Get Booked – Emmanuel Jal, My Life Is Art 271123

Hello, I'm Hazel Butterfield and this is Get Booked. Today on the show we are looking at My Life Is Art by Emmanuel Jal. Emmanuel started his life as a child soldier in the war-torn region of Southern Sudan in the early 1980s. He was eventually rescued by a British aid worker, M.M. Kuhn, and smuggled to Kenya where he overcame a huge number of struggles to become a successful and acclaimed recording artist and peace ambassador. He now lives in Toronto, Canada. Emmanuel has released 7 award-nominated studio albums, and Jal's music has had much achievement in the Afro-tech sphere with numerous single releases. His live appearances have included Live 8, Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert and the One concert for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He's collaborated and performed alongside artists such as Lauryn Hill, Xavier Rudd, Peter Gabriel, Nelly Furtado, Darryl 'DMC' McDaniels, Joss Stone, Ed Sheeran, Nile Rodgers, and Alicia Keys. Drawing on his personal experiences and background, he speaks and performs with a strong message of reconciliation and peace, and has addressed the UN, US Congress, the Carter Center, and the very highest level of several governments. In 2008, a full-length documentary on his life was released. The film War Child won 12 prestigious film festival awards worldwide. In the same year, his autobiography, also called War Child, was published by Little Brown. Emmanuel Cole starred with Reese Witherspoon in the Warner Brothers motion picture The Good Lie, which tells a story about the journey of 4 young Sudanese refugees based on the Lost Boys of Sudan, who win a lottery for relocation to the United States. The film made its debut to rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival before being released in October 2014. During his career, he's been involved with a number of global charity organizations, including the British Council, the Child Soldiers Initiative, Amnesty International, and Oxfam. He has spoken alongside major players in the world of global humanitarianism, including Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon, and the Elders Group. Emmanuel has been invited numerous times to speak at Richard Branson's Virgin Unite conference on Necker Island on global leadership and philanthropy. He has continued to support and work alongside Amnesty International as one of their main spokespeople and has received numerous awards for his peace efforts in South Sudan, including recognition from Ban Ki-moon at the UN. In 2010, Jal released "We Want Peace," part of a wider campaign of the same name that called for peace, protection, and justice for all of Sudan. As well as calling for an end to all conflicts that affect innocent people around the world. This campaign is supported by a number of A-list stars and leaders, including George Clooney, Alicia Keys, Richard Branson, Jimmy Carter, and Kofi Annan. Through social media and fan participation, the campaign has grown in strength, and Emmanuel's message of peace has resonated particularly among young people allowing them to connect to larger social and political issues through emotional empathy. With the support of organizations such as Free the Children, Amnesty International, Ford Foundation, Humanity United, and so many others, Emmanuel has taken We Want Peace on the road and spoken to hundreds of thousands of young people from all over the world, touring across Mexico, the UK, the US, Africa, Canada, Australia, and Asia. Often these tours include visits to community centers, youth detention centers, and prisons where Emmanuel has been able to speak firsthand to young people who have been and become disengaged with education and society. For his outstanding commitment to peacebuilding, Jal has been awarded the Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent 2018, Desmond Tutu Reconciliation Award in 2017, and Hero in the Global Campaign Against Violent Extremism at UNESCO 2018. In 2012, he was asked to be a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum, and he has performed at the G20 Summit in Mexico, no less. Emmanuel is also the creator of Jal Gua, a gluten-free superfood powder made of organic sorghum and organic Moringa, which has 140% iron, 45% vitamin C, and 40% vitamin B1 of the daily recommended intake. Jao Gua has a distribution deal with Pilling Foods in Ontario, Canada, and is currently stocked in major health stores across Canada, including Whole Foods as well. You can find out more at jaoagua.com. Emmanuel's greatest passion is this charity which he founded in 2009, Gua Africa. Which supports those affected by war and poverty from South Sudan. The charity has trained and educated South Sudanese refugees to becoming first-class professionals in medicine, law, and education. I'm really looking forward to introducing Emmanuel to the show. Now joining us on Get Booked for Women's and Men's radio station is the author of My Life Is Art by Emmanuel Jal. Now, Emmanuel has distilled the hardships and learnings of his remarkable life as a former child soldier turned artist and entrepreneur into a framework of 11 pillars for living a life of purpose and overcoming adversity. My Life Is Art, which is actually an acronym of these pillars such as meditation, leading, and training. Now, this book asks some excellent questions help focus your mind, remind you of your reality and capabilities, and how to focus your mind to assist you in changing your narrative. Let's not ask what we are not succeeding at, but what steps we can take to work towards our goals. And some of my main and favorite takeaways from this book were on purpose and joy. Without purpose, our focus is on the wrong things— looking at the purpose of others, stealing our own joy. And comparison is so unhealthy. I realize personally that I have recently lost purpose, which left me obsessing with the actions of those who clearly had more, or affecting my self-esteem, because a lack of purpose can make you look at what you are lacking rather than what you're— what you are achieving. And there's so much