Chasing Your Dreams Into Reality

ASMR Walking together in Antarctica

So let's just stop and take 3 deep breathes:

1 ... 2.... 3

And now just listen.

We’re going to go on a walk, together.

While you’re taking these steps, can you feel the pebbles part under your feet?

Let’s take 10 steps together. Count them out in your mind.

Only the numbers

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Are you walking the same pace as me?

Where were you heading?

Where do the sounds of these steps are take you?

Let’s assume this is a good thing, a good place.

Somewhere that will bring joy.

Let your heart fill up your heart with a goloshy feeling of goodness.

Let’s keep walking.

Another 10 steps

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Did you get further this time?

What did you hear, out there?

Where did those sounds transport you to?

Always love to hear from you, so just hit reply to land in my inbox.

Sento to you with audio love.

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After a long hiatus, due to the pandemic, I’ve recently started going to the cinema again, and it feels great. There’s something about seeing a film in a festival, actually in person, that feels extravagant…even if you have to still wear a mask.

Because, when you’re at a festival, you get to see the filmmakers in person, and often the actors or subjects too. It’s just exciting. You feel like you’re part of something.

The most recent film I got to see was at the Hot Docs International Film Festival, and it’s called Nalvany. It’s a documentary that was following Nalvany, if you don’t know, the unofficial opposition leader to Russia…a politician who might be able to beat Putin, if he was given a chance, perhaps if he was let out of jail. 

The film  is amazing, and you should totally find it. And I’m not going to spoil it for you, in case you don’t read the news. But it is a shocking, exciting film.

After seeing this film, I felt inspired all over again. And it got me thinking about how to tell a great story. What kinds of secret sauce goes into collecting of these kinds of stories that we all love to hear.

Now because you’re here, and we’re having this conversation, I’m going to let you in on a couple secrets about making documentaries. 

There are a few Golden Rules that we follow. And these rules work for both filmmakers and audio storytellers, podcasters, like me....and one of these rules is: Always Be Recording. ABR.

What that means, on a practical level, is that you turn on whatever recording recording device you’re working with, so sound, or video, you turn it on well before the thing that you’re actually are going to record, if it’s an event or an interview. . 

So whatever that thing is that you’re about to capture, if it has an actual moment, like an event, or even an interview, you turn the tape before you open the door, before you start the phone call, before you go and meet the person. Down the road and around the corner, kind of thing. No where near the story. Always Be Recording.

And then, that means that you capture the doorbell ringing, the door opening, the sound of voices greeting each other. The footsteps walking in or out. The sound the phone makes when it hangs up or picks up. The words that you say just before and just after…those words might seem unimportant, but dollars to donuts, the often make it in the final thing.

It this feels awkward, push through.

In the end, what you get is both a blessing and a curse...it racks up to hours upon hours of footage. But stick with it.

When I came back from Antarctica, I had over 100 hours of raw tape. And that boiled down to just over two hours and a bit hours of finished story.

At first glance, you could think that most of it was useless stuff...there were days upon days when I recorded everything, which seemed very interesting in the moment, but not so much after after.

But then later, you find yourself needing a scene to establish in the story, you need to start somewhere, you need to get the ball rolling and have a moment of pause before the moment begin. 

Because there’s something about un-produced sound effects feel much more real: An actual door opening, the beep of an elevator, the sound of shoes scuffing a hotel carpet floor. These details are so small that they are almost invisible. 

They can be the magic that pulls people into a story. Because, it’s real. It happened. And you were there. That’s the proof, it’s right there.  

And using this sound helps people see the things. Even when it's on radio.

So this story you’re about to listen to, Always Be Recording, was recorded when I met up with Alice Rhuweza at a hotel in Washington DC.  It was a follow-up interview, after we had returned from our trip.

And you can decide if this is this a story about nothing...A Seinfeld moment, or whether this set up, this scene, leaves you very curious for what happens next? Because now, you feel you’re in the room too. 

This story first appeared in my newsletter, Audio Love. 

To subscribe, follow the link in the show notes. Or google: Audio Love Newsletter.

Thanks for listening. I’m Samantha Hodder.

If you’ve ever been on boat, or a ship, maybe you’ll agree with me that the sound of water hitting the hull, is very calming. It can put you to sleep. It can let your mind wander. It can allow you the space to imagine being somewhere else. 

Maybe this is not a surprising statement, but I love sound. Raw, in the moment, nature, natural noise, chatter in a specific spot…wherever it might be, when I listen to it, I can close my eyes and imagine that I’m somewhere else.

