{"id":13581,"date":"2018-09-03T16:53:43","date_gmt":"2018-09-03T20:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=13581"},"modified":"2020-01-05T07:39:05","modified_gmt":"2020-01-05T12:39:05","slug":"13581","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=13581","title":{"rendered":"Isabelle Bourgeois: Your joy is my destination"},"content":{"rendered":"
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… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …<\/p>\n

An article by Tony Robinson from Pressenza<\/a><\/p>\n

Early readers from the first days of Pressenza will remember Isabelle Bourgeois as a passionate journalist who joined the Base Team of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.\u00a0 Almost every day, Isabelle would upload a video summary <\/a> of the day\u2019s events, telling both the serious and humorous sides of the journey.<\/p>\n

In fact, Isabelle is a professionally trained journalist who has worked in war zones such as Iraq, Ethiopia and Kosovo for the Red Cross, but despairing of the one-sided stories portrayed in the media, Isabelle abandoned mainstream journalism and has set off to follow her own dream, driven by a profound purpose: to seek out joy in the world and to transmit it to as many people as possible.<\/p>\n

As I know Isabelle very well from the time we shared on the World March, she called me a few weeks ago to say she was on her tour called \u201cJoy for the Planet<\/a>\u201d and wanted to come and see what inspiring people she could find in Hungary.\u00a0 I realised that after 6 months\u2019 sleeping in her camper van, she\u2019d probably welcome the spare bed and hot shower I could offer her!\u00a0 So to Budapest she came and I helped out while she met up with a young Japanese ballet dancer who she was in contact with and who offered to be a subject in a video to spread joy through dance<\/a>.\u00a0 We spoke a lot about her project, her purpose and the future.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nIsabelle decorates her beloved vehicle and home for 2018 (Image by Joy for the Planet)<\/center><\/p>\n

One has the impression with Isabelle that she is being guided by a great force.\u00a0 What seems to be a coincidence at first, later on always feels like it was meant to be.\u00a0 As she says herself, \u201cI\u2019m the right person at the right place, at the right time with the right people.\u201d
\nI took the opportunity to interview her for Pressenza and offer her her old role back!<\/p>\n

Pressenza:<\/strong> What is Joy for the Planet? Tell us about this project.<\/p>\n

Isabelle Bourgeois:<\/strong> Joy for the planet is a journey around the world but starting with a tour through Europe, with my camper van that I\u2019ve called Begoodee, in order to promote and share joy, enthusiasm and passion through meeting inspiring people.\u00a0 I\u2019m a journalist and all my life I\u2019ve been dedicated to promoting and sharing positive news, inspiring news, through the media and I wanted to bring my own contribution to improve humankind, somehow, on a very humble level.\u00a0 So the idea is to travel throughout Europe for one year with the gift that I\u2019m born with and with my experience as a journalist, with my camera, with my microphone and pencil and some drawings.\u00a0 I\u2019m bringing joy and sharing joy as a volunteer through videos, articles and interviews.<\/p>\n

PZ:<\/strong> I see that as part of the project, in every place you go, you look for inspiring people who you award with the title nominee of joy and give them a solar lamp. What\u2019s that about?<\/p>\n

IB:<\/strong> The idea again is to bring trust and faith, but faith not in a religious sense, faith in yourself, faith in your life\u2019s mission, faith in the purpose that you are living on Earth.\u00a0 So the idea is to build bridges instead of fear, instead of walls, to show how much beauty there is in the world and how many great and inspiring people there are.\u00a0 And on the road, in order to show the light that goes from person to person helping each other and being passionate about their lives, I found a concrete way to symbolize this transmission of love and passion with a little solar lamp.<\/p>\n

So on the road, in a way which is not at all planned or controlled, something totally spontaneous, I might meet some people; adults, disabled people, children who are willing to build solar lamps with me.\u00a0 So they add their light to this project, they add their love, they add their hopes, by building these little lamps.\u00a0 And on the road I offer these lamps to inspiring people who dedicate their lives to others, or who bring better living conditions for us.<\/p>\n

