The 99 Authors Project – Season 3 – Episode 2 with Bill Correll19 min read

Bryan Hyde
Welcome to the Janine Bolon show, where we share tips from around the globe. As we guide practical people with their finances using money tips, increase their incomes through side businesses, and maintain their sanity by staying in their creative zone.

Janine Bolon
Hello, and welcome to today’s show. You may or may not know this, but the Janine Bolon show is the syndicated program of four separate podcast programs. And they were all combined in October of 2021. My team and I merged all of these podcasts into one program just for you. Up to that point, we had been running four separate series called The Three Minute Money Tips, The Thriving Solopreneur, The Writers Hour Creative Conversations, and The Practical Mystic Show. Today though, we are highlighting a podcaster. Not only just any podcaster. But we are one of those people where we were inspired by a conversation that we had on his podcast, and if it hadn’t been for Bill, I would not have started the 99 author project. If you’re an author, or you know of someone who has a published book, I would like to talk to you. Please email me at [email protected], and say, I would like to be on the 99 author project. If you don’t like email, feel free to text me at 303-747-3760 and say 99 author project and then send us an email and we’ll send you a link so we can get you not only on this podcast, but into the book that we are going to be publishing in 2023. So thank you so much for listening to this show today, because this is the man, the podcaster, who got it all started for me with this project. He is Bill Correll, the beginner and broadcaster of Lighting the Candle podcast. Now let me tell you a little bit about this man. Not only is he an eclectic, techno guy, but he also has the mental chops to take on complex issues. And he has a very strong intuitive understanding of what really matters in life. In his spare time, he started working on a project called the 100 people project where he was recording folks and giving their perspective to 13 very unique questions. We’re going to go over a few of those today. Welcome to the show, Bill.

Bill Correll
Thank you, Janine, it’s such a pleasure to watch you in action.

Janine Bolon
I know you’re used to listening to me in action, not hearing and seeing me in action.

Bill Correll
Antime I can hang with you, that’s a very good day.

Janine Bolon
Thank you. You’re very kind. So, I really enjoyed what you were talking about with the 100 people project. So kind of start off, tell us what started that story. I always love the story behind the story. So tell me about what inspired you to even begin this thing?

Bill Correll
Pretty interesting. COVID has had a huge impact on me personally. And before COVID, I didn’t have this beard, my number two daughter requested I start growing it about a year and a half ago. So that’s one of the new things about me. The podcast of Lighting the Candle, a World that Works, came out of conversations with some dear friends, where we really were not sure what was going on with the news and the media and all of the nonsense with, you know, riots and what have you. And we were thinking, you know, maybe people were tired of that sort of energy draining, the work that goes into trying to pay attention to people and you’re not quite sure if you’re getting the straight talk. So, time went on, and we got up to somewhere around, I don’t know, 75-80 of those, and I started asking people some questions. Because I’m challenging the notion that you and I belong to groups, you know, that you and I belong to groups that other people define. And then we have to find ourselves in those groups. And in the conversation, somehow, it keeps shifting from this group, to that group. And I’m really kind of searching for the individual spark, and the essential beauty in every human being that is not part of a group at all. It is completely unique to them. No, it never happened before, never going to happen again, and there’s nobody else alive like you, Janine, and it’s such a pleasure to be looking at your beautiful face. With that in mind, I thought I would go for questions that are apolitical, that have nothing to do with the nonsense of identity politics and that sort of thing, and not because I think there’s anything particularly wrong with it. I think it’s up to individuals to make their own choices where they fall. And that said, I’m not an expert in that area. I’m a student, but I’m certainly not you know, as well versed as other people, and I have spent a lot of time looking into it. So, I’m particularly interested in what makes individuals, individuals because I have two beautiful grandchildren that are one of the most unique cross that you can think of, you know, if you want to talk about two things that are diametrically opposed in almost any communication or historical look, they are descended from Governor William Bradford on both of my wife’s parents side. So, they are actually just direct descendants of the Mayflower and William Bradford. And they’re also part Navajo. So they’re third generation, Native American, spent a lot of time on the res. And so there’s two really diverse histories for them to try to understand where they’re gonna find themselves and I’d rather have them have the opportunity to decide where they fall, and not have it be told to them by someone else. Does that make sense?

Janine Bolon
Totally makes sense, of course. Most people that have any kind of self introspection habit, or any kind of self analysis mindset for them, that we all want to develop and grow and expand and be better. And a lot of times we’re having to shed the labels that have been put upon us. A lot of times against our will. Just because, look, you may think that about me, but that’s not taken aside. So I want you to share with the listeners some of these questions, now, Bill goes through a whole list of 13. We’re not going to go through all of them, because I really want you to listen to his podcast, but there are four that really stood out to me when he asked me because nobody, literally nobody had asked me these questions.

Bill Correll
Just one question. I thought you were going to interview me with the questions.

Janine Bolon
Yes. Well, I’m going to talk about the four of them. So here we go. These four are the ones that to me, were like, wow, this is incredible that anybody would ask me this with these questions. So let me share with you the first one, when did you notice what color hair you had? So I don’t mind you answering the question. But what inspired you to ask that of people?