Well, today, I’ve got a bit of a treat for you. I want to share some sound, which is pretty much raw sound, just a recording of place. 

But then I’m going to add a layer to it, which is a visualization…maybe a sort of meditation…some prompts and open ended questions to see where your imagination takes you, while you listen to this sound.

For me, sound can bring back all the feelings, I can get all the sensations, the emotions and actual memories of a place. 

Here’s a funny fact: When I began this project, before I had even been to ANtarctica, I wanted to feel what it was like to be there. So I went on Youtube, and found a one hour loop of the sound of wind, at the South Pole, and I would sit and listen to it, while I was writing the script. 

Something about the sound made it feel like I was there, a little more immediate, more real, and much much colder than was, sitting there in the middle of summer.

And I’m going to suggest that this is a good time to listen with earphones, or earbuds. Or just something that feels more, connected.

Let’s start by taking three deep breathes. 1, 2, 3.

Imagine you are standing on the deck of the ship, right next to me.

It’s windy out. It’s always windy here. And the wind is cold. 

Can you feel it on your face? Is your nose a little bit cold?

Ok, now steady yourself....take a wide stance.

The paint on the deck under your feet is dark green and it has a grit to it, so that you don’t slip. It sort of helps to bend your knees a bit. Let your body sway with the movement of the waves.

Ok, the ship is starting to move a bit. Side to side.

It’s a bit erratic. It comes and it goes.

Look look down, at the water, and you’ll see see chunks of ice.

From here they seem small...but then one of them hits the steel hull, that's the crashing sound just you heard.

Thse ice bits aren't very small, it appears. They are mid-sized, at least.

But the sound passes quickly.

The ship is moving quickly enough, and as the bow of the ship cuts through the water, you can see a deep blue colour of dance on top of the waves. 

These little bits are called bergy bits. Tiny little icebergs.

Now, raise your eyes, and look to the far shore. Big sheets of ice are floating on the top of the water.  

Now, look up at the horizon. It's calm.

The sky is as blue as you’ve ever seen it.

The air is very clean here.

Let’s just relax here for a moment. 

Can you hear the quiet sound of the waves lapping.

Feel that steady energy, and sense the movement. Going. Going. Moving. Moving.

Now turn your mind back to the waves and hear them grumbling.

Let your mind drift. Imagine being somewhere else for a moment.

Now back, can you pick out that deep engine roar at the bottom?

And then up top, like the piccolos, the small waves puddling along.

It goes and it goes....where have you gone?

Look up now, and imagine the skyline. Is it dark, or bright?

Look back down at the water now. Think about how cold it must be in that water here.

Remember the last time you went swimming.

Inhale very deeply.

Can you taste that salt on your lips?

Allow your mind to free, bouncing on the top of the waves.

Then the middle sound picks up...and it leads to a crescendo.

Another boom of thunder.

What came to your mind with that crack? Did it startle you?

What did these waves have to tell you?

And now I'm calling you back...

Look at that. Look at that!

​

Thanks for taking that short visulation journey with me! 

If you want to receive my newsletter, audio love, follow the link in the show notes.

When I first started doing radio work back in the 1990s, it felt awkward to listen to my own tape. When I heard the listened back, nothing about my voice seemed familiar. It was like it could have been someone else. Definitely someone younger, less assured, ah, and, ummm who was sometimes prone to up-talking.

Eventually, this changed. Practice, practice, practice. The more interviews I did, the more I had to listen to my own voice, and then the more I edited my own voice, the more I began to sound… edited. And then I began to notice that the voice that I heard on the tape was the same voice that I heard when I talk. Now, there’s no difference. They both sound the same to me.

And I love a good interview…I love giving an interview, and and I also being interviewed. There’s something about a conversation with meanders down unscripted paths that’s…just…fun, that’s what I love.

But when I was that ship in Antarctica, mostly, really entirely, I was the one behind the microphone. Listening and recording, and then, recording and listening…and then many many sit down interviews as well. For anyone who has done a lot of active listening, you know how tiring this is. Exciting, super interesting, but wickedly exhausting, braindead by the end of the day.

After the trip, when we got back to Argentina, but before we had all dispersed, one of the participants, in fact, someone who is featured regularly in the second season, Dr. Sarah Hamylton, she asked if she could turn the mic on me. Was I interested in an exit interview with , with her? Absolutely!

And so we set out to find a quiet corner of the hotel to talk…which was not as easy as you might imagine.

