quiet, you know, and I didn't always say stuff. 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:11.360 And it wasn't that I was stuck up, it was just that I don't want to speak and say the wrong thing. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:14.720 And so I just went along with whatever they were doing. 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:21.679 And so although I fit in with that group, within that group, I don't know that I always fit in if that makes sense. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:23.360 I know that's kind of a weird thing to say. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:31.840 That uh I kind of found a tribe, but even within that tribe, um, I was still the quiet one and still kind of one that kind of stood off to the side a little bit. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:34.480 I think that's a trend that just continued to follow me. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:38.399 That's why I think I went into stand-up because I'm like, it's just me up here. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:41.600 You know, I'm a tribe of one, I only have to be me. 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:48.720 And so it's just one of those things that continued probably until I started clowning um and I started clowning with group. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:58.559 When was the first time that you felt like I mean it may have just been a small moment or a small time. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:04.559 When can you reflect back and say, wow, in this moment, I truly felt belonging. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:18.080 Um I mean, I would probably say that the as far back, I would probably say there were moments in college where I felt like I belonged, you know. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:23.039 So like when we would have our we would, you know, we would do plays and so we would be within a cast. 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:37.519 And so um during those moments, and during the cast parties and then getting together and all of us doing the costumes together and building the sets together, um, during those times, yes, I I did feel like I was part of a group and that we all kind of connected and fit together. 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:47.519 Um, and then of course we, you know, we had a theater lounge, and so you know, we would kind of go back to the lounge and we would kind of chill out between building sets or building costumes. 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:57.039 And so I would say um there were a lot of times during the year when we were doing a production that I felt like we were like a cohesive belonging unit. 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:16.320 Um There is there is something about performance, whether it's theater, I was in theater younger, and then I was in ballroom dance, and like when you work really hard to produce this show or play for someone else, and it like you're with a cast and it comes together, that is really, really bonding. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:20.000 Yeah, I think that is a place you can find belonging. 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:25.600 Yeah, and so like I said, and that's why I think I picked that particular major. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:33.919 I mean, um I don't know and I'd say even far as far back as even in high school, I did join the drama club. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:38.399 So there were times in the drama club where um, you know, I felt like I belonged there. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:45.919 That was kind of like my little and that, but that was only, you know, maybe seven or eight people or ten people that were in the drama club. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:58.799 Um but I wonder if there's also a bit like I think in sports as well, like theater sports, there's this thing like you get to belong, but you maybe don't have to show a lot of yourself. 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:14.639 Like you don't have to be super vulnerable because you're belonging, you're playing a different character, or you're, you know, on a football field, because I hear it a lot with like sports teams feel very bonded, belonging, connected, and theater, but it does feel like a safe way to belong. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:19.759 Like I get to be this character and I get to feel connected to this larger group. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:26.240 Right, yeah, it and it is a and I I guess in some ways, cloning is the same way, you know, you're you're putting on a mask, you know. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:33.120 Um, even though like right now I'm sitting here and I just have the nose on, um, you know, in some small way, that's a mask. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:41.120 You know, that's kind of masking what's what's underneath, you know, because the first thing you're drawn to is the nose, and you're drawn to the polka dots, and you're drawn to everything else. 00:13:41.279 -->

00:13:46.799 Um, and so that's exactly the way that theater was and is, you know, you're you're a character. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:56.720 So um, and I would say that's probably the hardest thing about stand-up when I was doing the stand-up years was I'm up on stage by myself trying to be myself. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:01.120 Um, and so I ended up kind of creating a persona while I was on stage. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:03.759 So it wasn't really everything me. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:10.720 Um, because I was kind of a cross between, I would say like a cross between like Rip Taylor and Phyllis Diller, you know. 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:16.159 I I was very like I had a sequence and uh, you know, I would do kind of like outrageous things. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:20.720 Um, and so I was still kind of a character even whenever I was doing stand-up. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:25.919 Um and you know, and I didn't really want to get too too personal. 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:32.960 I mean, I would write jokes that kind of had a personal setup, but then of course the punchlines would be all you know outrageous things. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:36.960 Interesting. 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:41.120 Do you feel like on that first tour with Patch Adams? 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:49.120 Like I remember loving the movie, reading his book multiple times around the time the movie came out, really following his work. 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:56.799 I was in healthcare at the time, and so it changed a lot of how I showed up, and I really appreciated his outlook. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:08.080 Um and I hadn't thought about Patch Adams in recent years, but since I knew that you traveled with him, it has made me think back about what I learned from Patch Adams. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:11.039 But he does feel like someone who creates belonging. 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:20.720 So were there like in traveling with him, what have you learned from Patch Adams about belonging or creating belonging for others? 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:23.679 Yeah, I mean, he does. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:25.039 He does create belonging. 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:32.159 You know, it was very interesting because there were a couple of us, myself included, um, that had never done this clowning thing before. 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:43.120 And, you know, there were a couple of us that were very um when you try to make yourself invisible, you know, so like going through high school, you know, you try to make yourself visible, invisible, and try to blend in. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:50.799 And then you're dressed up in a clown costume and you're put out on the middle of a street in a foreign country, um, and everywhere you go, everybody sees you. 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:55.759 And so a couple of us really had a hard time with there was no off button. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:00.320 So we were always, no matter where we went, we were the center of attention. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:03.200 We went go into under the subway, we were the center of attention. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:04.240 We went to the opera. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:10.159 We were the center of attention at the opera because they put us way up in the balcony so that nobody would see all the crowns in the balcony. 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:14.399 You know, uh we would go, we would go to restaurants. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:18.000 And so after the first week, a couple of us were like, This is too much. 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:22.720 I mean, this really I mean, and so a couple of us, myself included, we we had a breakdown. 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:32.240 And so it was during those moments we would have like at the end of the first week, we had like a therapy session, a clown therapy session, uh, where we kind of all sat in a room, how's the first week going? 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:38.320 There was a couple of us that we just kind of broke down, and so he told everybody we need to circle around them. 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:45.759 And so they they did like these little prayer circles with us, and we all they all kind of uh surrounded me, and there was another guy who uh they they went over to. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:53.039 Um, and so the ironic thing was he he said, Okay, I want you both of you to take the next day off. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:17:01.440 I don't I don't want you to clown with us, I want you just to take all the clown costume off, just go and do uh what it is that you want to do. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.919 Um you're in another if you want to go shopping, go shopping. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:06.480 If you want to just, you know, sightsee, sightsee. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:08.400 So we decided to take the day off. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:26.559 And the ironic thing was we go into a mall uh in the middle of Moscow, and I find myself going to the mall and I'm going, hmm, and I'm like doing all these like wave waving and being silly with these people, and they were all looking at us like we're nuts, and I'm like, I was I looked at my roommate, I said, Why are they all looking at us like that? 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:31.039 He said, Because we're not in costume, you're being, you know, you probably they probably think you're a mental patient. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:46.240 And I was like, Oh, and so even though we did like one whole week of uh being seen, and then I have my one day where I'm supposed to fit in and I'm not supposed to be seen, I'm drawing more attention to myself than I was whenever I had my clown costume on. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:53.599 Um, and so it was, it was just kind of like one of those things you get so used to now belonging to that group. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:58.960 So on the day when that he tells you to take the day off, you're still in that belonging mode. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:05.440 You're still like, you know, I still feel like that I need to be out there and I need to be having fun with people. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:23.119 And so um that's the kind of feeling that he that he instills in

