Hi and welcome back to Tell Me What Happened,
the podcast that features real people talking
about true stories from their childhood and how
those stories, how those events impacted their
lives as an adult. I'm your host, Jay Rehek,
and like you, I've had my share of childhood
memories. Some of them great, and some of them
not so great. Before we get started with our
guest, I'd like to quickly thank our two sponsors.
Sideline Inc. Publishing, publishers of quality
books, including the Sideline series, which helps
children learn about financial literacy. And
our second sponsor, laughsaver .com. Visit laughsaver
.com and record your laughter. It's free and
we'll keep it for you now and forever. Your children
and your grandchildren and your great grandchildren
will appreciate it. That's laughsaver .com. Today
I have with me the founder and CEO of Live Greatly,
a wellness instructor, Crystal Bauer. Crystal,
thank you for being on the show. Thanks so much
for having me. I'm excited. Well, I'm excited.
I'm ready to hear your story. Are you ready to
tell it? Yeah, let's do it. All right, Crystal,
what I'm going to do is I'm going to just try
my best not to interrupt you. Just listen to
your story. And then at the end, I'm probably
going to ask you how you feel it has impacted
your life as an adult, whatever story you tell
me. That sounds good. So I definitely did a little
reflecting when I knew I was coming on this podcast
about what story I wanted to share. And what
kept coming back to me is something that was
really meaningful to me as a child. And now that
I've gotten older, it really has kind of this
sentimental value where it helps me get to know
kind of my culture and it really sparked curiosity
in me from a young age. And what ended up happening
is my my grandparents and my father's side came
here at I think my Oma was in her 20s and they
came here on a boat from Austria and so they
were you know originally from there and what
I got to do which was really amazing as a child
is I got to go to Austria about every three years
to go visit a town called Spital and this town
Spital was like I don't know it's kind of like
a a fantasy world for me, I guess, as a child,
because it was so different than the US. The
streets looked different, the buildings looked
different, the artwork was different, and they
owned a building there that looked like a castle.
It was like a pink castle on the corner, and
there was a restaurant on the first floor, and
they had an apartment that we would stay in above.
And when I would go, I would see relatives that
I never talked to. This was before we really
had Zoom and all of that stuff. And everyone
spoke a different language. So I was there with
my family. And I just was, I remember just, again,
it felt like I was kind of in. or it was like
a totally different world. And what I really
remember from that young age is just absorbing
and really being curious about how people lived
there. And specifically there was one of my,
I guess my second cousins or third cousin, I'm
not sure, but he was about my same age and I
probably was seven at the time. And we couldn't
speak each other's language, but he was over
and we were trying to play and we were trying
to come up with a game. And there was a garden
in the back and it was like, it felt like a secret
garden and it was beautiful. And we were just
running and playing and laughing. And what really
resonates with me is just the ability that I
had to really connect. with this person who was
a distant family member. We couldn't speak the
same language through play and through just human
to human connection. And that's really, I think,
what this whole experience taught me is just
the level that we have as human beings to connect
even when we don't speak the same language. And
really, too, it gave me such a sense of curiosity
about life and wanting to explore and wanting
to learn more about other people and really understand
where they're coming from and their culture.
And that was ingrained at such a young age for
me, just that everyone's not the same. Everyone
doesn't live the same way. Everyone doesn't speak
the same language, but there's definitely that
common ground that can be found. you know, again,
that human to human level. So for thinking back
to those memories, you know, it was trying all
different new types of food. Everything was new
to me and exciting. You know, they have it, Fanta
there, that orange soda, which we didn't have
here at the time. That was like the coolest thing
ever. And, you know, the little details, the
little things which I found, found so fascinating,
so exciting and unique. So looking back on that
experience now, I want to give that to my children.
I want them to have that exposure to different
cultures and kind of understanding that everyone
doesn't live the same way, but kind of at the
core, we all have a lot of the same values. We
all want connection is the need for connection
is very real. I love the idea of having that
sense of curiosity about others' cultures. And
hopefully with that, it could come a deeper level
of acceptance and compassion and understanding,
which I think right now in our world is very
needed. So I think what I learned from that was,
I think it helped me connect with people in...
on that deeper level or at least a desire to
try and connect with people on that deeper level.
And now it's really, I think, coming back to
that sense of play and trying to remember that
carefreeness, that curiosity. And I really strive
to incorporate that in my day -to -day living
because, gosh, that was just so fun. Just the
freedom I felt, the curiosity I felt, the excitement
I felt. I think as we grow, sometimes we lose
that. And thinking about those memories and those
times, it can spark that feeling in me again.
And so that's something I do regularly is kind
of visualization of just that carefree feeling
that I think all of us can tap into from one
point or another in our childhood. Have you connected?
When's the last time you connected with folks
from Austria? Oh, my gosh, it's I never stayed
in contact. It was only when I was there. It
was only on these trips that I connected with
people there. You know, I was so young, it was
never a relationship that kind of carried through.
So the last time that I went was in, I think
I was in high school. So I would like to go back.
That's on our list. I want to take my kids and
I want to show them. You still have family there?
So extended, like the people that we would see
my, my OMA's sister or brothers, they passed.