more to this book too, making it quite a remarkable reminder of just how precious life is, no matter what we've gone through and how to make sure that we are turning life's challenges into something that can enrich us rather than swallow us up. And I have the pleasure now of introducing you to the author and today's guest, Emmanuel Lal. How are you? Hi, how are you? You know what, I'm really good. I'm quite uplifted. I have been storming my way through this book and, um, it's really kind of focused my mind and kind of given me a little bit of a control ultimately. So thank Thank you so much. Well, I love the way you, uh, describe how purpose is to us and how it gives our lives a direction. And then when we focus on other people's purpose and we compare ourselves with them, then we get stressed out. So basically, as we walk in our path, we keep our joy as we are authentic to ourselves. I just love— I'm just taking the concept of what you're saying. Good. Well, do you know what? I mean, the thing is, our own mental well-being, so many people are struggling with it, and I think a lot of it is based in purpose. We kind of get so all-consumed with just trying to get through each day, and we lose that momentum if we don't have purpose. If we don't know why we're doing what we're doing, it can just become soul-destroying. And I realized recently that I've not been doing the things that bring me joy and that I've just not been going back to the roots of what I want to do with my life and what I want to give out to, you know, altruism is an absolutely fantastic emotion and concept. And if we can rein that in and remind ourselves, and I think you provide throughout the book some fantastic questions that we neglect to ask ourselves all the time. And we just get so lost in our own kind of misery and mundanity of life. And I've just— I've found it really helpful to work through My Life Is Art. Um, how long have you been thinking about putting this book together? Well, this book was— I was just writing it for myself, really. I had no idea that I was gonna publish it. So basically, there was a time where I was reaching the low points and things were not going well for me. And then I just sat down and went to my childhood back. How, how was I able to happy every day? How did I get this far? What are the challenges? And basically, I came to realize what was eating my strengths was my mental power. You know, even though I was— I have that purpose that was printed in my heart that guides me every day, but I had my own vision, you know. I have my own dreams, the things I want to achieve. And so I realized you could be purpose-driven, but there are certain things— the things that we want require us to acquire certain skills or increase our mental capacity so that we could be able to manage them. And then I started looking what are the principles of leadership out there, what, what habits and beliefs I need to bring into my life to change myself. And when I introduced few habits, I saw my life changing and my internal structure, my, my, the structure inside me changed and, and my habits improved, my focus improved. Then I was able to to begin to attain success in the field of things that I was looking for. It's about changing the narrative and having a positive mental attitude. And you talk about in the book the power of reading and knowledge, and you know how it's not gold that we all need to search for to enrich our life, it's knowledge. And it's knowledge that's going to get us out of many of the issues we face in everyday life and politics and geographically. And I just think I, I love books that like this, that help us not only focus on ourselves, but also realize that other people go through some horrific adversity and they can still find positivity. And it kind of shimmies, shimmies us along, gives us a bit of a kick up the bum to kind of realize that, you know, if somebody like yourself can go through what you've gone through, and see it as something to spur you forward and actually see the positive elements of what you've gone through, it kind of can help us all. That's the beauty of reading, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, if you look at it with my life, it's, uh, uh, it's, it's learning how to detach our emotions from the pain we experienced in the past so we could see the value that they have. You know, in, in our daily life, we see worries will give us anxiety. Depressions are the defeats of the past, the things we haven't found a solution or, or resolved. Then stress are the challenges of the moment that we don't have the mental capacity to handle. And so when your future, your present, and the past collide negatively at one moment you lose hope. And some of the tools I use here for my life is art, is imagination. How useful is my imagination as a kid? I used to hide myself in imagination, imagining myself either as a teacher, imagining myself either as a pilot, imagining myself to be a part of a solution in the future. I discovered as a kid that I can use my imagination in a positive way and it will terrify me. Or use, uh, if I use it in a negative way, it terrifies me. But if I use it in a positive way, it uplifts me, it gives me hope. So imagination is like the eye to which we can foresee the things in the future that we can live for. And, and, and that's in my life is that bringing that concept into my daily life right now is when I'm facing a challenge, I would ask myself, how could I imagine myself out of this challenge? And one of the most challenging situations was when we were walking, we were between 200 to 400 young people with some adults and we are child soldiers, we're at swampy ground You know, when you fall in this water, people could only see the bubbles. And a child soldier in front of me fell in the water and a bigger soldier behind trying to pick him up. So they both drowned as I was watching them. And for me, that was difficult to watch two people going in front of you. And what did I do as a kid when I faced something so difficult? I either make some prayers, close my eyes and try to escape into imagination. And in that