you that um even when you think you have a day off, you don't really, because you're still in that mindset of making others smile and and being there for other people, um, even when you think that you're just kind of there on your own. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:24.640 Oh wow. 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:28.720 Okay, one more belonging question, and I want to talk about more about what you do. 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:31.039 Um do you think? 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:34.559 So, just in what I'm hearing you talk about, it's bringing up all this stuff for me. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:44.079 Do you think that by creating belonging for others, like in what you do clowning, like you're just creating these moments where people get to belong to that moment to you? 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:51.519 In creating belonging for others, does that give you that belonging? 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:53.839 Like in giving it, we receive it. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:56.480 That's sort of what I'm I'm investigating. 00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:58.400 No, Yuri, you're exactly right. 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:12.720 You know, when I went on this trip with Patch Adams, this first trip, um, not only was I sad that my my father had passed away, um, but then I still had all these this year these years of anger built up inside me from all the times that I was bullied and things like that. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:17.440 So, I mean, I had, you know, grieving and hurt and anger built up. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:23.759 And I noticed that when I came back from Russia, that all of that was gone. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:33.039 You know, and and as much as I focused on, I mean, for for 14 straight days, we focused on making anybody that we came into contact with happy. 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:36.559 And in turn, what happened is it made you happy as well. 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:54.720 So it was kind of like this this adverse re effect where you know we're providing laughter and we're providing maybe therapy and belonging to the people that we're interacting with, but at the same time, it's kind of a selfish thing because in a in a way, um, that comes back onto us. 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:56.880 We we feel like we belong in that moment. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:00.799 Um, we feel like um by making you happy, it makes us happy. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:06.160 Um, because I always tell people that the best way to be happy is to do nice things for other people. 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:11.599 So simple, so profound, all at the same time. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:14.240 Yeah, I love that. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:16.480 What a great lesson from clowning. 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:18.640 And just yeah, just making people smile. 00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:20.160 Oh, that's so good. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:26.240 Um, talk to me a little bit about the foundation that you've now started. 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:31.279 Okay, so I I started a foundation called Clowns on a Mission Foundation. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:37.039 Um, and actually, this really started out of a trip that I went on with Patch Adams. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:38.480 We went to Costa Rica. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:45.680 Um, and on our trip, one of the things that happened on this trip was we were all, of course, we're still kind of dressed in our clown office. 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:50.400 We got our clown noses on, and we're shopping in a store and we're looking around and looking for souvenirs. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:21:06.400 And when we come out, there was a woman um who approached us and she was selling um ice cream and she wanted us to buy ice cream, and we're like, no, no, no, we don't really want to buy ice cream, and um, so then the lady never really gave up, she just kind of kept on, you know, let me tell you about my story. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:14.240 So she launches into the story about how she had a full-time job and she had a nice home, but then she had a heart attack. 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:22.640 And when she had a heart attack um and she had to stop working for a while, then she also lost her home because she had no money to pay for the home. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:24.160 So she's now homeless. 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:25.920 Um, she lost her job. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:27.680 This was the first job that she got. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:30.240 She's now homeless on the street and she's trying to rebuild her life. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:33.039 So, of course, we're there like, oh my gosh, that's terrible. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:37.039 So uh so then that kind of changed our attitude to buying the ice cream. 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:38.079 So we bought all of it. 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:45.759 We bought all of her ice cream and we paid her probably twice what she was asking for the ice cream um because we so believed in this vision. 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:50.720 And then every day she's wherever she seemed to find us, she kind of knew where we were staying. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:55.279 So she would bring like she would bring like a thing of ice cream to like all of the other clowns. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:59.839 And so every single day while we were in Costa Rica, she sold out her ice cream. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:10.079 And uh she told us on the last day that we were there that because she was selling so much ice cream, that the company decided to hire her full time. 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:14.000 Um so now she has this full-time job selling ice cream. 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:14.400 Right. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.599 And so it was in that moment that I was like, you know what, wait, wait a minute. 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:23.440 There the one thing that Patch Adams trips did not do was we never left something behind. 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:25.839 And so that's where I got this idea. 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:52.640 What if I can combine the clowning trips with some other type of mission work where we can actually merge the two where not only are we creating belonging and not only are we having fun with everybody, but

