Adults Only

There’s a story or three to this week that I’d love to share with you.  For example, how did I inadvertently get my first 18+ rating on YouTube?  How did I discover the wealth of wisdom in a new friendship? And how did ‘coincidence’ suggest I begin working on ASMR Affirmations for Moodscope?

Let’s begin with a new mantra that I learned from deepening a friendship: “What will I do today that my Future-Self will thank me for?”

This arose from a series of serendipitous events.  I’ve not been having a proper day off – clear of technology.  By last Wednesday, my innermost being had had enough.  I was invited to go for a walk near Worth Matravers – my home for many years.  With road works outside the house, I figured my chances of getting any voice over work recorded were slim… so I went for a walk 3x longer than my goal, with ups and downs that covered the equivalent of 27 floors!

The walk was exhausting and exhilarating!  Breathless for much of it, I made the decision to listen to author Lee Groombridge, who has written an excellent short book on resilience.  “What will I do today that my Future-Self will thank me for?” comes from Lee.

My Future-Self thanked me for the walk and the deeper friendship… though my physical self wasn’t too happy with me for the following 48 hours!

A week earlier, I had recorded the waves by Boscombe Pier using slow motion video.  This post had received positive responses from some viewers, and one mentioned the hunger on YouTube for ASMR.  This is a form of quiet speaking and other sounds that can provoke a deeply pleasant response.  Inspired, I rewrote the Moodscope statements as affirmations and whispered them over some new footage I had captured of clouds passing overhead – the Cloud Whisperer or Wellbeing Whisperer.

I didn’t like it.  Penelope confirmed my worst fears when she said the whispering sounded creepy!  This morning I’ve re-recorded it using quiet speaking rather than whispering.  You can see the new video here…

https://youtu.be/Jhqa6jisxUU

Inspired once more to take time out, Penelope and I went to Sculpture by the Lakes near Dorchester.  This is a mixture of indoor and outdoor sculpture set in acres of lakeside gardens.  It features many works by Simon Gudgeon as well as work from 30 of the UK’s most celebrated sculptors.  The works are magnificent.

And this is how I got my first 18+ rating on YouTube.  Let me say that the art is occasionally of an adult nature.  In fact, no children or dogs are allowed into the gardens.  Like Adam and Eve, some of the works don’t even need clothing!  YouTube thought my video unsuitable for young eyes, and thus I learn another lesson.  However, my Future-Self thanks me for going there and for capturing the memories on film!

The spooky thing is that a friend bumped into us there and suggested I did… ASMR recordings!  When the ‘Universe’ works so serendipitously, it’s good to listen…

Here's a video version of this Podcast: https://youtu.be/4gdVHA_gjeI

Adults Only - An Inspirational Podcast

Intermission
 
Mark my words, there are many powerful ways to transform our lives… and here is the first.
 
Have you ever tried to stay cross in the middle of an argument when someone makes you laugh – perhaps by pulling a face?  In truth, it’s really annoying when you’re angry and someone interrupts that feeling by making you smile or giggle… but once you grin, they win!
 
And so do you.
 
The spell is broken.
 
The cycle is too.
 
Psychologists call this a ‘pattern interrupt’ and it’s a brilliant way to get yourself out of a pickle if you feel your emotions are heading in a direction you want to change.  Your emotions are designed to serve you, not the other way around, and if you feel you’re losing control, call for an intermission.
 
This is surprisingly easy to do.
 
Why?  Because your brain believes your body.  As soon as you change your physical position, your mental posture automatically follows.  I noticed a lovely Mum last night running to catch up with her two young children, and this reminded me of one of my grandchildren who runs everywhere!  There’s an energy and enthusiasm to his life that is very engaging.  Lambs do it too.  And calves.  And puppies.  And kids… baby goats!
 
Then something happens as we mature.  We begin to slow down.  Boring.
 
Action plan: when you feel stuck or out of control, do something different with your posture and pace.  Dare you!  Here’s what happened to me next…
 
Making sure no one was looking, I decided to run back to the house - just like a kid.  My capacity was poor – about 5 yards, but it was all I needed – I was grinning - out of breath but grinning.  And when you’re grinning, you’re winning.