moment of escaping into imagination, I even came to learn about the conversation in the mind, how your mind can ask you questions. So in my imagination, I, in the water, imagining myself to be a part of a solution in the future. So my mind asked me, you are now in a problem. And you want to be a part of a solution in the future, what are you going to do now? So I'm standing in the water, so I asked my mind the same question: what is it I am going to do? So a question came back to my mind: why don't you collect, catch the leaves of the trees there, eat them, and if you don't die, share it with the rest? So I went and collected the leaves of the tree, ate, and I shared it with the rest. And then the same question asked me: Why don't you eat the snails that are floating on the water? Eat, and if you don't die, share it with the rest. Then another question popped into my mind: why don't you shoot the vultures that are eating dead bodies? Eat, and if you don't die, share it with the rest. So in this part of my journey, when I detached my pain from— when I detached my emotion from the pain I experienced, then I saw the value that that journey has given. Because I remember here what was killing us was not because there was nothing to eat. What was killing us was our perception. You know, there's a part in our mind that is called the Reticulated Activating System, and we have also our built-in motivation system, which is made out of our beliefs. So they literally can shut down opportunities as we see, or way to get out. And so as a kid, when I came to England, not as a kid, but in my, in as I became, I came to Kenya, but when I started becoming a musician in UK for the first time, I entered the Chinese restaurant and here I saw all kind of stuff being eaten and it gave me a flashback and say, wait a minute, this Chinese, they've evolved their perception or perspective as open up that they are experiencing to eat different things. Now in my journey, we had people who died because they didn't want to eat the snails because of their beliefs, you know, of what people are going to think about them. There are people who didn't want to eat the vultures. And in this journey, the lowest point, as you can see when you read the book, was when I was tempted to eat my comrade when there was no food. So now in some other places I contemplated ending my life. So, and I hear you go as vulnerable as you can because I discovered your most vulnerable state is actually directly proportional to your strengths. And so, and that's what we're able to connect with people, and that's where you're living in a purpose with your art, hoping because you've seen it all. And so, yeah. Oh, you have an incredible, um, sense of drive, and it's definitely infectious. The way it comes through in My Life Is Art, and I love how effective your driving force is. You— there's so much chaos that, that you've had to endure, uh, particularly in your childhood, and you've always found the driving force to find a solution. It's given you purpose. And I just think there was a part, a really simple part in my life, is art that really kind of focused me quite a bit. And sometimes we just need to make small steps, and these tiny steps can eventually become something larger. Um, I read a book once that said, um, anxiety is fretting about the future, and depression is worrying about the past. And so we need to learn to live in the now. And a part in your book where it just said, just try and focus on doing 2 things, no matter how big or small they are, each day that goes towards your purpose. And it's such a simple step and so achievable. And I love that you're providing that knowledge and that kind of impetus to help people move forward and find their greatness, find their purpose, and find their driving force. And you do a lot of speeches on this as well, don't you? Yes, so there's different topics to which I can speak about. I think it's good that you mentioned that part. We are a goal-driven species, so basically when we have a goal, we are able to find motivation, you know. One woman, a doctor who's in United States, one time she was with her mom and her mom was dying and she told her mom, I am going to be a doctor and that's— I'm going to achieve that. That was a goal she made as a kid and she later become a doctor. And then we can also go back to kids. A kid wanna, wanna cycle a bike They make it simple. They give themselves a goal. Mommy, I want a bike. Then you bring them the bike, they jump on the bike, they fall off, they hurt themselves, they jump on it. We who are watching the kid, we are the one trying to prevent the kid from learning the bike because we think they get hurt. But they have set up that goal and that goal give them that motivation. And when you find people in life who have set themselves goals You know, as we grow up, we lose our motivation easily as adults. But if we surround ourselves with contents that can constantly give us— why do I emphasize on purpose? Because purpose has got ton— purpose is the— is, I would say, like, as a human being, I would ask you a question: what is driving your heart? What is your heart power? Now, is your heart power self-interest, or is your heart power bitterness, or is your heart power purpose? So now, when you find someone whose heart power is self-interest, they will do everything they do is just about themselves. They'll hurt a lot of people. They will have no emotional intelligence or empathy to look around. It's just everything is for themselves. And then when, when everything hit hard, they burned so badly. Then you find another person who's driven by bitterness because somebody did them something bad and they want to compete or they want to revenge. So in their way of life, they'll have excessive anxiety and they'll also break so many relationships because the demon is inside them. That is controlling. Every time somebody hurts us, they plant a demon in us, and that demon creates experiences. And those— what happened is that demon was because of the experience we had, and it grows with time. And when it grows, it forms strong beliefs. And it— and