then in some way we leave them something that they desperately need, whether it's food, whether it's clothes, whether it's buying somebody's ice cream, so that you know she needs to sell whatever it happens to be. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:57.759 Um, and so that is kind of where clowns are, and I didn't really know how this was gonna start. 00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:00.640 Um, I just knew that there was something to that. 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:12.640 And so I was working in a senior community, and one of the ladies in the senior community um she said, you know, my niece is starting a church organization in Guatemala. 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:15.200 And she would love to have some clowns come down, maybe. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:26.000 And so I just kind of got to talking to her, and how it really started was we were going to buy 200 backpacks filled with school supplies, and we were gonna take them into Guatemala and we were gonna deliver them to the children. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:33.599 Because in Guatemala, you either have to choose do you send your kids to school or do you feed them? 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:39.839 They couldn't afford to do both, and most families can't afford to buy school supplies and stuff for the children to go to school. 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:42.880 And so that was that was kind of the start of our mission. 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:49.279 So we took 200 backpacks to Guatemala, um, and we had two clowns from Italy who came with us. 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:59.920 They brought they had they got donations of school supplies and pencils and paper and uh erasers and all kinds of things, and so we filled them we filled all of the backpacks with the supplies. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:07.359 And then, of course, uh we get to the first gig where we're handing out all of these uh backpacks. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:15.519 And Kim, who is the the woman who um has the church organization there, she looked at me and she said, you know, these kids, they haven't eaten. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:17.759 And I can tell they have not eaten in days. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:20.480 Somebody needs to buy them some food. 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:23.599 And so in my head, I've thought I said, Oh yes, that's terrible. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:30.559 You know, somebody should buy them some food, not thinking it was going to be us, you know, because because our our mission was backpacks. 00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:31.279 That was our mission. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:33.839 That's you know, I have this mission in my head. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:36.079 We're we're here to deliver backpacks. 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:38.400 And then she said, We're here now. 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:40.799 Why don't we go get some food? 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:43.359 And then, of course, you know, the panic sets in. 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:44.640 Well, how much is food? 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:45.119 I don't know. 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:46.160 Can we afford food? 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:47.200 What does

that look like? 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:56.559 You know, so uh we found that we could buy uh 200 pounds of rice um for a hundred dollars, and we could buy 200 pounds of corn for$50. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:01.359 So for$150, we went out and we bought 400 pounds of food. 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:03.599 Uh, we then went and we bagged it all up. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:06.880 It was like we got this little scale, like you know, we're measuring like cocaine or whatever. 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:27.839 You know, so we're we got this we got this little scale of these little baggies, you know, we're bagging up all the food, we're tying them up, and uh we we loaded them into suitcases, and so we ended up uh handing out 400 pounds of food while we were there, and then uh every year we continued to go back to Guatemala, and every year we continue to do something different. 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:32.240 Um, so we still do we still do the same thing, but we always add something new. 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:34.480 So the next year I had this idea. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:38.799 I wanted to do some kind of a food kitchen, like a soup kitchen kind of idea. 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:52.480 Well, we couldn't really figure that out, so we rented a van and we got fried chicken and we made macaroni salad and tortillas, and we went into we drove across this river because that's the only way to get to this one community of about 200 people. 00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:54.000 Um we drove right through the river. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:26:01.119 So, I mean the river was like right up to the windows here, and we're I'm like, Oh my gosh, this is a rental van, don't ruin this van because I'll have to pay for it. 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:02.240 Right, right. 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:05.839 So we get into this community and we just opened up the bag. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:23.359 You know, we clowned with them, or we have a local pastor who goes with us to deliver a message, and then we just started handing out um fried chicken and tortillas and stuff, and we had it, we had a system, we had the children first, then we had seniors second, and then if we had things left over, then anybody else could come up. 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:26.319 And so the the first year we did about 200. 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:30.880 So then the next year we decided we were gonna do, we would do about 230. 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:38.319 Um, and so we ended up having more than that, so we ended up having to send somebody back to the the fried chicken place to get us more chicken. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:44.000 So on this next thing we'll probably do about 250 to 300 uh fried chickens just to be safe. 00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:49.519 Um, but we also there's a senior community that we feed while we're there, so that has about 60 people. 00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:53.119 There's another group of people who live in the local landfill. 00:26:53.279 --> 00:27:00.480 Um, they you know couldn't afford homes, so they just moved into the landfill and they just built homes based on things they found in the landfill. 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:03.200 Um, so we always visit that group. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:09.200 And uh, you know, the first year we took them, like we took the kid juice boxes and cookies and things like that. 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:13.519 And then um the pastor continues to go there even when we're not there. 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:15.119 Um, so he's there all the time. 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:22.799 And so he asked, you know, when we just went in February, you know, they wanted to know can we actually get them like some kind of a hot meal or like a hot sandwich or something? 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:24.319 So that's what we did this last time. 00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:32.880 We gave them these big giant hot hoagie sandwiches that we handed out, and you know, so we have some photos of the kids with our big hoagie sandwich, and um, and so we'll do that again this year. 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:39.279 And now you're going, you're a little bit a month a over a month away from going back to Guatemala, is that right? 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:40.079 Yeah, yeah. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:48.240 We uh our our trip starts on the 19th of October, and so we'll fly into Guatemala City and then we uh we'll rent our van and then we drive that. 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:55.119 It's really only about 50 miles from Guatemala City, but it takes us about three and a half to four hours to get there because of the road situation and the traffic. 00:27:55.279 --> 00:28:04.720 Um, and then we kind of have our little town that we kind of adopted, so we just kind of go to Monjas and we um so we'll go to like their local Costco that very first day. 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:05.839 That's where we buy all of the food. 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:10.079 So we uh not only do we buy we give them hot food, but then we make food bags. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:22.400 So the food bags have got like um pasta and powdered milk and soup and uh rice and corn, and and then I, you know, and I see these people, and I it didn't even dawn on me until like actually until after this last trip. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:34.319 There was a woman walking um down the street with all of this cornmeal that she had prepared because she's making tortillas, and I'm like, these people don't even have electricity, and so they're making tortillas from scratch. 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:37.440 And I'm like, why are we not just buying them tortillas that are already made? 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:42.799 I'm like, I mean, they may not taste as good as when they make them, but I'm like, wouldn't this be easier? 00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:47.599 So when we go back, I'm like, I'm gonna we're gonna look into buying just like some tortillas that are already made. 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:48.079 Sure. 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:54.240 That they don't have to that they don't have to like beat the corn out with a rock or whatever and cook. 00:28:54.559 --> 00:29:05.440 So

that's kind of how this whole mission started, and and how we and how we pay for the the first mission we just paid for. 00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:11.759 Usually um we charge the clowns a fee to go, half the fee covers our costs, the other half all went into the mission. 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:19.119 Okay, and then since that time we became a 501c3, and so we've started like getting donations from um the public. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:22.640 Um, and then we still continue to charge the clowns a fee to go. 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:26.160 Um, and so like I said, half of that fee goes right into the mission. 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:29.839 So each year we we go back, and uh this year we're doing two trips. 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:32.640 We did one in February, so we were doing one in October. 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:36.960 Probably next year we'll do the same, probably April and October or those or so. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:39.839 Um and I'm even looking into going back to Costa Rica. 00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:43.359 Um, I know of a mission group there in Costa Rica that we could go help as well. 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:46.880 So fantastic work. 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:51.920 Um so you take people and they they're clowns when they're with you, is that right? 00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:54.559 Yeah, and like I said, you don't have to be a clown to go. 00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:56.559 Um we just we'll give you a red nose. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:08.079 And I when we take and we take some things, um, because I know there are people who have like, I've never done this, and so we like, you know, we have some people I buy temporary tattoos, and so we show them how to put a temporary tattoo on the kids. 00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:09.599 Um the kids love those. 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:09.920 Yeah. 00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:11.359 Um it's just really playing. 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:24.079 So you know, sometimes we go and we play, so we might, you know, we take balls and stuff like that, and we take balloons and and all of that stuff we show people how to do, and like I said, and if nothing else, they can help us blow the balloons up or whatever. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:29.279 Um, and then some of the kids honestly, some of the kids just want somebody to to be with them and to hug them. 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:33.519 So some kids will just pop up on your lap uh and they'll just want to give you a hug. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:36.880 It's amazing. 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:44.559 So um tell me about what you want people to think about. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:51.680 Like, because you you said earlier you saw that you were giving out the backpacks, and you're like, wow, someone should bring them some food. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:31:06.240 I think so much of our life, especially right now with the all of the drama going on in the world, that it's really easy to think that someone else they should take care of this. 00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:12.240 Um and I know you have part of your book talks about you're the someone. 00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:13.279 I'm the someone. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:19.680 Like we have to stop thinking um that someone else is there to do it, that that's why we're there. 00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:24.640 So let's talk, talk to me a little bit about that and about the theory behind that. 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:29.519 Why the bigger the group, the less people will will pitch in to help and what we can do about it. 00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:32.240 Pick up whichever part of that question you'd like. 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:43.119 Well, like well, and like you know, part of it is I I think in our in our minds we think that a government organization should step in with a lot of the needs that we see. 00:31:43.200 --> 00:31:49.839 So we said we say, you know, oh, there's a there's all of these homeless on the street, the the government should step in. 00:31:50.079 --> 00:32:00.160 Well, the problem with the government um is that they first have to write up a bill, and then then they have once they write up the bill, then they have to get people to approve the bill, and then they have to have people vote on. 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:05.519 Well, you know, by that point, that that takes months, maybe years down the road. 00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:06.559 You know what? 00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:08.480 I have the authority right now. 00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:13.200 If I want to go down there and buy a tent and pitch a tent and put somebody in a tent, I can go do that. 00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:16.319 I don't need to have permission from anybody else to go do that. 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:25.920 Um, and so that's kind of um I don't think people realize the power that they have as an individual and what they can actually accomplish as an individual. 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:26.160 Yeah. 00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:30.720 You know, you see that something needs done in your community or in a community. 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:31.920 Um, you know what? 00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:37.599 And my whole thing was we didn't know what we were doing when we were doing our first food service in Guatemala. 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:44.000 We just bought some food and we bagged it up uh the best that we could and we handed it out and we didn't have to ask for permission. 00:32:44.079 --> 00:32:48.480 I mean, nobody came to arrest us or anything, so so we figured it was okay. 00:32:48.640 --> 00:32:56.400 Um so like I said, and if somebody had come, you know, and I so I think that sometimes it just takes the courage to to step out. 00:32:56.640 --> 00:33:01.200 Um, I think part of the problem is we're afraid of making a mistake. 00:33:01.279 --> 00:33:03.039 I mean, believe me, we've we've made mistakes. 00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:10.160 You read my book and you're gonna you're you're gonna see like a slew of mistakes that we made um in the course of us doing our mission, you know. 00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:17.039 Uh the first year we decided we were gonna rely on people's cars, locals'

cars, and we were weren't gonna rent a van or anything. 00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:21.279 Well, we had flat tires in one, we locked the keys in the car in the other one. 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:33.759 So we had to pull out, we had to break out the window, we uh one person needed their car back, so we have ten clowns trying to get in the hatchback of a little car with all of our supplies, and uh and so we we learned early on, okay, this can't be a good one. 00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:34.640 Wait, wait, wait. 00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:35.759 Is that a problem? 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:38.240 10 cars, 10 clowns getting in the back of a car. 00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:39.680 I thought that's what y'all do. 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:46.559 Well, when you know when you're also trying to get around uh well, yes, but those clown cars usually don't have seats in them. 00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:48.079 Oh, got it, got it. 00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:49.359 Okay, that's the problem. 00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:50.400 No seats allowed. 00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:55.680 Yeah, so yeah, so we had seats and we also had a bunch of food that we were carrying with us and all of our props and everything. 00:33:55.839 --> 00:33:57.599 So and the car was little. 00:33:57.759 --> 00:34:04.400 Um so yeah, so um, and of course, you know, we we laughed but I laugh about it now, and we were laughing about it at the time. 00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:05.039 Of course. 00:34:05.279 --> 00:34:08.400 But as a as a leader of a group, you're kind of um me, I'm mortified. 