Building Resilience: Sandra Younger on Surviving Wildfires, The ComeBACK Formula, and Climate Preparedness

Care More Be Better: A Podcast For Sustainable Social Impact and Regeneration

Corinna Bellizzi

Science, Self-improvement, Documentary, Earth Sciences, Society & Culture, Education

5.0 • 22 Ratings

🗓️ 10 January 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, host Corinna Bellizzi speaks with Sandra Millers Younger, journalist, fire survivor, and author of The Fire Outside My Window: A Survivor Tells the True Story of California's Epic Cedar Fire. Sandra shares her harrowing escape from the 2003 Cedar Fire, the lessons learned, and how her experience has shaped her mission to help others build resilience. With wildfires ravaging Southern California, this conversation is particularly timely, offering practical tools and emotional insights for navigating personal and collective crises.Episode HighlightsThe Reality of Climate-Driven WildfiresCorinna opens with an update on the ongoing wildfires in Southern California, highlighting the rising toll of climate-driven disasters and their profound impact on communities. She reflects on resilience, gratitude, and how framing challenges positively can empower survivors.Sandra Younger’s Cedar Fire StorySandra recounts her narrow escape from the 2003 Cedar Fire, which destroyed her home and claimed 12 lives in her community.She shares vivid details, from following a bobcat through smoke-filled roads to lessons learned about preparedness, including the importance of go-bags, defensible space, and early evacuation.Sandra’s reflections underscore the unpredictability and speed of natural disasters.Resilience and The ComeBACK FormulaSandra introduces her ComeBACK Formula, a five-step framework for building resilience:Come to Gratitude – Focus on what you can be thankful for, even amid tragedy.Be Patient & Believe – Healing and rebuilding take time, but resilience is innate.Accept Help – Embrace support from others and be willing to ask for it when needed.Choose Your Attitude – Reframe your story as one of survival and growth, not victimhood.Keep Moving Forward – Celebrate small wins and take incremental steps toward recovery.Lessons for Preparing and CopingThe psychological toll of disasters: triggers like wind or lightning and the importance of mental health tools.Practical tips for disaster preparedness: defensible space, early evacuation, and community coordination.Broader implications for society: the need for infrastructure improvements, proactive wildfire management, and climate resilience strategies.Resilience in Everyday LifeCorinna and Sandra discuss how the principles of resilience apply to everyday challenges, from personal crises to the global pandemic. They emphasize the role of storytelling, gratitude, and connection in overcoming adversity.Resources MentionedBooks:The Fire Outside My Window: A Survivor Tells the True Story of California's Epic Cedar Fire by Sandra YoungerBlue Mind and Dear Wild Child by Dr. Wallace J. NicholsMan’s Search for Meaning by Viktor FranklFrom Stressed to Resilient by Dr. Deborah GilboaSandra Younger’s Website & Resources:The ComeBACK Formula Guidebook (Free Download)Coaching and speaking opportunities: SandraYounger.comContact Corinna Bellizzi:Email: Hello@CareMoreBeBetter.comSocial Media: @corinnabellizzi @caremorebebetterJoin the CommunitySubscribe, leave a review, and share your thoughts about this episode! Together, we can care more, be better, and create a more resilient society.Follow Sandra YoungerLinkedIn: Sandra YoungerInstagram: @smyoungerFacebook: Sandra M. YoungerYouTube: Sandra YoungerTwitter: @syoungerJOIN OUR CIRCLE. BUILD A GREENER FUTURE:🌴 Subscribe to our newsletter, and we'll plant a tree in your honor! https://caremorebebetter.com🌲 Subscribe and rate us wherever you listen, and we'll plant another tree Follow us on social media:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@caremorebebetter TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@caremorebebetterInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/CareMoreBeBetter/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CareMoreBeBetter

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today, I hoped to welcome all of you back to a new season of Care More Be Better as I recovered
0:05.7	from my surgery on my ankle and began recording episodes again last week. But a series of stumbles,
0:13.1	including a couple of guest cancellations and the one that was set to record today, Josh
0:18.5	Tockel, also had to back out because of the wildfires of
0:22.3	Southern California. Now, Josh is the filmmaker behind Common Ground and Kissed the Ground.
0:29.2	We were set to talk about all things, regenerative agriculture, and solutions to our climate
0:34.4	chaos. We'll do that when we do get the interview on the books, probably
0:38.7	in a week or so. Then we can focus on deepening our understanding of how this whole world
0:47.4	of regenerative agriculture can really be part of the solution to the climate challenges we
0:52.9	face today, including the wildfires that
0:56.0	have caused these cancellations. But for now, we have an urgent need. We have an urgent need to
1:02.2	think about those that are afflicted this fire season, an urgent need to think about how
1:07.8	climate chaos is impacting the lives of people around us. It's January. We're
1:14.9	supposed to be enjoying cooler weather and even some rain or snow. But in the desert of Southern
1:20.9	California, that is certainly not what we're getting right now. Looking at reporting today
1:25.4	from the New York Times, there's an article titled Maps,
1:29.2	tracking the Los Angeles wildfires. We see three major fires surrounding Los Angeles, each with
1:36.9	their own significant evacuation zones. The largest, the Palisades Fire, is on the coast
1:42.9	to the west side of Los Angeles and encompasses
1:45.3	that portion just south of Malibu, much of which has frankly already been destroyed.
1:53.2	15,000 acres have burned in that fire.
1:57.1	The second largest, the Eaton Fire, is just to the north of L.A., a little bit to the east,
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