what do beliefs do? Beliefs are responsible for the emotions. So which means someone who hurt us 10 years ago has the capacity to control us even now, unless something bigger happened on the way. But that means we haven't resolved that issue. It's piling in the past. So with a bitter heart, we can do so many things, but it's a double-edged sword. It can burn us from inside. So that's why I say, like, purpose is There's no other motivation greater than it because it's your essence. It's what you exist here for. And I look at it— purpose is the universal, clear, defined goal for you. So each one of us has got their own goals. What you desire, that is your will. Your vision is your will. That's why when we don't achieve our vision, we get upset. But when you walk in your purpose, it is not your will, it's the universal will, or it's God will, you know. And that's— it fuels itself. When you're constantly connected with your purpose, you're not alone, you're in sync with everything. And when you walk in your purpose with clear, defined goals and a burning desire to act, success will follow you like your shadow. I love that. I mean, life is crazy as it is, and sometimes energy can be in short supply, and we, we just need to spend some time to work on ourselves and see where we're spending our energy or wasting our energy and breaking down what has been making us expel the wrong energy. Some of us have to work harder than others. Um, I, I find it quite a bit of a journey kind of breaking down some of the things that I've been wasting my energy on. And sometimes we need to read books like My Life Is Art to kind of help us work through that. I mean, I've actually printed off so many questions from your book. I ended up kind of copying and pasting them and printing them off so I can keep, you know, just things, really simple questions that we should be asking ourselves that are actually quite easy to answer. But if we don't actually ask ourselves these questions, we're not getting our brains to work and think and break down our motivations. You know, um, what is our motive and purpose? What can you put in place to make it happen? Simple things. You know, if you want to do a course, start researching. That can be the one thing that you do, but just keep on doing these tiny little things until we can actually achieve what we want to do, rather than just drowning in thinking that it's too unachievable. We've just got to make sure that we're using our energy as positively as possible. And a bit like what you said before about, you know, when a child wants to learn to ride a bike, I remember teaching my children and they were quite scared about falling over and failure. And I was like, mate, just fall off, see what happens. And they did. Oh, that didn't really hurt. So it doesn't matter. You just get back up again. And one of the things I did copy and paste, um, because I found it quite easy just to go back on it. Sometimes you can read a page and then forget which page it's on and not go back to it. But I loved what you wrote, that failure is an infinite source of intelligence. Those who succeed fail many more times than those who do not. Detach emotion from the pain failure brings, and soon you'll see its true value. I love that. It's just about reframing our experiences, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, but, but that's the, that's the reality, you know. One of the things that, uh, that I, I'm still doing up today, my favorite part of my life is art, which is the foundation of actually what built the 11 Principle, is programming and reprogramming of yourself. Which is about creating self-worth and values by hacking into your subconscious to define and redefine who you are, by shifting your paradigm in your mind to create new habits and beliefs that you can use to manage your thoughts, ideas, thinking process, and using them to achieve your goals and dreams. So basically, that's, that's one— all the book what makes it even really happen is that basis. Because if you look at it, where we are born, there are principalities out there that actually create emotional, mental, physical, and social structures of society. So they can design a community to be a certain way. You know, if you're born in a certain way, that a certain place that is controlled, you only have certain amount of information provided to you. So the people in your community will have that access of that knowledge. And so, which means if you're born poor, you're likely going to be poor for the rest of your life unless you have a vision and you know your purpose and change your environment. Because the environment in which you're put in is able to dictate how you live your life. It will be responsible for the habits and the beliefs. But when you know your purpose, your purpose will show you things beyond. And when you have a vision, you're no longer in that place, you're living in a different world. It doesn't matter what circumstances you are in because your vision allows you to create. It's connected to your imagination, and your imagination will create that world for you. And, and how I look at it this way is the science says, or the research, 95% of decisions we make every day are done by our subconscious mind, and 5% of the decisions we make every day are done by our conscious mind. So basically, isn't it It's really scary. And so if we know the summation of emotions we generate every day make our decisions, and the summation of decisions we make every day create our future, then what kind of life are we going to have? Webis, you know, which means if you're born poor, you're likely going to be poor for the rest of your life unless you have a vision and you know your purpose and change your environment. But the same applies for a kid. If you're born wealthy, you're likely going to be wealthy for the rest of your life unless you change your environment and you don't have a vision and you don't know your purpose. And that's why they say the first generation makes the wealth, the second one spends it, and the third one destroys it. Well, I think we could never ever accuse you, Emmanuel, of