Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I am with Carly Bingaman. Hi, Carly.
Carly Bingaman: Hi, Toni.
Toni: How are you?
Carly: I’m doing very well. I’m enjoying the nice fall weather today.
Toni: I know. It’s gorgeous today. Absolutely gorgeous. Carly, welcome to the Project. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Carly: Sure. I’m a Berks County resident. I’ve lived here all my life, and all my family is in this area, which I think is unique and wonderful. I work for The Highlands at Wyomissing. I’m what you call a retirement counselor. Anytime somebody inquires or wants to learn more about The Highlands and how they can become a resident, it’s my job to show them around the community, introduce them to other residents, and help make their move successful. I live in West Reading, and I have twin girls that are two-and-a-half. My husband of course resides there as well with us, and we love the area and have no reason to ever leave.
Toni: Oh, I like that. That’s fantastic, and you have some fantastic residents over there at The Highlands.
Carly: We do.
Toni: Yes, you do. Let’s go into the Project. So Carly, what does inspiration mean to you?
Carly: Well, I think it can take on many different meanings. I think it’s a feeling sometimes to act upon something, maybe a desire to do good, or maybe a desire to challenge yourself and go outside your comfort zone. I think sometimes that’s when I feel most inspired, when I take on a task that I’m not used to doing, like today. Just to go outside your comfort zone, and you can be inspired by other people, certain events, situations.
Toni: When you find yourself outside of that comfort zone, because you’re so worried about being outside your comfort zone, do you sometimes miss the inspiration part, or do you almost always get inspired when you step outside that zone?
Carly: I think I get inspired when I step outside my comfort zone. I think it makes me feel great that I did something that I normally don’t do. It’s a learning experience because then you realize, “Hey, I can do this!”
Toni: Then does that propel you to move forward in other things?
Carly: It does.
Toni: Oh, that’s fantastic.
Carly: Yeah.
Toni: How do you take that stepping out process, being inspired and being excited, and put that into practice here in Berks County?
Carly: I think with my role at The Highlands it’s almost me helping other people step outside their comfort zone. My role in particular with residents wanting to make the move to The Highlands, I think they’re stepping outside their comfort zone. They’re coming from an environment where they’ve lived in their home for 50, 60 years sometimes and they’re used to a certain lifestyle, and making a move to The Highlands could be scary for them; sometimes overwhelming. I think it’s so neat once I see them make that decision and get into the groove and start participating and getting involved and really enjoying the lifestyle. It’s just a very rewarding feeling, because you see that hesitation at first. It’s one of the biggest decisions that they’ll ever make in their lives. Just to see it work and to see them be happy is awesome, I think.
Toni: What a facilitation process that is to take someone through that journey of the next part of their life, and then be inspired by it. So when was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone and you were inspired?
Carly: Well, I would say today would be one of those. I’m on a board with the Circle of Life Coalition, which is a local board. They educate people about end of life issues. I just have gotten involved with my role at The Highlands and being in healthcare and the end of life industry. Just having to speak in front of the groups there and do welcomes for the seminars that we hold and you get those nerves and those jitters beforehand, but then you just end up feeling so good about yourself after you do that.
Toni: What’s so interesting is that you’re doing this interview with the Get Inspired! Project, and so many people are going to love what you have to say, and so then it becomes about how you’re inspiring them. The journey with your residents at The Highlands, you’re inspired by them. It becomes about them.
Carly: Right.
Toni: Circle of Life Coalition, you get nervous, but then you’re presenting information that is helpful to them.
Carly: Exactly.
Toni: There is a pattern here. That’s amazing. So who in Berks County inspires you?
Carly: Many people. Too many to name, probably. I find inspiration in my husband, my mother, my kids, my boss, but daily, just because I am around them so much, I think the residents and working at The Highlands. I started there at a young age at age 16, and to be around older adults at that age I feel you learn so much from them and realize maybe all that they have gone through in their lives and how hard they worked, the families that they raised. Just to see them have a good, fulfilled, sometimes hard road, but ultimately succeeding in life, I think they’re very inspiring.
It was so neat. I was actually with a couple. I was doing a tour, and we have two residents that are just so nice, husband and wife, and they open their doors to anyone that wants to come in and see their apartment. While my tour was looking around and talking to the husband, she brought out this book, and it was a book titled “Our Home” that their children had made for them. They took pictures of the home that they raised their kids in and memories from the past 30-40 years that they lived there. Just to see what their life was like before they moved and their family, I just thought that was so neat, and I made a note to myself that, “I want to be like that when I’m their age.”
Toni: That’s a great idea.
Carly: Yeah.
Toni: So what do you think the common theme is around or about the people that inspire you?
Carly: People that are I would say kind and go-getters. People that have a goal in mind and know what they want in life and set out to achieve that. People that just don’t sit around and let life pass them by. They try to make the most of it, and they do that by working hard, loving hard, playing hard. Just really living a good life and trying your best to do so.
Toni: That’s fantastic. So, Carly, what would you like your legacy to be?
Carly: My legacy. I think I’m a pretty simple person and I would say I’d like for my legacy just to be that my children think of me as a good mom, and somebody that wanted to give them everything that my parents had given me, and to instill good values in them so that they can have a happy and successful life.
Toni: And isn't it cool to be living your legacy now?
Carly: It is. I feel very fulfilled and feel very fortunate to have such a good life with close family, a good job, two wonderful daughters, a loving husband, so yes.
Toni: So life is pretty darn good.
Carly: It is.
Toni: All right. Well thank you, Carly, for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
Carly: You’re welcome. Thank you for having me, Toni.