Bill Correll
I have no idea. Just a random jolt. And I have you know, a story, now that you mentioned that, that I haven’t thought about before or thought about in many, many years. I was probably two or three years old, and my hair was getting longer for a change, and I had decided that I was going to comb my hair. And what I did was in an old anodized aluminum glass, I don’t know, you’re probably not old enough to know what I’m talking about, but they used to have these beautiful sets with a big picture, and you could do laminate in them and stuff. Well, what I had done is I went in the bathroom, and I stood in front of the mirror, and we had a step thing so I could get up there and brush my teeth and whatnot. And I had actually peed into the cup, and I was using that to comb my hair, and I went out and I very proudly presented myself to my mother who didn’t share my awe of what I had just done.

Janine Bolon
What you had accomplished all on your own.

Bill Correll
All on my own. So, she dragged me back into the bathroom, washed my hair, looked at it, and she said, you have the most beautiful brown hair I’ve ever seen. Don’t you ever do anything like that again.

Janine Bolon
And that’s when you knew, Oh, my hair is brown.

Bill Correll
I didn’t know what brown was, but she told me what it was.

Janine Bolon
And this is the other fun question that you asked that I just love it. It’s like, what is your favorite thing to do, intentionally wasting time? What is your favorite thing to do to intentionally waste time? I mean, that’s, that’s incredible. Nobody’s asked me that before.

Bill Correll
Well see, here’s the thing. Before starting this project, I really didn’t even know if people actually did these things right? Or that it would resonate with them. But everyone has an answer for some reason. And I am not alone. I too do things to intentionally waste time. One of the things I do is I play a game called Elvenar. At the moment, I think there are over 100,000 people that are playing this game worldwide, and I am in the top usually between 15 and 30 in the entire game. I’ve been playing it for six years. And I do put a significant amount of time into it but it sharpens my skills in the downtime for when I’m trying to do other things that require my mental gymnastics and being quick on my feet. So, Yes, I definitely do that. If I’m going to be wasting my time, I may as well master wasting my time in a very powerful way.

Janine Bolon
Right. I agree with you, and I remember when you asked me that question, and the only thing that popped into my head was, well, I hand sew. There’s a lot of sewing that I do, and I do it totally by hand. Yes, I could use a machine. Yes, I could be productive and efficient and make it go faster, but that’s not the point. I want to sit and just enjoy the fact that I’m creating something with my hands. And so in that way, people would say I’m wasting time because I could do it more efficiently doing something else. But no, my brain needs the downtime, right?

Bill Correll
Do you concentrate on the sewing while you’re doing it? Or is it just something that’s kind of, you know, that you’re not mindful of and your hands are automatically doing it?

Janine Bolon
My hands are just automatically doing it, I’m not super mindful. So that’s why, you know, technically speaking, that is a waste of time, I could be much more efficient, blah, blah, blah, if you’re looking at it from that type of perspective. And then the other question you asked, which was fun, which was, what is your favorite movie to watch alone? Right? Because when you think about watching movies, as families is always trying to figure out, what is the film everyone can agree on? Right? So, what about you? What’s your favorite movie to watch alone?

Bill Correll
I have a couple. And one of them, I will be watching alone from now on, because I watched it for the first time in probably 25 or 30 years. And that’s, It’s a Wonderful Life. And I have to tell you, the, the culmination of the emotional part of the plot left me absolutely blubbering, and completely convulsing, and unable to speak. I mean, seriously, unable to speak, I was just so in awe of that particular moment, and I’m not gonna, you know, those of you who know this movie intimately, you may have a similar response to it. And then there may be other people who, you know, you kind of get that it’s a play, it really isn’t, it’s not a personal message from God, but it sure can be.

Janine Bolon
It sure can be and it’s a tradition of my family to watch it every year, at Christmas time. So, It’s a Wonderful Life is definitely very much a part of our family’s background. But that was something that totally you know, you would ask these questions. And the last one, I thought was just brilliant from an intuitive side of you. And for those of you who don’t know what Bill looks like, Bill looks like somebody right out ZZ Top, he has that kind of look, and he has that long beard. And so it was really fun to be interviewed by him, and have him say to me, what is the thing most people misunderstand about you? So, I’d love for you to answer that question.

Bill Correll
Yeah. So part of the audacity of that question is to be one of those people who thinks they know the first thing about what other people think. And that’s just typically not who I am. However, there seems to be some sameness in the types of questions that people will ask me, and what their responses are when they hear about my experiences and what have you. And I do know that there’s a little bit of a Forrest Gump in kind of a look on people’s faces. You know, if Forrest just told you, all those cool things that happened to him, you might not be a real believer at the beginning until you’re going to do a little bit of research and go find, Wow, he really did. He was on the mall. He did speak, to several 100,000 people. And so I think some of the things that people misunderstand about me, is that I like Forrest and probably anybody of my generation, it was easy for us to get around and be part of things that were going on. So, I stood in the presence of two presidency United States before I was 10 or 11 years old. First time was when I had my tonsils out and that was Dwight Eisenhower, Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver, Colorado. And then the other one was when Johnson came to Groton, Connecticut for the keel laying of the Groton submarine, and I ran out into the middle of the street and ran over to the limousine and stuck my hand inside and I said, Hello, Mr. President, and was very quickly whisked away by Secret Service guys. So you know, I tell stories many times in the podcast, and I may not be completely accurate in what I’m saying, but the experience of the muscle memory is there, and I’m really feeling like a blessed human being that people would think about me at all, you know, not necessarily that what they don’t understand. But my real attention in life is to be a better guy today than I was yesterday. And hopefully the people that I’m interacting with don’t mind being part of that process.