not having vision and purpose because I mean, you keep so incredibly busy. I mean, you're writing, uh, your music, creating superfoods, charity work, addressing nation leaders, co-starring with Reese Witherspoon in movies, playing chess with Richard Branson. I mean, it's all purposeful. It's a lot to juggle. Uh, you keep yourself busy. You have changed your environment, and you have just— you've taken life by the scruff of the neck and just kind ran with it like no one's business. How do you look after your mental well-being? Just constantly on the go and doing more and more. Well, I'm going to get into this now, as you say. So the way it looks, it's simple. When you know your vision, the vision is the life you want to create. What is that life you want to bring in this world? That's you now giving it a shot. Nothing man or human has ever created that didn't first exist in the mind. So which means everybody has been given the same creative mind to create something. So as a kid, I wanted to be a part of a solution. That was my purpose. So, and what is— once you know your vision, now you come and ask yourself, what's my purpose? Purpose is anything that you do that gives you joy. Anything that you do that give other people joy is anything— is when you give without expecting anything in return. So my perspective, what purpose definition of it is, is the conscious awakening of self. And when you surrender yourself to a cause greater than you, where you contribute to restore balance and give without expecting anything in return, I look at it— purpose Your purpose can teach you so many things. It will keep you humble. It will keep you connected to the infinite intelligence, to the source, and guide you. You look at plants, something guides them. The birds, something guides them. Everything in the universe. But we human beings have got free will, what we want to do, and that can take us away from our purpose. And so how do I keep my well-being? All the principles here in my life is art. Is today, maybe it's calm that works for me. And what is calm? Calm is ability to control your emotions when everything is erupting, positively or negatively. And what does that mean? You just breathe in and out, in and out, in and out. That's it. Just breathing, different breathing techniques. Yeah. Okay, what would that do for a moment? That will give my body enough oxygen. That will calm me down for a moment. That will quiet down my mind. Because when your mind is quiet down, there's a certain level of wisdom that you cannot access when your mind is chaotic. So that's why you have to go to this, that state of calm. Even some of the greatest boxers, they will say, uh, the one of the most principal, uh, The most important principle in the ring is calm. You know, you go there, you have a strategy, but once you get hit on your stomach and your head, your strategy disappear. But when you are calm, you still remember it. Yeah, you can think clearly. It's pretty much like why the second people go to bed, they start calming down, getting ready for sleep, and that's when everything comes to them, all these incredible ideas, because their mind is calm. Yes, yes. So I mean, like, there's different levels. So now you could go, what is gratitude? What does gratitude do? Gratitude is the positive attitude toward life, you know. And here you have positive attitude toward life, then some people practice it different. And it's one of the pillars of purpose. So when you're a grateful human being, you're always going to be joyful. So how do you use gratitude? To be able to give you motivation or joy in a different way. And one of my other practical, uh, the practical part, the principle is positive mindset, which is ability to engage your mind to do what you want. What is it that you want? What is that life you want to create? You know, you describe it in details and then you project your life 30 years 15 years, 10 years, 5 years, 3 years. And so you wake up every day, what is your goal of the year? What's your goal of the month? What's your goal of the week? What's your goal of the day? And you just write yourself simple goals, simple step. And that's what I do every day. We can only do as far as we can, but we have to constantly develop our mental capacity. And so developing progress, yeah. So, uh, like each one of us, you can develop your heart, the capacity of your heart, but also it's impossible— it's also possible— it's also important to also develop the faculties of your mind, which is the 5 faculties. You have your conscious mind, you have your subconscious, you have imagination, You have intuition and memory. And so as myself, I did an analysis of myself. If you're in a business world or you are in a place you want to make money as a person, first of all, were you born in a family that knows how to manage wealth? Have those habits been passed on to you? Maybe, maybe you come from a family that there is scarcity. People are scrambling over small dollars and families are always fighting. And people are in debt. So the concept of financial literacy is not embedded in your DNA, it's not in your subconscious, it's not printed in your heart. So what we have to do, so you create a program, you program your mind financial literacy. And that means you have to create mantras about financial literacy. Say, I'm financially literate, 200 times a day you say that into your mind. For 30 days. And then you study financial literacy for 30 days, every day incremental step of learning about financial literacy. Then the third incremental— the thing, step you take is now practice how to manage your finance. Because what is financial literacy? It is ability to acquire habits and beliefs and acquiring skills and talents that can help you create smart financial decisions. That's what it is. So if, if we have not embedded the belief and the emotion that will be responsible for our decision-making, if it's not in us, we'll always make poor financial decisions. And so that's why, first step, you'd recognize the problem that you have to build yourself You create a mantra about it. And second step, you research