It's been more than a month since "Not your typical news" has shifted from radio streamings to Facebook live videos, due to the #stayathome policy that we have joined at our organisation.
More than a month of initial enthusiasm, interactive sessions, funny moments with my friends; and then lack of inspiration, bad WiFi connection, laziness and bad mood, until a new balance a new sources of inspiration have been found.
I was getting a bit lost into all of those videos I have made so far, that's why, I wanted to collect all of them, and share with you some funny moments and sweet memories linked to them.
Well, it took me a relatively short amount of time to get used to the radio format, improve my skills and increase my self-confidence... but then, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown, I decided to switch to a new format. And to deal with something totally new for me - video shows.
At the beginning, it felt a bit weird, and I still was not very comfortable with this new format. For my first show, I was not very confident to deal with webcams and streamings. To make myself feel more comfortable, I was wearing a watermelon jumper which later turned out to be a very cute and comfortable pajamas. In the show, the COVID-19 emergency had just been proclaimed here in Bulgaria so I shared some positive news around the world regarding solidarity actions during the lockdown - at the time, most of the news were related to Italy and Spain, as those were the most affected countries. And then, I put the focus on another very scary and dangerous virus, which gave rise to a frightening pandemic in the 80s: I'm talking about HIV. Thanks to the progress in the research, doctors today are able to deal with this infection way better than in the 80s, in fact, people with HIV have a very high life expectancy - their life conditions are improved and they can live a very healthy life. In the show, I shared the inspiring story of the second man in the world who seems to recover from this infection - that means, no traces of HIV are found in his blood. Doctors still don't know if this situation is going to last forever, or it is just temporary. Anyway, that's very promising and encouraging.
The first show was a success for me, as I received nice feedbacks from my friends and I discovered that I really enjoy live streamings. Very soon, I got more experienced about how to present myself. I even put some flowers on the table and books behind me.
Amazing, isn't it?
I shared the stories of some travellers who decided to give a twist to their life (for example, one guy who left his job and started to travel the world. The most amazing thing for me is the fact that he has diabetes and needs to carry his medicines which are very sensitive to temperature drifts, but this is not stopping him at all. That sounds very motivational to me. We can really learn a lot from these people, who are brave enough to pursue their dreams even with practical complications). After that, I wanted to start talking about a book which has helped me a lot to improve my awareness, but the WiFi connection got lost - maybe, it was not time to speak about that book.
For the following shows, I thought that having an interactive session with some guests, could actually involve more people and work better - basically, I got tired of talking alone with the webcam, for one hour! I did it for a couple of show, and it worked very well. I'm thinking of doing it again - if I only had better technological skills!
By the way... does anyone want to join me?
In my third show, I was finally able to speak about the book I wanted to share with my listeners, it is called "You are the Placebo" and deals with the incredible power that our minds have in the process of healing from diseases. I shared the basic ideas of the books and few examples of how our minds "trick" our body in the so-called placebo effect. I thought that sharing this in the middle of a pandemic could be a good way to make people feel better: our minds and bodies are capable to do incredible things, we just have to allow them to make their job!
For the following show, I got back to the topic of chemistry - one of my first passions - and I give a short lesson about the photochemistry of the ozone molecule. This because I shared with my listeners very positive news about the partial recovery of the ozone layer.
There are days in which I lose my motivation, and here's on of those: during the next episode of my rubric I talked about many interesting things, such as reforestation policies in Madagascar, but without verve or charisma. I was a bit down. Sometimes it's hard to stay motivated when your job is to motivate the others. Because people rely on you, so you want to give the best of you to make them feel better - and you lose your focus, and your energy. It becomes a loop. And bad news, or bad weather, don't help you to feel better.
Little things, though, can make you feel better. And in this hard period we need to rely on little things for our inner well-being. After moving to a new flat I felt a bit better and more motivated. I talked about the Kopila Valley School project (check my first post if you want to know more about this) and some other positive stories.
The new environment really helped me. One of the best outcomes of this is one of the latest articles on this blog, called "Flip your script". Based on this article, I did one of my favourite streamings so far, where I share the story of a man who decided to give a turn to his personal and professional life (read the article to know more about that!), I talk about how music affects our mood and, based on this YouTube video, I share few words about the ways kids perceive love (they gave very cute answers to the question "What is love?").
With time, I got even more confident with this video format. At one point, no one was listening to me, but I kept talking because I really got into it.
But there are also days where the WiFi is not working properly, and I am not in the best mood, so the only thing I have left is to save the situation running to places where the connection works better - or to just stop, and say goodbye. We all have bad days.
In turn, when I am very inspired, I can talk about one of the things I love the most - music - and make a great show out of it. I got the inspiration while I was watching a documentary about one of the most amazing English artist of our time - Kate Bush - and I wanted to dedicate one show to her amazing story. When you talk about something you are really passionate about, people perceive that and really enjoy the show - that's what I learnt. Here's the show.
For the next episode, I was so inspired that I spent almost one hour talking about apples - do you know that there are people who dedicate their lives to the research of old types of apples, which were classified as lost? Not only they look for them, also they catalogue them and plant new apple trees to foster their growth.
But talking about apples can be a bit boring, sometimes. That's why, I decided that I need to spend more words about music. I really enjoy talking about the topic! That's why, after the apple streaming, I did a show about one of my favourite rock bands of all time - The Clash. Having the chance to talk about them was a honour, but at the same time a huge responsibilty. It felt like I was face to face to some kind of idols. And I didn't want to mess it up. I put the emphasis on Joe Strummer's charisma and songwriting abilities, and on Topper Headon's versatility as a drummer - but The Clash are much more than this! They're the energy on stage, the social and political activism, the punk attitude, the musical curiosity and much, much more! Anyway, I did my best to summarize their story in only one hour. And I enjoyed the show. That's important: when you really enjoy what you're talking about, your listeners perceive that and enjoy as well.
Said so, the shows go on, with ups and donws, euphoric peaks which lead me to write articles like this, and some moments of demotivation. That's totally normal in this period, so I take it as it is: a moment of diversion and fun, for me and for my listeners! As simple as it is.
Life's easy, after all.
Stay safe!
Warm hugs,
Claudia