Julia speaks with Byron Lu and his mother, Caroline Wang, about Byron's experience with The School Without Walls and discovering new ways to follow his own path.
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Production assistance from Podlad.com and Daypack Digital. Artwork by Olivia Dancel. Dragonfly art by Soul Creative Design.
Please note that due to AI transcription, there may be minor spelling or grammatical errors in this transcript.
Julia Carmen (00:03):
Beautiful light beings. This is Julia Carmen with the School Without Walls. And today I'm back with a special conversation for all of you. A few months ago, I shared my conversation with Caroline. That's episode 34, the Dance of Love with Caroline Wang. And today I'm chatting with her son, Byron, who has also enjoyed some work with me and the School without Walls. He's a young man who is insightful and curious, and we chat today about what he's discovered about himself and the world around him through his work with the School Without Walls. I think you'll enjoy our conversation today. It's always, at least for myself, energizing to hear from the next generation. Byron, why don't you introduce yourself?
Byron Wang (01:03):
Hi, I'm Byron, and I am a ninth grader. I go to a high school now.
Julia Carmen (01:10):
You like that, right? Gosh. Okay. So how did you come to get to know the school without Waltz? And I mean, I know your mom, but
Byron Wang (01:24):
The first time, my experience was when my mom signed me up for the class. I think it was over the summer, the School Without Walls, and I'm like, okay.
Julia Carmen (01:45):
And I'm really putting, because this was in 2020, I remember that was during that year, that summer. And so loaded question here, how was that for you? Because I don't know if I really ever heard any feedback on it, just that you were fine with it, but share with everyone, because we called it the Wizard Seeable class, right? Yeah.
Byron Wang (02:09):
So it was definitely a unique experience. I've never had anything quite like it. I think it came with a lot. There was a lot to unpack in the class. And since that was my only experience, it was a little tricky to get integrated. But I would say that it was pretty interesting hearing about this other side of the world.
Julia Carmen (02:45):
You mean the non-physical? What did you think about, I know, remember we talked about energetic boundaries and archetypes and things like that. What do you remember about that? What did you think about that? That is different if you're bringing that in?
Byron Wang (03:05):
I remember we talked, I think it was the first day we talked about the archetypes. We were, and we were asked to make a collage about our archetypes. And I remember I made, my archetype was king and sage, and I remember searching for images of, I don't know, crowns and forests. And it was like, while I was searching, I was like, are there any times where I acted like these? And then I kept finding moments where I fit kind of within the boundaries of what archetype I was.
Julia Carmen (03:48):
Can you share that? Can you share a little bit about, you don't have to, but if can. Great. If not, great.
Byron Wang (03:56):
So this didn't happen until much later after my week class, but my week long class with you. But in seventh grade, that was 2021, we had a robotics club, and our first task was to build this robot out of Legos that it would push out a tissue for you. And then I was kind of like the group leader of the project, but I kind of did all the work. And then I didn't realize I was doing it, but I went to everybody and I'm like, I think this could be a nice way to do it. And then I kind of just built everything. And then after the project, my group mates were like, Byron, you kind of did all the work and we didn't do anything. And it wasn't really interest, fun or anything. And I thought, oh, wait, okay. I think I'm kind of overtaking the whole thing. And I don't know, it kind of reminded me of the king archetype.
Julia Carmen (05:12):
Wow, that's real insightful, Byron. That is really insightful, isn't it, Carolyn? Wow. Yeah. So it helped you see you. It doesn't mean that's who you are 24 7. That's what I think of archetypes. They're kind of a gauge. As soon as you put a label on something, then it's like, we think that's all we are. But for you, you worked it.
Caroline Wang (05:45):
My parent did say that helps him to understand himself better.
Byron Wang (05:50):
Yeah, I can kind of notice some tendencies. Yeah.
Julia Carmen (05:56):
So it's useful. Anything else you want to share with us?
Byron Wang (06:01):
I also remember an exercise where you told us to choose a protective bubble, so to speak, for ourselves. I don't remember exactly what I chose, but I remember I went to one of the meetings with you and my mom and you asked me about it. And after the meeting, I decided to choose another one. I chose a laser eye.
Julia Carmen (06:33):
What's a laser eye? You guys got to educate me.
Byron Wang (06:37):
I kind of made it up. Oh,
Julia Carmen (06:38):
Okay. Okay. Go ahead.
Byron Wang (06:42):
So I like to imagine being protected by an eye. And when I see someone that maybe feels threatening, I can zap them a little bit and it feels like it's protecting me kind of.
Julia Carmen (06:57):
There you go. That innate wisdom, Carolyn, you want to use that word for that? Or that's your soul self sharing with you. We're an amazing, we're all geniuses, we're all amazing, aren't we? Because you came up with something that were specifically just for you.
