Behind His Spectacles

There are many reasons I love being a Toastmaster, but one unassuming benefit is meeting others and learning about their life experiences. Behind his spectacles, is a man whose journey, in part, is much different than many of us have ever experienced.

In September 2022, Charles Beauregard joined Early Bird Ocala, but Toastmasters was not his intended target. Charles went to the social media platform ‘Meet-Up’ in search of a meditation group; looking for more social interactions.  But, instead, he found Early Bird Ocala Toastmasters.  He told me “he liked the picture, [the] description and figured [he’d] give it a try.” It didn't take long before Charles joined the rest of us birds; since Charles is not much of a morning person he must be getting up for our club's morning call, 'Caw, Caw - Caw, Caw"!  Kidding aside, Charles finds Toastmasters cool and knows it will "only help [him] be more comfortable with new people, events and speaking".

Charles has lived abroad for the majority of his life primarily in Melbourne, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand,  One of the perks of living in that region of the world is being close to Asia. This gave him the opportunity to make trips to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Korea. Moreover, Charles hopes to visit the Philippines, England, France, Ireland, and Scotland during his lifetime. I asked Charles if he had any life or cultural lessons, he would like to share from his time overseas? He said, “if you can, don’t bring up where you are from or how it is different”.  “People will judge your actions for being a foreigner, and accuse you of your country’s decisions”.  Charles went on to say that we should “accentuate the positive and don’t focus on what irks you. There is good in whatever place you find yourself; you just have to choose to see it.”  This is good advice right here folks; whether you are overseas or not – grow where you are planted.

When Charles is not dreaming about traveling you may find him engulfed in a favorite movie such as A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi, to name a few.  He is also an avid reader and has a few authors he is particularly fond of:  Phillip K. Dick, Neil Gaiman, Yasmine Galenorn, Lilith Saintcore, Chloe Neill, and more.  His favorite book is Idoru by William Gibson.

There is so much more I want to share with you about Charles, but let me leave you with two more interesting tidbits.  First, Charles is married to his wife Lucy of 24 years.  They have two children – Julian who is 19 and James who is 15.  They have no fur babies of their own, but he is known to “spoil, borrow and pay attention to everyone else’s pets when [he] visits”. Second, if there is one thing Charles would like to cross off his bucket list it would be getting his motorcycle endorsement. He would like to purchase a “Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 (not yet released), and bike around Florida and maybe even try some motorbike camping”.  Well, Charles, you are in the right state to make that happen. May next year bring you this joy.