about it. And the third step, you practice it. When a person do that, what happen is your brain releases what is called neurotrophins. And those neurotrophins will save those information for short term and long term. And as you continue the practice, your brain forms myelins. So when myelins are formed, what happen is you change your life, you change your behavior. And so it's step by step. Here we are going to learn how to— we're going to learn two ways how to rewire ourselves. We're going to know the conscious mind learns through curiosity and the subconscious mind learns through repetition. And so, and that's why it's important to have your mantras, it's important to do research every day, and it's important to practice, and you have to be consistent for one thing. You pick one thing. Maybe somebody else is struggling with self-worth, then their mantra will say, I'm worthy, 200 times. Practice. It's practice. It's drilling it in. You've got to, to, to achieve this. And yes, you, you need to put the effort in as well. But with anything that you practice, it becomes easier and it becomes more second nature the more you do it. Um, I must say, um, Emmanuel, I find you incredibly inspiring. Inspiring and a great storyteller. I mean, I've read it cover to cover, My Life Is Art, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. And obviously, luckily, I read it electronically, so that made it so much easier that I could kind of lift bits out into like crib sheets for myself. And I, I'm hoping that I will keep on working through some of the main points that I've loved and I want to keep on working on. And I've thoroughly enjoyed chatting to you today. I could chat to you for absolutely hours. I wanted to find out about your, your new superfood powder and everything, and also much more that you're about and your music. But we're running out of time here on Get Books, but I think I should extend the show for about 3 or 4 hours. Yeah, we can, we can revisit next time. Yeah, the superfood now is available here in, in Italy. People can buy it from from Kenya and then we export it all over the world. So it used to be based in Canada, but I brought it to Kenya because it's easy to produce, easy to manage here. Well, to be honest, I'm a vegetarian woman in her 40s, so the fact that it's kind of everything that it's rich in, the iron, the vitamin C, the B1 and everything, it just sounds perfect for me. And I just want to point everyone over to emmanueldjowal.com so they can find out a little bit more about you. And also those of our listeners that are listening now that they want to go and buy My Life Is Art, um, you can actually pop on to— I'm going to share a link on my socials, but you can pop onto Watkins Publishing and use a 30% discount code, mylifeisarthazel, to get 30% off. And make sure everybody gets as much of it as possible. And thank you so much for joining us. Today on Get Booked, and thank you for imparting your wisdom with My Life Is Art as well. Thank you. So I've sent you a link if you ever want to go and join our community, because we have a community of people that practice the concept. Ah, mylifeisartcommunity.com, is that right? Yes. So we meet every last Sunday of the month, and there's someone that guides meditation every, every Monday. So basically you have to have whatever it is you want to change, because when you expand from inside, you are also impacting outside. Yes. Now my focus nowadays is not what is not working outside. My focus is for it not to work, how can I improve myself inside? So the more I improve myself inside, the easier what it is I'm trying to do outside. I love that. Thank you so much. You've enriched my day. I've got a huge smile on my face, and I'm sure many of the listeners do have too. Thank you so much, Emmanuel. Thank you, Aisling. Thank you for bringing me into your show. And you're amazing. You have so much soul. I've sent you my contact. That's my WhatsApp. If you ever want to connect, peace to you, my sister. Thank you so much. My Life Is Art is published by Watkins Publishing House, and you can pop onto their website and type in 'Life Is Art Hazel' to receive a 30% discount. To catch up on previous shows of Get Booked, you can pop onto womensradiostation.com/shows GetBooked, and on women's radio station and men's radio stations, SoundCloud. Right now we've got a little sample of a previous show. Thank you for listening. Right, now today on Get Booked, we have the author Gillian Young joining us. And following on from Poppy on Safari and Poppy Loves Devon, uh, Gill has just released another in the Crazy Cream Adventure series, a spooky tale entitled The Legend of Childer's Forest, and it is now available on Amazon. Now Um, I so enjoyed reading this book. It is, it's, it's got a really important message, but I love the whole perspective from the crazy cream retrievers. However, there is a constant battle against how much is too much in terms of progress, expansion, and job creation when it comes to nature being the casualty. We all know as humans how much we need to protect wildlife, nature, and the ability to still have somewhere for us all to experience, to learn from, and enjoy. But what about the wildlife itself? How much— how must that be for all the creatures not understanding what's happening to their environment with nobody to communicate this to? How it affects the ecosystem is often not addressed in the main, The Legend of Childers Forest is a tale of the crazy cream retrievers navigating the repercussions of the destruction of their favorite stomping ground in their local forest and fields, and not just the effects on their paw-ents— see what we did there— and human siblings, but their desperation to help those not as lucky as them to have bricks and mortar as a home Will the legend of the forest come to the rescue? Nature can be very powerful. Yet another reason why we should not be destroying it unnecessarily. Um, here we have Jill to talk to us about the legend of Childers Forest. Hi, thank you for joining us on Get Booked. Hi Hazel, it's lovely to be here. How are you? Do you know what, I'm all