Caroline Wang (07:20):
Yeah,
Julia Carmen (07:22):
No one else. And
Caroline Wang (07:23):
I just feel also, Byron used to have a bit more anxiety around things. He's sensitive to what's happening around him. So I think this laser eye or other things he did in the class helped him to calm down tremendously. So he used to play a fidget ball to just to get released that anxiety, energy. And after that, I felt like he doesn't really need that. He knows how to deal with that Now.
Julia Carmen (07:58):
Is that pretty right on Byron? Yeah. I can see you just, well, you folks that are listening, you cannot see us. This is all audio. So I've known Byron for seven years, and I've sat with you for a few times. When I say sat session with you and your mom or the seeable class and your frequency and energy definitely is smooth. I don't know what else to, it's kind of like smooth. Yeah, it doesn't feel, not that it ever didn't feel anything, but it is what it is kind of. I look at things aren't neither right or wrong, and that's a real challenging thing. Byron, when you were in the class with the other kids, I didn't look at anyone like, oh, this is what we got to fix. That's not how this works. I just listened to your frequency and vibration and it's very smooth. Yeah, no static. And again, as soon as I say static, just because I heard static before doesn't mean there was anything wrong. It was just that the reading wasn't, I was trying to dial in on you. That's all. Yeah. And again, that's a challenging thing for humans.
Caroline Wang (09:34):
Yeah. I think Judah, to just add on what Byron said is when we know we have this innate power of protecting ourselves in whatever ways, and we can just use that, that is so helpful,
Julia Carmen (09:57):
Isn't it?
Caroline Wang (09:58):
That is so helpful. Otherwise, we feel like we're kind of fragile when we're walking the words and there's just so much things going on outside us. And typically I think as a child grew up, I'm just kind of put defense oral by myself
Julia Carmen (10:19):
Instead
Caroline Wang (10:20):
Of knowing actually I can use a laser eye, just zap them a little bit instead of put a armor on.
Julia Carmen (10:27):
Right? Exactly. Yeah. Because armor takes
Caroline Wang (10:31):
The difference. The armor takes so much more energy from me, and the armor just blocks so much things. Vitality in me like the heart as well, so that I feel safe in the world. But now I feel like Barry is lucky. He's able to learn that now, and he can just zap people away. And he is protected. He can protect himself. I feel like that's what a gift for him to learn at this age.
Julia Carmen (11:05):
Exactly. It's huge. Carolyn, for a mother, I hear you. For a mother to, it's a challenge, isn't it? And those of you mothers out there, our big huge thing is protecting our kids. And then they go to school or whatever, and they have whatever, whatever's going on for them. And if they're Byron, and again, this word here, people think as a negative. You're a sensitive being, not like anything. You could feel things around you to understand, Byron, and I hope I don't, again, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but to have this understanding that you have the answers within you now, Byron, that is priceless for you, that you know that when you get quiet, you'll be able to figure out, let's say the laser thing. She's like, well, I don't want to use that. I'm going to try to figure something else out. You'll know when that time comes, or you'll know to ask your mom, you know what, that laser thing, I need more. I need a little bit more, or I need help me adjust it. I'm just making all that up. Because you'll know when to do that. Somebody's not going to come up to you and tell you. You self-regulated yourself, Byron, on that project you saw yourself. Isn't that how many humans can self-regulate themselves? You knew this is where I was going. You knew you had choice, Byron.
(12:38)
Right? I mean, he's going, most people don't know that, Byron. They just have a feeling or emotion. And I think they need to act on it. Or not act on it, because they feel like, I think Carolyn, you said earlier they feel like, what was it? You said something about feeling like you can't move or you can't do something because of,
Caroline Wang (12:58):
I dunno. Yeah, the fear, right? Yeah. There
Julia Carmen (13:00):
You go. I
Caroline Wang (13:01):
Dunno how to protect myself. I just going to put a big armor around me so that I'm shutting myself down from the word. Yes.
Julia Carmen (13:09):
Right? Yeah.
Caroline Wang (13:11):
So it's not helpful when I grow up. Now I need to learn how to drop off that armor. And that's a lot of work,
Julia Carmen (13:21):
Especially if you've got a bunch of steel, metal and swords and all that kind of stuff coming out.
Caroline Wang (13:27):
Yeah, I think nobody really teach us in terms of what you said, the energy or the vibration, which is the frequency goes around humans. It's not really showed up in any science study in terms of how human interacted. There's more neuroscience talking about we kind of can mirror each other neuro from the neuro cells, and there's actually unspoken words, the waves of communication going on between people. But that's minimal. Minimal, I think in your word. What I learned is that it's all just about energy and vibration exchange and the word around us. So we need to learn that and learn how to live in this word, see the word a little bit differently than just our physical self separated itself. We're all just connected through a web of frequency and vibration.
Julia Carmen (14:31):
Exactly.
Caroline Wang (14:32):
That's my understanding of this non-physical communication that's always happening, right?
