Hi, I'm Clayton Vandiver, your Lightkeeper, and
this summer we have a special treat for you.
It's called Lightkeepers Podcast Shorts. That's
not a new clothing line, but that's a great idea.
Actually, it's short episodes under 10 minutes
long of our most popular Lightkeepers Podcast
episodes. This is part two. Enjoy. Welcome to
the Light Keepers podcast. I'm Clayton Vandiver,
your Light Keeper, with a show dedicated to everyone
who wants to get the most quality out of life
that they can. We don't talk about the end of
life. We focus on the quality of each and every
remaining day. My co -host, as always, is Charlene,
our very own tame, licensed clinical social worker
certified in the state of Florida. We invite
you to join the conversation this week about...
Clayton and Charlene. And so much more on this
edition of the Light Keepers Podcast. And before
we start, I'd like to invite you to please leave
your questions or comments below. We always love
to hear from our listeners and viewers. If you
think of this show as sort of like Tool Time
or what was Bob Vila's show, This Old House on
PBS. So if you look at this show a little bit
like that, I'm kind of like Tim Allen. I'm kind
of like Bob Vila. I'm the guy who knows how to
present, knows how to ask the man on the street
questions that you might ask, and doesn't know
anything about actually doing the work. Well,
Bob Vila does. But if you think about Tim Allen
in Tool Time, he knew how to say, you know, hey,
Al Borland, tell me, we're going to be painting
this now. What kind of paint would you use? And
that's exactly who I am. I started my career
45 years ago. Yes, that always makes me feel
really old. But I started my career 45 years
ago in broadcast radio and television in Los
Angeles, attending California State University.
Now, that's where Steven Spielberg and Steve
Martin got their starts. And like Spielberg,
I then began directing and producing productions,
mostly with much smaller budgets than he did.
And like Martin, I occasionally tell jokes and
play the banjo. But after 10 years on the West
Coast, I returned to my hometown of Jacksonville,
Florida to help take care of my parents. So I've
had a tiny bit of very unprofessional experience
in caring for those, you know, who were going
through their own life changes. And I wanted
to make a career in broadcasting where I could
be more involved in every aspect of the productions.
In Los Angeles, you get sort of pigeonholed.
If you start out as one thing, that's pretty
much what you're going to do the rest of your
career. But after working on the side with our
region's leading television newsroom, I built
a production company and produced thousands of
television commercials, hundreds of corporate
and industrial videos, television shows that
aired on BET, INSP, TBN, and Home and Garden
Television, HGTV, where I was the voice of American
horticulture. Some of you may have heard that,
I don't know, back in the 90s. Along the way,
I began teaching college classes in media and
film, completed my master's in education, my
master's in business, and my learning continues,
probably to my last breath, because even now
I'm finishing a PhD in communication. So, you
know, my education will continue, possibly even
beyond my last breath. But let me tell you some
staggering numbers. 20 ,000 hours of broadcast
radio. 50 ,000 hours of broadcast television
I've been involved in the production of. And
that makes me feel very old but very excited
for the next possible step in this great adventure
that I'm in. And that's why I love sharing all
of the information that you have to bring to
our viewers and to our listeners. each and every
week, just like this. So I've introduced Charlene
as a licensed clinical social worker, myself
as a professional broadcaster, and she has a
lot more letters after her name because of all
the qualifications she has. What does that mean
for our audience? So what that means for our
audience is... I know how to give them the guidance
and support that they need to get through difficult
situations if they have a loved one who has a
life -limiting illness or a terminal diagnosis.
But I may not know the best ways to get it out
there in front of them. You know the best ways
to get it out there in front of them, but you
can't really provide that guidance and support,
at least not ethically or legally. That's correct.
But I do know how to get you in front of the
camera so that you can get it out there. So together.
There you go. Together. Just like Tim Allen and
Al Borland. I don't think so, Tim. Tim the tool.