right. I'm a little bit drenched because, you know, uh, it's now Pretty much winter, isn't it? I've just been out and about. Yeah, I've had to dry the dog off. Oh, the smell of wet dog, lovely. Oh, you've just got to love it, haven't you? Yeah, but do you know what? I think you've seen various pictures of the dog joining me sheltering in pubs and cafes as I've been reading your latest book. I think she kind of knew, because, you know, your dogs and my dog, they follow each other on Instagram, don't they? They do, yes. Insta buddies. Yeah. Do you know what? I've thoroughly loved this latest book. Now I know it's got a really important message, and it's a little bit Watership Down-esque. Yes, yes, there's a lot going on, but I love that home. There's something about It kind of— the quirky mannerisms and reading a book from the perspective of dogs, especially when you're a dog fan, that kind of— it just fed my soul. I really love that. Oh, thank you. And you must— do you love kind of just being out with your dogs sometimes and just going, I wonder what they're really thinking? Yeah, I mean, sometimes it's just like The expression on their face can say it all. And Poppy especially, I mean, a lot of the neighbors around here know Poppy because she's just so sociable. And you just know what she's thinking because as soon as she sees someone she recognizes, she plonks her bottom down on the floor. And she's such a big, strong girl, so I can't move her. So if she sees a neighbor, it doesn't matter if I'm in a rush, She doesn't care. She just puts her bottom down on the floor and she will not move until they come over to her. And then she's just like— she doesn't just bark, she howls. She does this howl bark. It's like a different bark for each thing she's trying to tell you. And it is, honestly, it's like she's talking to you. She's got the most amazing character. That's why I write books about her. She's just one in a million. They're so expressive, aren't they? But I love it how you kind of address that, you know, sometimes the dogs are going, 'Oh no, I need to go and save the rabbits!' And then there's the owner going, 'No, you're not having any more food.' Yes, yeah, totally don't get it. I just— I mean, I think I pretty much have it down to a T what my dog's trying to say because she's so cynical. I mean, beagles are ridiculous at the best of times anyway, but wouldn't it be lovely to just be in their mind and completely have a proper conversation. God, yes. Yeah, I mean, like last night I was trying to watch this film and it was quite a good one actually. I love these psychological thrillers and I was really getting into it and I've got these, uh, glass doors that separate the living room from the dining room and I just happened to look and there was this white face just staring at me through the glass, which is a bit unnerving. And it was just that look, and I was like, "What? What's the matter?" And then she just pushes the door open, so the door swings open, because like I say, she's a strong girl, so the door's bashed against the wall, and she comes trotting in, and she just stared at me. And I said, "What?" I said, "Oh, I wish you could talk to me." It was like she was really trying to say, "Well, come on then." And I said, "Well, what do you want? What do you want?" It was so funny. So in the end, I ended up having to pause the film and take her outside, see if that's what she wanted. But she was cheeky because Poppy, as you'll see in the books, food comes first with everything with Poppy. And she went outside, had a sniff, came back in because she wanted a treat. She didn't actually want to do anything, but she knows that normally if she goes out and she does something, she gets a treat. So she's been cheeky. I was watching her and I knew she hadn't done anything, so she wasn't getting one. Wow. You see, with my dog, I've got a cupboard where I keep all the treats, so you don't ever have to wonder if she wants a treat. She literally will drag you and kind of say, look, cupboard. Yeah, she'll just kind of smack the cupboard and go, that's what I want, dude. I know, if they want you to know, they have a way of making themselves understood. Yeah, I completely— yeah. So I really kind of enjoyed reading the book and kind of seeing these little quirky mannerisms, because it's just, it does, it feeds your soul. I mean, do you know what, as a nation we have always loved dogs, but since COVID not only, obviously everyone got dogs, and you know, rightly or wrongly, everybody just suddenly realized more so how much they can feed our soul and look out for us. And they're great if you've got anxiety or mental health issues, or to make sure that you have to get out and about. And I just think there must— that we've fallen more in love with dogs, even if that— even if you don't think that was possible. Do you not think there's been a bit of a resurgence over the last couple of years? Yeah, definitely. And dogs are like people, you never get two the same. There's always a perfect match out there for everybody because dogs are perfect companions. I mean, they don't answer you back, they don't expect much in return, but they give you so much love. And the companionship and the greetings they give you when you walk through the door— you could have the worst possible day and they will guarantee you they will bring a smile to your face. And the fact that you have to like take them out for a walk, that's good for your mental well-being as well because I think you need to get out. Yeah, and you can meet friends. I mean, I've met so many friends through walking the girls because you, you get to see regular faces around the forest and you get chatting and they get to know the girls. And I call them the girls. The girls mean my dogs. No, no, some people think I'm talking about my daughters. It's like, no, no, they're my dogs. Yeah, your, your babies. Whenever I get home, like, my dog's like, oh my God, it's so great to see you. And I'm like, kids, are you even here? No, I know, they don't have the time, do they? They're too busy on their gadgets. But the dogs, they just want you, that's