Julia Carmen (14:40):
Yeah. Talking about that, your line of being is the Buddhism. I won't share what mine was, but I always knew that I was, most all of us know that there's more to us than the human realm, all of us, wherever we're at. So then when we hear truth about, Hey, you know what? You got frequency, you got vibration, you got sound, right? Yeah. And they've talked about persons with dementia and Alzheimer's. Soon as put on music, the receptors in the brain start going, woo, why is that? Because of sound and frequency and vibration. It wakes things up in the human realm to remind us of where we're at. Why does that work because of that, right? So when Byron was listening to find something, find something to help you be in this world. That's how that came up, Byron. You got quiet and you went, ah, I know what it came through a frequency and vibration, and then it came into your thought process. And remember, everything in the physical has been created in the non-physical first. So then it comes into the physical realm, and that's exactly what you did. I could see a whole bunch of stuff, but it may not come out like a laser. It may come out like a jellyfish. And you go, I can't relate to jellyfish. Right? Yeah.
(16:08)
Yeah. So thank you for that, Byron. That was way cool. Do you have any other goodies you want to share with us?
Byron Wang (16:16):
One more story I remember more clearly. It's just one of the other kids we were working with. I don't remember their name, but I think I remember them having a horse in one of our lessons. I remember her saying that the horse was sick or something, and then she asked you if you could help with that. And I remember you telling her that the horse was eating some sort of bad plant that was causing it to be sick. And I was just really impressed about how you could tell.
Julia Carmen (16:58):
Yeah, and it actually was true. I mean, we found out that, yeah. Oh, oh, no. Bueno. Yeah. Isn't that cool? That's again, listening, right? You, anyone that's listening can talk story. Anything that has a frequency and vibration, it's about getting quiet enough to hear it. But I would highly recommend most people just listening to self first, getting quiet enough to hear that, and then actually the whole world's always opening up to us. It depends on how much you want to hear. Yeah, Byron? Yeah. Yeah. So is knowing this about yourself, is it, I don't want to say easier, but is there more ease in being in ninth grade right now? Because being a teenager is interesting?
Byron Wang (17:55):
Yeah. Well, maybe a bit, but I feel like the transition from eighth grade to ninth grade, I just was like, I'm happily cozy life. And then I got, I'm like, why are there so many people help?
Julia Carmen (18:14):
What does that mean? What do you mean by that?
Byron Wang (18:18):
It's a pretty big change, but knowing my own personality is good to find your own little anchor so that you don't get swept away in the masses.
Julia Carmen (18:31):
Wow. That's deep.
Caroline Wang (18:32):
He is talking about his school. He is coming from a school of, they have 40 students in each grade, and now he is in a high school, has 400 students in each grade.
Julia Carmen (18:46):
So
Caroline Wang (18:46):
That's a huge change of, it was a nice, cozy family environment. And now this is like, who know who? I don't know that many people anymore.
Julia Carmen (18:59):
Wow. Wow. So ninth grade is ninth? What is that? In human years?
Byron Wang (19:08):
14 to 15.
Julia Carmen (19:10):
Oh, okay. 14 to 15. Okay. Okay. This is a great time, you guys. Byron, this is the time where a lot of times when I work with you folks and your preteen is the best time, I love working with preteens. And then teenagers, I just tell 'em, go off. Go have a good time. Be a human. Enjoy life. Take whatever it is that you need from what you were taught, and then just bring it on in. And then later when you get into your twenties, then I'll tell people, if you're ready to learn more, not learn more, but hang out with yourself in a little bit more of a deeper way than I always invite people to come back, come on back and let's do some work. But the teenage thing is just hopefully the parents are the ones that will continue to guide you folks. Yeah. Anyway, so we're going to start wrapping this up, and we don't have to wrap it up like this moment, but share with us. You guys want to share anything? Byron? You want to share anything mijo? I have a question. Would you come back to a Bel class at any point? Is that something you would, if somebody needed some? I'm just curious.
Byron Wang (20:28):
Yeah, maybe. Because we only did it for one week the first time, and I was like, I don't remember too much about it now. It was like a bit ago, especially during the pandemic, so I think it might be interesting to do it again, if anything.
Julia Carmen (20:55):
Yeah. Oh no, that sounds
Caroline Wang (20:55):
Great. I'll sign you up. Byron
Julia Carmen (21:00):
Byron's going, wait a minute, she just tell me to be a teenager. I think it would be, yeah, I think it'd be cool. Do a little. I think we had it three times. You probably don't remember, but we did it three times. Yeah, but it was during the pandemic.
Caroline Wang (21:14):
I just have tremendous gratitude that I could be on a journey and also bring Byron, my son on a journey with this community.
Julia Carmen (21:30):
Thanks so much, Byron, for joining me on the show. And if you miss my conversation with this mom, Caroline, be sure you check out episode 34. If you're curious to learn more about our offerings and programs here at the School Without Walls, whether for yourself or the loved ones in your life, visit our website at theschoolwithoutwalls.net and subscribe to our newsletter. Learn more about our retreats or schedule a free discovery call with me. That's all at our website, theschoolwithoutwalls.net. Thanks for being here today, A and Amen.