Every little bit I can learn from Andi is a win! She is not kidding about consistency. Narrating an audiobook is a marathon and takes a special kind of person with exquisite stamina and attention to detail in addition to the obvious assets of advanced reading and comprehension ability and a pleasant-sounding voice. It’s a long road to learning the art and technical aspects and so rewarding to see improvement from project to project.
Author: Stevie Puckett
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Are You Listening to Me? – Unschooling Mom2Mom
Sue Patterson’s work is valuable not just for relationships with kids (a.k.a parenting) but relationships with anyone. We all could likely use a little remedial relationship-building course of study. Check her out and pass on her work to others if you find it helpful. I find her information especially relevant now with school changes due to lockdowns and more and more people wondering if there is a better way for their kids. Sue has a podcast, as well as a YouTube channel, a Facebook group, and Clubhouse. She also has a excellent book out.
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Back in the Studio
Phase two of my audiobook narration and production journey is well underway. I had a long pause as we moved from Virginia Beach, VA back to Las Vegas, NV. Now that I feel settled in, I’m ready to roll with audiobooks again. Of course, I’ve continued learning the skill set and the industry while I was on hiatus. I set up my studio in my new home. I’ve re-designed my website. I’ve completed an official audiobook production and narration training course or two, and I’ve continued to keep up with ACX University, all while listening to several excellent audiobooks such as this one. All good and fine but nothing compares with getting back in the studio!
Yesterday, I connected a couple of my newest additions: a Shure high pass filter and a new-to-me but used microphone. The high pass filter is an idea I picked up from George the Tech. He strongly recommends this for all Neuman microphones. That caught my eye because I picked up a Neumann TLM 102 in 2018. It’s a sweet little mic but for my voice, it isn’t the best for audiobook narration. It’s too bright on me. The high pass filter does improve my ability to work with it in my home studio but doesn’t fix the brightness issue. I plan to keep the mic anyway and use it as a backup mic and maybe for commercial spots that could come up or maybe even for visitors to my studio.
The used microphone I purchased is an MXL 89. I did a short comparison test yesterday and the difference was subtle to those I asked for their opinion so far. It is subtle to me, too, but it makes a big difference in listening to audiobook narration for hours on end. Here is the little side-by-side test where I read a line or two from Steven Forrest’s book The Inner Sky (my favorite book of all time at the moment). It is unedited and unprocessed so that you can just hear the two mics plainly. The only thing in play is the high-pass filter.
What do you think? Do you appreciate any difference or like one better than the other?
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Canoes and Mindset
When I lived in California in the late 1990s, I attended business networking events to promote my career counseling practice. I sat in at many networking luncheons and had many lovely conversations with new people. We all nearly always left inspired, and I enjoyed it very much.
One time as conversations simmered down and we prepared to part ways, someone said to me, “Have you heard of Esther Hicks?” I said that I hadn’t met her yet, and I asked more about her and why they brought her up. The person responded with what Esther and Jerry Hicks were all about and stated that I sounded like Esther when I talked about positive mental attitudes, inspiration, and hope. That seemed like a nice thing to say, but when the person explained what Esther did in her public speaking appearances, I freaked out and didn’t give it another thought.
But then Esther Hicks was brought up to me again and again over six months. That was my cue to pay more attention. Once something comes into my life more than a couple of times, I take that as a cue to check into it further. I consider that a type of intuitive guidance.
So I looked Esther Hicks up and gave her a fair shot. Once I got beyond the strangeness of what Esther did on stage, I took to listening in periodically over the years. In retrospect, I probably got all I needed to hear the first time I heard her speak.
The first idea that I heard from Esther is about being in your canoe, letting go of the paddles, and just laying back and resting in your canoe as you float downstream. The underlying idea is to trust the river to take you to experiences you will enjoy. That image resonated with me. I was tired of striving, and I knew floating happily down the river thanks to tubing the Illinois during my childhood.
I instantly felt substantial relief in my body, my intuition pinged, and I knew this idea was what I needed. To this day, I still do a mini-meditation where I picture and feel myself floating downstream whenever I’m grounded and aware enough to realize that I’ve been trying too hard.
For me, trying too hard is a surefire way to self-sabotage. My dad and coaches used to tell me that as a teen. They encouraged me to feel the play unfolding because, I know now, they appreciated the brilliance they saw from me when I just flowed with it and didn’t overthink or try too hard. When I was at my best, I was an intuitive athlete. Little did I know that my angels were trying to teach me something fundamental even way back then.
When I heard about letting your canoe go downstream rather than fighting the current to head upstream all those years later, it clicked into place.
As Esther said, “There’s nothing that you want upstream.” To me, that means that upstream, there is only more paddling and struggle. I don’t want to struggle. I want to flow.
I have been welcoming much more joy in my life as I’ve remembered to let go of the oars, and this I appreciate.
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Let Go and Be Well
Letting go of painful, sad, hateful, or otherwise harmful thoughts that make you feel bad is a skill that is developed with practice and intention.
Drop the negativity by talking yourself out of it and moving your focus to people, ideas, and topics you enjoy.
Use your “inside your head” voice to soothe yourself away from painful thoughts by zooming out to a bigger picture, giving the benefit of the doubt, or distracting your focus onto something else entirely.
Carefully choosing what inputs from the environment you allow into your day is the next step. The better you want to feel, the less you allow toxic news and propaganda streams to enter your focus. Doing this will clear the way for more positivity in your life.
Sensitive people (and we are all more sensitive than we think) can easily get caught up in feeling bad for others. Sensitive people may not even realize that they have put the poor, sick, or weak in their focus in a way that makes them feel bad too. Remember: you can’t help others by feeling weak yourself.
Making your mental health a priority is done with these types of mindset strategies. When you understand that what you think about affects the way you feel, it becomes clear the benefit of exercising mental discipline to lay the groundwork for feeling well most of the time.
When you embrace your wellness, you truly become a powerful force for good in the world. First, you learn to uplift yourself, and then you will uplift others simply by continuing to prioritize your own self-development and wellbeing. At that point, you are an example of someone who bravely shines their light.