00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:15.440 I'm like, oh no, we I don't want them to go back to their homes and say, Oh, I didn't have enough cars and all these clouds are powerful, you know. 00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:19.199 Um and so we made changes, we make updates, you know. 00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:22.239 The last trip was no different. 00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:26.400 I've been learning Spanish because I figure if I'm gonna continue to go to Guatemala, I should know Spanish. 00:34:26.480 --> 00:34:34.000 And so I decided to get uh on WhatsApp and I decided to make all of our hotel reservations on WhatsApp because that's the way they do it in Guatemala. 00:34:34.239 --> 00:34:42.800 And I thought everything was set, so we're 30 minutes out, we're we're driving to our hotel, and I'm just going on WhatsApp, letting the hotel know that hey, we're on our way. 00:34:42.960 --> 00:34:44.960 And they're like, Well, we don't have a room for you. 00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:47.440 We didn't, you know, you never confirmed. 00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:49.679 I'm like, I made a reservation. 00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:54.159 And so, you know, so here I have a group of clowns who were in another country. 00:34:54.320 --> 00:34:56.400 Oh, we're heading to and we have no rooms. 00:34:56.480 --> 00:35:06.159 Oh, because there was a big um there was a bicycle convention that came to town doing some kind of a bicycle race or something, um, and so all of the rooms were taken up. 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:13.840 And so we had to scramble, luckily, because I had been to Guatemala before, I knew people in Guatemala, so we're making phone calls and trying to arrange. 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:18.079 So, you know, you make mistakes, but but the point is we did it anyway, you know? 00:35:18.159 --> 00:35:23.679 Yeah um and so that's that's the point of being with someone, it's not gonna be perfect. 00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:30.480 Um, and even if it's just starting the conversation, you know, you see a need in your community. 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:34.159 Well, even if you can't do something, can you find somebody who can? 00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:36.800 You know, you find somebody who can start that conversation. 00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:37.920 What does that look like? 00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:41.599 What can I do today to start helping this particular problem? 00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:45.760 So I see that there are kids down the road who don't have anything to eat. 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:49.039 What can I do right now to solve that problem? 00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:54.800 Well, I could buy them something, I don't know what they like to eat, but I can buy them some food and I can drop it off to them. 00:35:54.960 --> 00:35:56.719 Um, whatever it happens to be. 00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:16.320 And so um I guess but the whole hope for my book and why I wrote the book was I I'm just hoping that it will force people to, when they find themselves in a situation, saying, oh wow, somebody should do something, then it clicks into their head that, well, if nobody has done anything, perhaps you're the somebody who should be doing that. 00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:19.519 And so that's that's what I want people to take away from the book. 00:36:19.760 --> 00:36:23.280 My conversation with Brian continued well past this point. 00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:28.320 And we had some great, great conversations talking about his book and his work. 00:36:28.719 --> 00:36:39.119 Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us in the background, there were some tech gremlins, and so the rest of the interview was unusable. 00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:44.239 But I still wanted to share some of Brian's work with you. 00:36:44.400 --> 00:36:50.159 So, with his permission, um, I would like to read an excerpt from his book. 00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:53.280 The book is called Be the Someone. 00:36:53.760 --> 00:36:58.960 It just came out, and it is an engaging read full of stories. 00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:06.559 I'm going to tell you a little bit about what's in the book, and then I'm going to read you a really special excerpt. 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:10.320 So it's Why We Wait. 00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:14.880 He goes into the in the first part of the book, the bystander effect on a global scale. 00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:18.079 Um, it's all about when everybody watches and nobody helps. 00:37:18.239 --> 00:37:23.119 Like we think that someone else can solve the problem, or oh, somebody should do something about that. 00:37:23.280

--> 00:37:29.519 And then there's myths that actually keep us inactive and what the cost is of collection in action. 00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:41.280 One of the stories from that section is um some insights on what happened in Rwanda and how the resources were there to stop the murdering of 800,000 people. 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:49.280 But everyone waited, everyone waited for someone else, for the government, for the world, and nobody showed. 00:37:49.679 --> 00:37:52.559 Um then it goes from should to will. 00:37:52.880 --> 00:38:15.840 So when you stop being a bystander, you stop saying somebody should do this to will, recognizing your call to action, starting from where you are, building your courage muscle, and then how to create sustainable change, preventing burnout while changing the world, measuring and expanding your impact, and then into his conclusion. 00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:26.320 Then after that, I have to tell you, there is in the appendix, there's a section called 100 Ways to Be the Someone Today. 00:38:26.559 --> 00:38:33.679 And what Brian has done here is he is broken down depending where your heart, like what makes your heart hurt. 00:38:33.920 --> 00:38:36.559 Is it those experiencing food insecurity? 00:38:36.800 --> 00:38:38.400 Is it children and youth? 00:38:38.559 --> 00:38:39.840 That's my section. 00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:43.599 Is it you have a heart for older adults who are aging alone? 