all they want. Yeah, and treats, of course. Yeah, and I do know what, I love it that you, um, you've kind of created this whole Poppy and Devon series out of it. I keep on thinking that I'd love to write a book with my dog in mind, but I think it's not going to be as, um, wholesome as yours because my dog's got a very dirty sense of humor. The things she says to me. So good. Yeah, dirty sense of humor, very cynical. Her sarcasm levels are through the roof. So it would be a very different kind of book, but— You should do it. Do you know what? I'm gonna do it. I think I'm probably— Yes! I talk more to her normally. I take her out for a drink quite often, so I think that maybe, you know, she gets more expressive the more red wine I drink. There's many— they're very in tune with our moods, aren't they? Yes. Yeah, yeah. But I think, I mean, I've read, um, the, uh, the first book as well, and now I think this book is quite different from previous books, isn't it? Yes, it's a little bit darker for a children's book, I think, because the other books, especially the first one I ever wrote, which was Poppy on Safari, was more for younger children. Yeah, you know, like, um, like 6 to 8 or 9, much younger read. But this one, I think it's more like an 8 to 12. There's got a little bit— it's a bit more darker. You've got like legends and myths and a bit of spookiness going on in the forest. And also there's the, you know, the controversial side to it with, you know, the houses being built and the animals losing their homes and that sort of— like you say, very Watership Down. That has to be one of my favourite films. I remember watching that at the cinema and crying my eyes out. I would, you know what, I did a bit of a deep dive because I was like, as I was reading it, I was going, oh, I forgot about Watership Down. I was Googling it a little bit and I think it's been banned in some countries now. Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, it's kind of classed as a children's book, but it is quite disturbing in parts. I mean, the book, I've read the book, but I've also seen the film as well, and the film's quite, quite distressing. Yeah, but I would think that your latest book though, I mean, although you might class it as like 9 to 12 year olds, I would say for adults as well. Yeah, because I think it is, I think it's something that people would enjoy to read. I mean, it's got a little bit of history in it as well, which I thought gave it another dimension. Yeah, I personally love, um, I, I love like time slips and things like that, like Kate Moser's books where you go from one century to another, and, and I love that, and it kind of feeds the imagination and how it all kind of intertwines. I love— I'm fascinated with anything like that. And the reason why— what inspired me to add this element was that one day, because I like history anyway, I happen to be reading about the English Civil War and King Charles II. And pure chance, I just noticed that he actually crossed my doorstep on his escape from the Battle of Worcester. And that fascinated me. I thought, oh my God, that's right. And I thought, this is a sign, I've got to add this to my book. I did read, yeah, the author's note at the back said that you, you're a bit of a history nut anyway, so you kind of ended up really going you know. Yeah, I mean, I love Dan Jones. Do you like to watch any of his? Dan Jones? No. Oh God, he brings history to the new generation. He makes it so much more interesting. Really? And I love his podcasts and his books. And yeah, he's really good. I mean, there's loads of others as well, loads of others I like, but they just make— I mean, I love history anyway. I'll read all the old dusty books, which must— some people find really brain-numbing, but I love it. But this, it's like a new generation of history that makes it so much more interesting. I've just Googled him. There's definitely other reasons to be interested in what he has to say as well. Is it? Yeah, the tattoos as well, they're quite nice. Yeah, I'm just looking at those as well. Yeah, I'd listen to what he has to say. Yeah, give him a go. I think you'd be interested. I've suddenly decided that I'm interested. Wow, absolutely love that. Um, yeah, tell me, he's on Audible too. That doesn't make it very interesting. Um, no, I'm quite keen to find out, what was your goal with this book? Well, thing was What happened was I've got this field opposite the house and I sit in my cave, as Mark, my husband, calls it, where I shut myself away with my music, my books, my laptop, and I'm just absorbed in my work. You know, I do the artwork, I do my stories, and there's this field opposite and it's just full of rabbits playing and I love watching them play. And in the spring it's full of daffodils It's such a beautiful field. And then they sold it and they started building houses on it, which, you know, that it's happening these days, isn't it? You know, that there's a shortage. They need to build more homes. But it was such a shame, though. And I remember talking to my neighbor and she said her son, Ewan, turned to his mom and said, oh, what about the rabbits, mom? And I said to her, because that's exactly what I thought. But you can't really say to them, I oppose this building because of the rabbits. They're not really going to listen to that, are they? No. You know, it's not really— but it was a shame. And, um, you know, that you saw a lot of the dead rabbits on the road because it's a busy road, and you saw a lot of them probably escaping the field, I'm imagining, because it was more than usual. And it was a shame, it was sad. And I suddenly thought, oh, you know, I wonder what the girls think of this, because when they started the building work Devon especially, because she's more fiery than Poppy. She was jumping up at the window and she was barking like mad at these builders, and it was as if to say, "Get out! Who do you think you are?" Because it was like, "This is my domain," you know. And these little threads of little topics that just wove themselves around inside my head, and that's how the story kind of took shape.