Janine Bolon
Well to me, it’s a lot more fun to figure out what we’re going to do next with the group than it is trying to do everything by myself. And one of the things that I have enjoyed tremendously about 2020 was being able to finally collaborate with a lot of people who were so active, and traveling so extensively, that they were able to share some of their time with me so that I could finally be able to get to know them better, and be able to get them on my podcast programs and stuff. And so, yeah, there was a lot of horrible things that happened, but I also choose to remember a lot of the positive things that occurred during that period of time. And as we are starting to open up, and as people are starting to move around again, I hope they listen to your question number 13 here, which was, and what would you like to leave in the world after your life is done? So, I ask that of you.

Bill Correll
I actually would like to experience it before I’m gone. And it’s not necessary that I get any credit for it, I just want to be in the presence of people enjoying their lives, you know, as a routine matter. Our culture demands so little of human beings in terms of their intentionality for their own futures. And what that creates in too many situations is people who take the road of trying to numb themselves from whatever it is, that’s on their mind that they really would not like to be thinking about. So, I would like to just be around people that are once again, curious, that have this ability and innate curiosity about what life’s all about for themselves and for the folks in their family. And I think, you know, my experience has been anybody that I’ve seen, that really gets excited about applying themselves to their own lives, and really applying whatever experience and training that they have into whatever comes next, let it be whatever it is, without any consequence for am I going to be enough? Is it going to do me in? Am I going to be in financial ruin? There’s just too much time I think people being trained to worry. And I kind of like, you know, what the Dalai Lama said is that our natural state is happiness and joy, and love and those three things when they’re present for human beings, it’s a beautiful thing. And you and I get to experience those from time to time. And what would the world look like if everyone were experiencing that all the time, as they go through their lives working on the things that may not be working right now?

Janine Bolon
Yes, and that’s one of the things that the communities that you and I are a part of, that is what we work on with not only ourselves, but with our memberships, and our community is to just keep lifting each other up and realizing that it’s not always simple or easy, there are times you got to put on your boots and walk through the mud. And it can be a little touch and go sometimes, but for the most part, the thing that I love about the podcasts that you and I run, is that we’re actually meeting people who are doing their best to do something about it, whatever it happens to be, whatever the challenges that they’ve learned to solve, whatever the solution is they have to a problem that was in their lives. They’ve come up with a program, a system, a book, some bit of wisdom to help make the route a little smoother, the road a little smoother for the people coming along behind us. So, where can people find more about you, Bill, The Lighting the Candle podcast? Where is the best place to look that up?

Bill Correll
Any place that has podcasts, We are on I think 17 or 18 different platforms, including Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, if you listen to podcasts, just search for Lighting the Candle. You will get to see our picture and I think we’re just shy of 100 episodes at this moment, we will be at 100 within the next two or three.

Janine Bolon
Excellent. That’s good news, you know, it takes a lot to get to that level of podcasting. Any last words of wisdom you care to share with us before we close out today?

Bill Correll
So, I don’t know if they’re words wisdom but as a place to come from in life, I think we wake up in the morning, and the first thing that we can do is notice that we are awake, and feel joy in that moment that yes, we’re here for one more time. And when you don’t remember when you wake up, and you notice you’re awake at some other time later on in the day, it’s kind of like, it gives you a charge. It’s like I am joyful to be here. So, seek empowerment, and don’t necessarily seek anything other than that because empowerment is the source of everything that’s good that flows in the universe. And what isn’t empowerment is stopping that flow, so, flow baby flow.

Janine Bolon
I like that. Thank you so much for being with us today, Bill.

Bill Correll
My pleasure, Janine, and thank you for hosting me.

Janine Bolon
And this is the Janine Bolon show, and I’m signing off with you today, all of us here at the eight gates that produce the show. We wish you a wonderful week. And we encourage you to get your message, your story or your knowledge out into the world and make it a better place just like Bill Correll is doing with his podcast. We’ll see you again next week, and until then, keep sharing what you know with others, keep shining that light that is you, and don’t forget to go out today and do something for yourself that’s just plain fun. We’ll see you next week.

Bryan Hyde
Thank you for listening to the Janine Bolon show. Be sure to subscribe to our show notes by going to www.theJanineBolonshow.com, where you’ll find additional resources as well as the opportunity to sign up to receive our program in your email each week. Be sure to visit our sponsor at www.the8gates.com.