Well, so you've been a lifelong and very dedicated
patient advocate in all of your roles. Where
all of you worked? Oh, my goodness. Well, as
I mentioned, I have worked in hospice, which
I feel is my true calling, my true support. That's
where I feel most. At home, oddly enough, I worked
in hospice for over five years where I helped
support probably the better part of 10 ,000 to
15 ,000 individuals as they came to the end of
their life and supported their families as they
went through that process. I worked in the crisis
care unit for hospice patients, which is basically
where patients come when their care can no longer
be managed at home or in a home setting. So there
I was able to provide support. I have seen people
die, thousands of people, which as a social worker,
as a medical social worker, to me that's normal.
I have seen that so many times that it doesn't
faze me anymore. And it was really interesting
because when I went to work in the hospital,
in the ICU and in the trauma department, The
first time one of my fellow social workers actually
saw someone die, they didn't know what to do,
and it surprised me. I have taken for granted
all this time. That was their first experience?
Yes, and so I took for granted how little experience
people have with that, and that really got me
thinking, you know, if another social worker
who has the training that I do can be caught
off guard with that. That's a good point. Then
how earth -shattering must that be for a family
member or a loved one who's watching someone
go through that? And who it's happening for them
for the very first time, and it's someone they
actually... truly have an investment in yeah
it really gave me a change in perspective and
working in the icu i got to see firsthand especially
partnering with the trauma department how when
someone is faced with that reality suddenly um
you know there wasn't the long illness and the
long decline this is someone who had a catastrophic
event and they're now dealing with this in a
very limited amount of time. And so that brings
about a completely different set of stressors.
So it was good and valuable experience. Of course.
Well, and again, it's very exciting for me to
be able to bring this level of experience to
listeners and viewers because, especially on
a topic that you don't... find people talking
about every day, especially one that's considered
almost taboo. Because, you know, we talk about
things that sort of lead toward oftentimes the
end of days. We don't focus on the end of days.
We focus on the quality of life that you can
still get leading to that point. In society,
they're really... only two ends of the spectrum.
And that's what society focuses on. You have
the one end of the spectrum where it's taboo,
you don't want to talk about it. If you talk
about it, you run the risk of bringing it to
fruition, best swept under the rug and ignored.
And on the other end of the spectrum, you have
the commercial industry that deals with death
where they almost romanticize it to the point
where I feel like it takes away its sting. Death
is painful and it should be because that places
the value on life and relationships. And if you
don't have that pain that comes with the loss,
then that life and that relationship had no value.
So what I want to do with this show and with
A Guiding Light is to help people find that in
between where they're educated about it and they
know enough about it to take some of the fear
away from it. but to help maintain that value.
Absolutely. Well, and I love bringing this information
to the public through you because it's so important
to open this conversation and make it a little
bit less taboo, I believe. Absolutely. And that's
sort of my mission in creating this show. roping
you into being a part of it. No, it was a cooperative
effort. The thing is, and this is what a lot
of people ignore, death is a part of life. None
of us are going to get out of life alive. This
is true. Kind of like Dame Maggie Smith said
in Harry Potter, I love this line. When someone
refers to Voldemort as he who must not be named,
and she says his name is Voldemort, he's going
to try to kill you, you may as well say his name.
It's not going to make a bit of difference. No,
death is going to happen. It's still going to
happen. We don't want it to happen soon. But
not talking about it does nothing but get us
to that point unprepared. Oh, and that's the
whole point of this conversation and the whole
point of people joining us for this conversation
and weighing in with comments down below, which
we will definitely address and help you with
to the best of our abilities because this is
a person who has the resources to do so. And
I certainly have the resources to help her put
this message out to everyone each and every week.
Now, a thought to end the show with, why I'm
called the Light Keeper. It's very simple. The
light has been used for thousands of years, the
word light, through many cultures, many civilizations,
and by many very learned people to refer to the
concept of knowledge, of education, of experience.
To gain more light is to be introduced to new
ideas and new thoughts and new information that
is meaningful to your life. So I take the role
of light keeper. very seriously for that reason.
I'm a trained educator and broadcaster. I know
how to find information, process that information,
and how to share it with an audience. The light
from a lighthouse can tell you where the dangerous
rocks are to avoid and where the harbor is to
find your safety and comfort. A guiding light
is the organization, and each and every week,
I'm the light keeper. We'll see you here.