Intermission Blog For Moodscope 22nd January

I Am En-thusiastic
I Am Excited 
I Am Attentive
I Am Strong
I Am Proud
I Am Inspired 
I Am Determined
I Am Alert
I Am Interested
I Am Active

Moodscope makes my day
In three most practical ways:
A scientific mood test
That I can share with others
A community that are like 
Sisters and brothers
Nominated Buddies that can receive my score
Keeping me on the path of wellbeing
And so much more.

showing eagerness:
I Am En-thusiastic

looking forward to things:
I Am Excited

paying close attention:
I Am Attentive

able to cope with difficulties
I Am Strong

feeling a sense of achievement:
I Am Proud

feeling the desire to do something:
I Am Inspired

showing determination:
I Am Determined – resolute

being quick to notice and act:
I Am Alert

wanting to be involved:
I Am Interested

feeling full of energy:
I Am Active

You Too Can Raise Your Mood with Moodscope

The Moodscope Blog gets a musical makeover!

Polish Your Lens, Change Your World

Your Inner Narrative is Your Superpower. It's Time to Tune It, Edit It, Rewrite It!

I loved this thought for the day, "Your inner narrative is the lens you live through; polishing it can change the whole landscape."

Together, let’s read that again. Let’s let it sink in. Let it marinate.

This isn't just a nice idea. This is a seismic truth. That voice in your head? It’s not just background noise. It’s the operating system for your entire life – especially for your future what happens next. It’s the colour grader for your reality, the director of your personal movie.

And if that soundtrack is full of static, distortion, and crackles of self-doubt, the whole picture looks dim. But here's the revolutionary part: you are the sound engineer. You have your hands on the mixing desk. It's time to turn down the noise and turn up the signal.

So, how do we polish this lens? How do we go from a scratchy, skipping record to a high-definition, surround-sound experience? Grab your toolkit. Here are the practical steps.

Step 1: CATCH THE CRITIC (The Art of Spotting the Static)

You can't change what you don't notice. The first and most crucial step is to become a detached observer of your own thoughts.

This is a "soundcheck." You're identifying the feedback, the hum, the off-key notes before the main performance begins. You're mapping the noise.

Step 2: CHALLENGE THE EVIDENCE (The Cross-Examination)

Your inner critic is a terrible lawyer - it presents speculation as fact and past failures as eternal truth. It's time for you to become the prosecuting attorney.

The Practice: When you catch a critical thought, "I always fail at this," stop and challenge it.

Step 3: CHANGE THE CHANNEL (The Re-framing)

Once you've challenged the faulty evidence, you must consciously install a new, more accurate narrative. This is the active act of polishing.

The Practice: Re-write the thought. Make it kinder, truer, and more useful.

Step 4: CURATE YOUR INPUTS (The Signal Chain)

A guitarist knows that the sound starts with the guitar and the cables. Garbage in, garbage out. Your mind is the same. What you feed it directly shapes the inner narrative.

The Practice: Audit your inputs for a week.

Polishing your lens isn't a one-off gig. It's a daily soundcheck. It's a lifelong tour.

Some days the feedback will scream. Other days, the harmony will be perfect. But every time you Catch, Challenge, Change, and Curate, you are taking control of the mix. You are moving from being a passive listener to the lead guitarist, the producer, and the engineer of your own life's soundtrack.

Lex

A Moodscope member

Polish the Lens - Monday Moodscope Blog

Moodscope has 10 cards that measure positive traits.  This is a blog that shares all ten.

Blog Ten - Good - Friends

Sometimes we can accept a 'truth' that is not the truth.  We can be seduced by circumstances to the point where we become passive.  Today's blog is about challenging limiting beliefs.

Blog Taking The Plunge

Investing in someone else's emotional wellbeing is the best investment ever.  Maya Angelou said people always remember how we made them feel.
This podcast focuses on the might three:
1) Faith
2) Hope
3) Love
If we can help people have more confidence (faith) in themselves, if we can give them hope from a brighter future, and if we can leave them feeling loved, respected, cherished, then we will have done well.

The original picture is from Unsplash
Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash

Emotional Assets - the Monday Mindset Podcast with Moodscope

Image credit: Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

THE BLESSED BLACKDROP
The Blessed Blackdrop

In one of the function rooms at the Solent Hotel in Hampshire, England, there is a backdrop.  It is like a black curtain that goes almost the full length of one wall.  Blackdrop was a spelling mistake but one I like.

I like the spelling mistake because this black backdrop – this blackdrop – conceals a secret.