[underlay sound of trying to find a spot to sit down] 

Months later, when I listened back to my own voice, it didn’t feel strange to me at all, hearing this interview again, years later, this is what felt strange:

I could hear that I actually knew all the story beats, already. They were already occurring to me in that moment….except that it took a lot longer to piece it all together. I sort of laid it all out for Sarah on the table, like it was a done deal, but yet when I got home, it was an arduous job of putting it all back together again.

And so I’ve since done a lot of thinking about, this. About how you piece a story together, when you start with 100 hours of tape, and it’s got to go somewhere. The story has to be something. It’s got tell a story, it’s got to have highs and lows and has to go on an emotional journey, with the listener.

So, I’m excited to say that I’m putting the final finishing touches on a course, that I’m going to share, where I can help teach people the methods that I used, and the system that I developed, in order to create a narrative that has all of these elements included.  

Listen to this space. That will be forthcoming in the fall.

This story originally appeared in my newsletter, Audio Love. That’s my email newsletter that I’ve been sending every other week, for over a year.

Did you know that email marketing is the number one channel for creators to connect with their audience? It’s huge. ConvertKit, which the email platform that I use, which is only one of the ones available, report that last year over 16 billion emails were sent. 

And according to the Data and Marketing Association, who did a survey in 2021, 92% of consumers, and 72% of marketers, said that Email is their favourite way to connect with customers.

So here’s why I’m telling you all of this. When I sat down to map out an email strategy for thai year, for the launch and everything beyond it, I realized, that despite the fact that I’ve been using email since it started, hello 1992, I actually didn’t know how to do it for this post-modern era. 

And this month, I’ve decided to join forces with this woman, whose name is Tarzan, to help her to sell her flagship program, Email Stars, as an affiliate. There are some really incredible free workshops where you can sign up for to learn more. 

If you’re curious to learn more about how to up your game on email, you should go to my website to found out more.

Ok, lots of chatting. Time to listen to this short episode now:  

Armchair Anthropologist

Thanks for listening.

Recall these two feelings…even if they seem like a distant thought right now. First thought: You desperately need to get away, go on vacation, get a change of scenery. Anywhere but here.

And then the second thought: Wow, that felt great. I really needed that. I now have a fresh perspective on all kinds of things. And, I’m ready to come back home.

With fresh eyes. New outlook. Here we go.

But then, you get back, and it doesn’t take long before all those calming, uplifting thoughts from your time away, disappear. And then you slide back back into old habits, the same old the ways of seeing and doing things that you had specifically told yourself you would change. Or overcome. Or grow out of.

I guess I had some of these thoughts on my mind as I was looking through some old audio files, when I came across an audio diary recorded by Dr. Sylvia Struck.

Sylvia lives and works in Vancouver, Canada, as a public health professional with the First Nations Health Authority. Sylvie leads projects to create, develop and sustain safe water policies, services and systems to over 360 First Nations communities, for long-term sustainable access to safe drinking water.

I bet you’ve had these thoughts too. Let’s call them vacation thoughts. Downtime mindset. So now it’s early June, and as we prepare for summer time, whether it’s time away, or downtime, or time away from the usual routine, let’s try what Sylvia method. 
Sylvia made a pledge to herself….specifically about how to move on from a big experience in a way that you take some of it with you. If you listen, you’ll hear what her pledge was, and then see if something like this fits you in your life. Could it help make a difference? Would it help to carry these good-vibe relaxed times back into your daily life?

This story originally appeared in my newsletter, Audio Love. That’s my email newsletter that I’ve been sending every other week, for over a year, to a small, but committed audience. 

Did you know that email marketing is the number one channel for creators to connect with their audience? And it’s huge. ConvertKit, which the email platform that I use, which is only one of the ones available, report that last year over 16 billion emails sent. 

And according to the Data and Marketing Association, who did a survey in 2021, 92% of consumers, and 72% of marketers, said that Email is their favourite way to connect with customers.

So here’s why I’m telling you all of this. When I sat down to map out an email strategy last year, I realized, that despite the fact that I’ve been using email since it started, I actually didn’t know how to do it for this post-modern era. So, I went a found a course to take…and this month, I’ve decided to join forces with this woman, whose name is Tarzan, unforgettable, and help her to sell her flagship program, Email Stars, as an affiliate.

If you’re curious to learn more about how to up your game on email, Tarzan is hosting some SUPER AWESOME free workshops this month. To find out more, go to 

www.ThisisOurtimepodcastc.com/email

And follow the links there.

Ok, Time to do some listening

Set Your Mind To Follow Through.

Thanks for listening.

When I packed my bags and left for Antarctica in 2018, for an entire month, to go away to the absolute farthest place I could go, I was terrified. But I buried that, that fear, waaaay deep down…so far down I was SURE no one else would be able to see it.