00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:46.559 How about for homelessness, for the environment? 00:38:46.719 --> 00:38:58.400 He has all of these sections, and under each section, you have a bullet point list of very simple actions you can take today to start being the someone. 00:38:59.920 --> 00:39:05.039 This is in the in the section called How to Take Action While the World Waits. 00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:07.039 This is a story of Josue. 00:39:09.679 --> 00:39:23.280 The teachers warned us before we arrived, the children at this small rural school, just 20 students, tucked into a quiet corner of Monjas that's in uh Guatemala. 00:39:23.679 --> 00:39:25.679 They didn't really play at recess. 00:39:25.840 --> 00:39:34.480 Not the way children were supposed to play, not with the abandon and noise and pure physical joy that childhood is supposed to produce naturally. 00:39:35.280 --> 00:39:36.800 They just couldn't. 00:39:38.960 --> 00:39:40.880 They just didn't. 00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:43.679 Nobody could fully explain why. 00:39:43.920 --> 00:39:53.840 But the teachers had noticed it and it worried them in the quiet way that things worry people who care deeply about children and feel helpless to fix something that they can't quite name. 00:39:54.079 --> 00:39:58.400 We walked around to the back of the school where an open area waited for us. 00:39:58.639 --> 00:40:12.960 No gymnasium, no elaborate setup, just a patch of ground, some children watching us with careful eyes, and a team of clowns who had learned long ago that you don't need much to start something. 00:40:13.760 --> 00:40:29.519 We had balloon swords, we had chicken slingshots, and we had absolutely no doubt that somewhere inside these 20 quiet children was a spark waiting for permission to catch fire. 00:40:30.159 --> 00:40:36.239 The children were reserved at first, cautious, in a way we don't usually encounter. 00:40:36.480 --> 00:40:42.800 Normally, when a group of clowns arrives somewhere, the children rush us like we were rock stars landing at the airport. 00:40:43.199 --> 00:40:55.039 This group held back, watched, assessed us from a careful distance, with the particular wisdom of children who have learned not to get too excited about things too quickly. 00:40:56.639 --> 00:40:58.400 So we started anyway. 00:40:58.800 --> 00:41:09.519 Balloon swords appeared, chicken slingshots were loaded, and slowly, the way a fire catches when you keep feeding it small things, the reserve began to melt. 00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:12.639 That's when I noticed Hosue. 00:41:13.679 --> 00:41:20.639 He was standing slightly apart from the others, eyes completely fixed on what I was doing at the front of the group. 00:41:20.960 --> 00:41:32.079 Not the distracted attention of a child watching something mildly interesting, but the locked-in, unblinking focus of someone who recognized something familiar in what they were seeing. 00:41:32.719 --> 00:41:34.159 I know that look. 00:41:34.480 --> 00:41:36.639 It's the look of a natural. 00:41:36.880 --> 00:41:38.639 I called him up to the front. 00:41:38.880 --> 00:41:42.559 His name, Hosue, means God saves. 00:41:42.800 --> 00:41:52.800 And in that moment, he walked forward with the easy confidence of someone who had been waiting his whole young life for exactly this invitation. 00:41:53.360 --> 00:41:55.280 I handed him his role. 00:41:55.519 --> 00:42:04.159 He was to be my assistant in the extraordinarily dangerous and highly scientific art of chicken slingshot operation. 00:42:04.400 --> 00:42:07.039 And he accepted it without a moment's hesitation. 00:42:07.280 --> 00:42:14.719 The group erupted because Hosui, quiet, watchful, reserved Hosui, was apparently hilarious. 00:42:15.119 --> 00:42:16.320 And he knew it. 00:42:16.480 --> 00:42:17.920 And the other children knew it. 00:42:18.079 --> 00:42:24.079 And the only thing that had been missing was a stage and a willing audience and someone to call him forward. 00:42:24.239 --> 00:42:26.400 I put my clown hat on his head. 00:42:26.639 --> 00:42:28.320 He stood a little taller. 00:42:28.559 --> 00:42:40.400 By the time we were done, every one of those twenty children was on their feet, running, laughing, sword fighting with balloon animals, chasing chickens that had been flung in improbable directions. 00:42:40.639 --> 00:42:45.119 The teacher stood at the edge of the chaos with expressions I will never forget. 00:42:45.360 --> 00:42:48.320 Not surprise exactly, but something deeper. 00:42:48.639 --> 00:42:57.119 Relief, gratitude, the particular joy of watching something you had been praying for finally arrive. 00:42:57.599 --> 00:43:00.719 You don't need a perfect program to unlock a child. 00:43:00.880 --> 00:43:06.159 Sometimes you just need a chicken slingshot and the willingness to call someone forward. 00:43:06.400 --> 00:43:10.880 And then the teachers did something that stopped all of us in our tracks. 00:43:11.199 --> 00:43:16.960 The teachers were still smiling when they quietly gestured for us to follow them. 00:43:17.199 --> 00:43:20.559 I didn't know what was waiting in the back of that school. 00:43:20.800 --> 00:43:23.440 I wasn't prepared for what they had done. 00:43:23.760 --> 00:43:28.239 If you want to hear about what the teachers did, you're gonna have to get this book. 00:43:34.159 --> 00:43:42.880 Not just for being on this podcast and sharing your heart on belonging and sharing your story with us, but thank you for being the someone. 00:43:43.119 --> 00:43:51.599 Thank you for picking up a red nose and jumping in, seeing the hunger, seeing the needs for school supplies and providing those needs. 00:43:51.840 --> 00:44:03.519 Thank you for your mission, clowns on a mission, for the trips you take around the world to bring smiles to faces, to bring love, and to bring supplies. 00:44:04.239 --> 00:44:06.480 It is an honor to know you, my friend. 00:44:06.800 --> 00:44:10.400 And for my listeners, for my audience, thank you for being here. 00:44:10.559 --> 00:44:12.400 Thank you for listening to these podcasts. 00:44:12.800 --> 00:44:26.639 And if your heart is stirred to do something for the world, that could be taking a clown mission with Bullseye the Clown, that could be coming and helping an elevate village, it could be something else. 00:44:26.960 --> 00:44:31.280 Whatever you're called to do, whatever your heart cries, why doesn't someone do something? 00:44:31.599 --> 00:44:34.079 You are that someone. 00:44:42.639 --> 00:44:44.960 Thank you, Dee, for your patronage. 00:44:45.199 --> 00:44:53.840 So until next time, go out there, be the someone, and let's build belonging together.