At the flick of a switch, this blackdrop becomes lit by 10,000 stars.  It is an LED curtain, and it looks like the sky at night when powered up.

Photographing and videoing members of my network against the blackdrop was ideal.  The contrast made them seem brighter and bolder.  This got me thinking.

The natural state of the universe is not visible light but rather darkness.  I am told there is a backdrop of microwave radiation everywhere, but I don’t understand this nor can I see it.  What I do see is a blackdrop punctuated by billions of beautiful stars.

My spiritual friends tell me that, “Darkness is just the absence of Light.”  If this is so, it is Darkness, not Light, that is the canvas upon which Light paints its patterns.  Darkness is the norm.  Darkness is the dominant state.

I’ve wasted decades agonising over how Life ‘ought’ to be.  Life ought to be fair, just, kind, full of love.  Whilst that would be great, it’s not been my experience, nor, when I listen to the lessons of history, has it been the dominant experience for the majority of humans throughout time.  Nature, herself, though beautiful, is also violent, dangerous, cruel and capricious.

This is good news… if we use it to revise our expectations.

The truth is that Darkness is the canvas.  Struggle, disappointment, setbacks, sickness, strife, dissatisfaction, and suffering aren’t ‘wrong’ because they ‘shouldn’t’ be there.  They are the norm.  They just ‘are’.  Once I let go of a sense of entitlement to a good life – one where everything ‘goes right’ – one devoid of trouble - I discover something even more wonderful than the transformation of the Solent’s Blackdrop into a Starscape.  I discover new dimensions of gratitude and joy.

Given that all of us are born into a life that will know suffering, every cup of coffee becomes a joy.  Every sunny day.  Every rainy day.  Every kind word.  Every act of kindness.  Every experience of the shower.  Every flower.  Every glass of wine.  Every olive.  Every slice of toast.

Walk this way for a week and then a new transformation will appear.  It’s like flicking a switch.

The backdrop to your life and my life will become not Darkness but Gratitude.  Gratitude becomes the canvas upon which moments of joy decorate our day.

What are you grateful for today?

[Author's note.  I am grateful for YOU!  I remember that you have made a choice to listen to this, perhaps even to leave a comment, like it, or share it.  That takes time and energy, so I say, "Thank You!"]

Blackdrop

"On A Free Day, You Can See Forever."
A play on the title of the song, "On A Clear Day," this is my Monday Moodscope podcast from the blog of the same name.

I'd lost sight of the future with all the noise of this current crisis and the internal chatter of a worried mind.  So, I took a "Free Day."  I bunked off in the middle of the week and went West to Lyme Regis and then Colmer's Hill near Bridport.  There were some lessons waiting for me in the relative quiet, lessons I share in this podcast.

I wrote the music too.  The track is on Soundcloud, and it is called, "Picture the Future," after the name of the main preset I used from Sample Logic's "Bohemian" sound library.

VIDEO FROM THE FREE DAY
https://youtu.be/puAKRNt76tM

KIM SEARLE'S INTERVIEW WITH ADRIAN HOSFORD, CHAIRMAN OF MOODSCOPE
https://youtu.be/c7-XKRX1CB8

On A Free Day - a Podcast for Moodscope

Are you comparing your 'mess' with someone else's 'masterpiece'?
If you look at most people's lives through the lens of Instagram, or Facebook, Twitter, or even LinkedIn, you would be forgiven they've got everything 'together' and their lives are amazing.

The truth is we don't see the messy process it takes to make good, finished art.  We are ALL in a mess.  If we judge our progress by other people's finished work, it will be well nigh impossible to feel encouraged.  Understanding that mess is part of the process and not something to be avoided is a great leap forward in maturity.

Enjoy the podcast and then embrace your mess!

And when you see someone else's life in a huge mess, trust that with the right creative vision, there's a masterpiece in there... somewhere!

Messily Yours
Lex

The Mess And The Masterpiece

Moodscope is an innovative way for people to treat their own low mood problems using an engaging online tool. Anyone in the world can accurately assess and track daily mood scores over a period of time. We have proved that the very act of measuring, tracking and sharing mood can actually lift it.

"Becoming Heroes," is the podcast for the Hero inside of you.  Every Hero needs a Guide to help them become the best version of themselves.  Our podcast brings you the best Guides and guidance in bite-sized chunks of awesomeness!

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