Down in that dark place, it turns out there were many layers…I had fears about irrational things that I had no control over: like the boat sinking, like my equipment breaking down, like running out of batteries in the middle of something important… or whether or not I would get sea sick. 

And then I had some entirely rationale fears too. I had never left my kids for longer than a couple of days at a time…and they’re not exactly independent humans. And now, I was going to be gone for more than a month…to a place where I couldn’t even talk to them. And, according to  my irrational fears, I could die doing this.   

But when I’m honest with myself, the fear I was really dealing with, was the  feeling of being an imposter. 

I worried everyone would see my fear, smell my fear, and that my fear would get in the way of doing my job - which was, you know, to listen and record everyone and everything.

Now don’t get me wrong. I was prepared. I do have the skills. And I was there because I was the right person for that job, at that time. And I brought everything I would need, and more. But that message wasn’t getting through, to me in this very dark, very scared place.

I kept repeating this to myself: You are brave. You are strong enough for this. You are ready. But that message didn’t get through, at least at first. Because I felt dread, and confusion, and exhaustion.

And this self-doubt continued, until I realized something: We all show up with our shit. We carry it whatever we go. And no matter how far away we go, it comes with us. 

And so the better approach is to just realize this. To call it out. To name it. And get on with your day.  

This story originally appeared in my newsletter, Audio Love. That’s my email newsletter that I’ve been sending every other week, for over a year, to a small, but committed audience. 

Did you know that email marketing is the number one channel for creators to connect with their audience? And it’s huge. ConvertKit, which the email platform that I use, which is only one of the ones available, report that last year over 16 billion emails sent. 

And according to the Data and Marketing Association, who did a survey in 2021, 92% of consumers, and 72% of marketers, said that Email is their favourite way to connect with customers.

So here’s why I’m telling you all of this. When I sat down to map out an email strategy last year, I realized, that despite the fact that I’ve been using email since it started, I actually didn’t know how to do it for this post-modern era. So, I went a found a course to take…and this month, I’ve decided to join forces with this woman, whose name is Tarzan, unforgettable, and help her to sell her flagship program, Email Stars, as an affiliate.

If you’re curious to learn more about how to up your game on email, Tarzan is starting 3 free workshops this month. And if you want to grab a spot for the first one that’s happening this Thursday, the 26th of May, just go to the shownotes for this episode, and I’ll post the link at the top of the notes where you can grab your spot.

Ok, lots of chatting. Time to listen to this short episode now: We all Bring Our Shit Along…

Thanks for listening.

​Dr. Adriana Humanes is a coral reef scientist from Venezuela. She completed her Ph.D. in Australia, and now is pursuing a postdoc with the @Coralassist_Lab through Newcastle University in the UK….I met her on the ship to Antarctica in 2018.

For the last four years Adriana, and her colleagues have conducted field work in Palau, which is an archipelago of more than 300 islands situated in the Pacific Ocean between Indonesia and the Philippines.

As Adriana explains, coral reefs are facing and unprecedented decline due to marine heatwaves, and also because of mass coral bleaching events. In the last decade, there have been five large scale coral bleaching and mortality events which have affected hundreds of reefs around the world.

During the last massive bleaching event, on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, almost half of the coral cover lost. Over the last 30 years, worldwide, coral cover has decreased by an alarming 20 per cent.

The research at the Coralassist lab (as well as Adriana's) focuses on testing the feasibility of assisting evolution by identifying coral colonies that have a high tolerance to heat stress, and then, sexually breeding them. The goal is to create next generation corals that have inherited heat tolerance from their parents.

Adriana first went to Palau in 2018, which was not long after I met her, in Antarctica. Although the pandemic has restricted her ability to travel there to continue her onw field research, by coincidence, one lone Ph.D student working with the  Coralassist lab  flew to Palau on March 7, 2020 … which turned out to be a long stay for her, 18 months, to be exact, where she became the lone student there tasked with keeping the Lab research project going.

Adriana and her colleagues hope to returned this year, for their final leg of field research...after being away for years. And good news! They found corals spawning! 

Hopefully this is one more step towards the goal to use these sexually produced corals to help increase their future resilience, and hopefully even restore some vreefs that have been damaged or degraded from heat waves. Who knows, maybe they could even restore some reefs that have endured massive bleaching events, which are predicted to be more frequent in future climate change scenarios.

Only science will tell.

This episode was brought to you by the newsletter Audio Love, where I share unforgettable stories, with sound and word. To subscribe, go here:

https://bit.ly/Audio-love