So, you know, it would be extended, extended,
but It would still be really neat to try and
go and see them. Well, I definitely understand
that idea of trying to just play or just connect
with people, not necessarily language wise or
any other way, but just say, you know, we're
in different worlds in the sense that, well,
not different worlds, but we're in different
communities. But when you connect with somebody
and say, We're interested in the same things
which is to enjoy our lives on a daily basis
as a kid. That carefreeness as an older person
I definitely want to try to get back to and I'm
not exactly how to do it except as you suggested
which is like a visualization that you can somehow
close your eyes and go back to Austria as a young
person or... You know, in my case, something
else, but the idea of trying to find find that
carefreeness. I don't know. How do you do that
now? Is your wellness program part of that as
well? Or is that not part of it? So, you know,
I am a big proponent of the mind body connection.
Our minds extremely, extremely powerful. So whatever
you can do to get yourself feeling those. like
that playfulness, that carefreeness and visualization
works. So if you are able to kind of sit quietly
and just remember the feelings you've had in
those moments, your body thinks it's real. Like
your body's like, oh, this is happening, you
know, and that is like a natural mood booster.
And if you do that on a regular basis, I mean,
you're going to get better, you know, feel good
endorphins going. You're going to feel more excited
about your life. If you're, if you're focusing
on things that make you feel that way. So for
me, you know, I incorporate that here and there,
but I also really love meditation and I do a
lot of different mind, body practices, but I
think it's just finding something that works
for you play for me now, you know, it's, it looks
a little bit different, but what I found that
is. A good way to connect with people, for me
at least, is being active. So like, I play paddle,
I play tennis, and doing things like that with
movement, I think that's something that can kind
of surpass, I guess, if you wanted to compare
like a language barrier, right? Where you're
doing some sort of activity with others, which
is fun to you, you know, these times that's a
little bit challenging with COVID. Or, you know,
walking in nature, going on a hike, kind of experiencing
different things that can surpass kind of that.
the language barrier. So there was never any
fear when you like went into like the community
in Austria where you go this is strange it was
just all like wonderland as far as you sort of
remember was there any like oh my gosh this is
not like home or is that not the experience of
that? I was so excited I was just so excited
about it I thought it was so cool and our my
great -grandfather was an artist And so he had
painted the walls in the castle there and the
ceiling. So we were able to go into rooms that
were closed to the public to see it. It was just
so fascinating to me to learn about that and
to learn about that part of my ancestors that
at the time, again, it wasn't, I don't know if
I fully was. absorbing it, but now I'm like,
that's really, really cool. You know, and it
was me. It was just a really fun experience growing
up to be able to be exposed to that. All right.
You said you have children of your own, right?
So hopefully you'll get back to Austria or someplace
else. That doesn't have to be Austria, but someplace
where you can sort of blow their imaginations
or, you know, open their imaginations up a little
bit. I think there is. The beauty of travel is
that, I would say for sure, is that you feel
a sense of, oh, there are other places out there
besides my own community. And to get that larger
sense of community, I think, is huge for young
people. I'm a school teacher, so I'm a big proponent
of trying to get people to look beyond. their
own neighborhoods, whatever that is, whatever
that means. Yeah, for sure. I think travel definitely,
I would love to take them there. I think it was
just a really interesting experience and hopefully
we'll be able to do that over the next couple
of years. Well, I love the idea of visualization.
I want to thank you for coming on the show. I'm
going to visualize COVID ending. All of us being
able to travel somewhere, go somewhere or just
experience that. playfulness that you're talking
about, that idea of really just being joyous
at movement and that I also hear what you're
saying about connecting mind and body makes perfect
sense to me and I know you're articulating what
scientists, social scientists, people have been
discovering over the years. I'm glad that we
talked because I'm In my own mind, I'm going
back to some places that I haven't been in a
while because I haven't left my house in months,
it feels like. So you've actually sent me back
to some places. So that's very nice. So thank
you for being on the show. It was my pleasure.
I had a lot of fun. Thanks for having me. All
right. Well, that's our show. I want to thank
Crystal Bauer for coming in and telling us that
story. I want to thank our sponsors, Sidelining
Publishing. Publishers of quality books, including
Susan Salador's latest children's book, One Little
Act of Kindness, available anywhere quality books
are sold, including Amazon .com or your favorite
independent bookstore. That's One Little Act
of Kindness by Susan Salador. I'd also like to
thank LaughSaver .com. Visit LaughSaver .com
and record your laughter. We'll keep it for you,
now and forever. It's free, and your family will
really appreciate it down the road. Now I'm going
to end this show, as I often do, with Susan Salador's
classic, Every Moment, Every Day. So until next
time, this is Jay Rehack, wishing you all a safe
and happy and COVID -free 2021. So until next
time, please stay safe out there, and try not
to hurt anybody. To be thankful every moment
every day. It takes practice and humility. It
takes vision and civility. It takes practice
and humility. It takes vision and civility. It
takes beauty and the wisdom to see it every day.
It takes practice and humility. It takes vision
and civility. It takes beauty and the wisdom
to see it every day. It takes practice and humility.
It takes vision and civility. It takes practice
and the wisdom to see it everywhere. It takes
practice and the wisdom to see it everywhere.
It takes beauty and the wisdom to see it everywhere.
It is possible to be thankful every moment every
day.