PZ:<\/strong> What led you to take on this great adventure?<\/p>\n

IB:<\/strong> For the last 25 years, I\u2019ve been a journalist and at the beginning I was a regular journalist, writing about gossip, violence and scandals; nothing that actually helps anyone to evolve and I was also working as a humanitarian delegate in war-torn countries. \u00a0And being in war zones I was surprised to see so much love, solidarity, great behaviour and forgiveness from all parties involved in the conflict.\u00a0 But in the evening when I came back home and switched on the TV, the media were only talking about terrorism, bomb attacks, violence and blood, and I said that there\u2019s something here which isn\u2019t right, because I\u2019m in the middle of the war and I see so much beauty also, so much love, so much peace and I thought, \u201cOh, there\u2019s a kind of conscious manipulation by omitting what makes people human beings.\u201d\u00a0 And I didn\u2019t want to take part in that lie anymore because this war and violence is a reality but it\u2019s not the reality.\u00a0 And I witnessed also another reality which is solidarity, helping each other, forgiving and so 15 years ago I decided to create a good news website \u2013 somehow similar to Pressenza \u2013 on a voluntary basis and I decided to quit mainstream journalism for good, because it contributes much more to increasing fear, hate and judgment among people than to bringing trust and inspiring solutions.\u00a0 So this was the first thing I did.<\/p>\n

And then I tried as a freelance journalist to publish good news, inspiring news, but most of the media said, \u201cGood news is not news, Isabelle,\u201d and, \u201cYou\u2019re too idealistic, you\u2019re too na\u00efve.\u201d Really, I was hitting my head against a brick wall for many years, wanting to show that other side of reality.<\/p>\n

So in the mean time I created other projects like, for instance, Planet Positive Action which is a travel company that organises solidarity tours.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

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It\u2019s about travellers who visit a country while at the same time helping and giving a meaning to the trip. So I did that while taking a bit more distance from journalism but I never gave up on the idea of really bringing my journalistic faculties to others because I love my job.<\/p>\n

I think journalism is one of the most beautiful jobs in the world. \u00a0So two years ago I said I will not give up on inspiring journalism or humanist journalism and I said, \u201cBut how can I bring my reportage, my features, my articles, if mainstream media are not that interested in publishing what I see and who I meet?\u201d\u00a0 And so I said, \u201cI\u2019ll do it on my own, I\u2019ll just find some money to buy a vehicle and I\u2019ll jump into the world with my camera, my microphone, my pencil and I\u2019ll just do it on my own. I will not wait any more for people to follow me in this. I\u2019ll just do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And I did some crowdfunding last November and I succeeded to collect eighteen thousand euros which was beyond my expectations because I was asking for fifteen thousand. \u00a0And then I bought my second-hand old camper van and that\u2019s it.\u00a0 I started my journey from Switzerland six months ago and this is how it happened, to make a long story short. Although the project only took shape two years ago, it\u2019s really a life-time commitment.<\/p>\n

PZ:<\/strong> On your journey so far from Switzerland with Begoodee, where have you been? And could you give us a couple of highlights for you?<\/p>\n

IB: <\/strong>\u00a0Yes. \u00a0So I started in Switzerland then I went down to Sardinia, Corsica, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland and then I went through all the Baltic countries to Poland, and I landed now a few days ago in Budapest.<\/p>\n

Highlights?\u00a0 Actually every day of that journey has been a highlight because I\u2019ve met such unbelievable people, extraordinary people.<\/p>\n

So for instance in Finland, I met Vill\u00e9, a 25 years old young man who tried to kill himself when he was 16 years old because he couldn\u2019t fit with that world. \u00a0It was like he was parachuted on to a terrible planet he didn\u2019t want to belong to. So he jumped off a cliff, and he told me, \u201cI jumped from the cliff. I\u2019ve lost two legs, but I found my joy.\u201d\u00a0 And he was sharing with me what made him so joyful today and he said that it was this path that has nothing to do with what is visible, with materialistic issues; it\u2019s about finding peace and loving everything whatever it is, beyond shape and form, beyond the physical.\u00a0 So he was really a fantastic person.<\/p>\n

Also in Finland, I participated in the world championships of boot-throwing. This also I loved so much because it was kind of, when you\u2019re going through a hard time and you have this total nonsense sport which helps you also to give a meaning to your life, because it helps you to take distance from drama and from seriousness.\u00a0 So I found it actually very therapeutic.<\/p>\n

Also in the South of France I met a guy whose dream, he is 75 years old, was to cross the Atlantic inside a barrel.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve met Buddhists, I\u2019ve met Jewish people who are committed to bringing peace to the Middle East.\u00a0 I\u2019ve met dancers who were dancing to bring all the nations together.<\/p>\n

And I have rewarded \u2013 it\u2019s not me actually it\u2019s the project, because there is a big difference between me and the project \u2013 so the project has rewarded so far 36 or 37 nominees of Joy.<\/p>\n

PZ: <\/strong>What\u2019s the future for this project? \u00a0Where are you seeing it in the future?<\/p>\n

IB:\u00a0<\/strong> Of course, the idea now is to build something that will remain, that will be useful for everyone.\u00a0 So this year\u2019s journey is just for me a calling card to show to everyone that I want to give an example.\u00a0 So, I did it with all my love, with all my convictions. \u00a0I did it and then I will write a book about this journey and I would like to make a movie because so far I\u2019ve edited more than 60 videos but very short so I\u2019d like to make a movie. And then with this movie, the journey (the experience), the writing and the film, I would like to create a kind of a place, a physical location, where people can experience joy: joy through art, joy through science (with quantum physics, for instance, how your thoughts are influencing your destiny), joy with music, joy and education, and so on. \u00a0So, it will be a place where people can experience, in an interactive way, how to find the key to joy in life and how to live a dream, how to align your values with your actions.<\/p>\n

PZ:<\/strong> \u00a0What have you learned in these last six months?<\/p>\n

IB:<\/strong> [Laughter] That I was right! I\u2019ve learned somehow very deep, but I\u2019ve learned that I was right to trust human beings. \u00a0I was right all my life to trust human beings, and to see jewels within them. And people who behave badly, it\u2019s not that they\u2019re bad, it\u2019s just that they didn\u2019t have the chance to be loved enough to follow their dreams.\u00a0 So all the harm and the bad is coming from ignorance.\u00a0 It\u2019s not coming from reality, rather from a source of negativity. \u00a0It\u2019s really an accident in a loving process in an individual\u2019s path.\u00a0 So, I\u2019ve learned that actually everyone is good and has a very beautiful ground but education factors have stopped them from remaining loving or a loved person. \u00a0I\u2019ve learned that I shouldn\u2019t judge anymore what is right and what is wrong, because if you decide what\u2019s right, what\u2019s wrong, then you will feed the notion of duality and this is not at all what I would like to contribute. \u00a0So by accepting light and dark, good and bad in a compassionate way, I believe that I contribute more to building this sense of oneness on earth.<\/p>\n

PZ:<\/strong> And finally, what brings you joy?<\/p>\n

IB:<\/strong> Of course, this project actually.\u00a0 There is joy in finding joy actually. \u00a0So because all my life, I really felt joy despite the burdens, difficulties and troubles in my life, I never quit that deep feeling that everything has a purpose and that we\u2019re not alone and that there\u2019s a reason for all the turbulence in your life. \u00a0So I never quit that underground stream of joy, but it was of course up and down, up and down, like as if I was going out of the flow and then back into the flow, and out of the flow and back again.\u00a0 But now, through this project I feel really that I\u2019m non-stop in the flow of joy, non-stop, because I feel that I\u2019m the right person at the right place, at the right time with the right people and that I\u2019m really doing what I was born for, that I\u2019m in my life\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

PZ:<\/strong> Very good. Thank you and good luck!<\/p>\n

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE … An article by Tony Robinson from Pressenza Early readers from the first days of Pressenza will remember Isabelle Bourgeois as a passionate journalist who joined the Base Team of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.\u00a0 Almost every day, Isabelle would upload a video summary of the day\u2019s events, telling … Continue reading Isabelle Bourgeois: Your joy is my destination<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,75],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-13581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education-for-peace","category-europe","tag-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13581\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}