You know those days when you get so chilled that you have to have a hot bath in the middle of the day, just to get the cold out of your bones? Well, I know it’s been the hottest day of the year so far, but this afternoon I was in the bath for that very reason. I do feel the cold, probably because I spent my teenage years in the Far East and seem to have missed out on an important upgrade, maybe at about 15. when British youth learn to keep themselves warm. I am that annoying person who, last Summer when everyone was complaining they couldn’t sleep as it was so warm, was still snuggling under a Spring-weight duvet and wearing a sweatshirt over her pyjamas. So, I needed the bath.
This is why. Today, Adrian Birtwell of Stand Out Video and I spent a happy couple of hours clambering through the marshes and fields by the Blackwater estuary in Tollesbury, where I live, filming a video about Mind Calm, the meditation method that I teach. I didn’t want to wear a warm jumper, as I normally would, to make the video as that might look odd when people watch it during the Summer. So, clasping a pashmina for warmth rather than the ethereal touch, I braved the elements and said my piece over and over, hair blowing in the breeze, stumbling often, getting stuck on ‘qualified’ (kept saying ‘qualificated’) and muddling my memorised lines more times than I care to remember.
Adrian had his creativity challenged trying to keep the microphone out of the wind, but close enough to record what I was saying, and getting me positioned just right so that I wasn’t squinting but the sun wasn’t right behind me. We managed to dodge the worst of the mud and avoid falling off the little bridge crossing one of the channels.
There were a couple of really funny moments. At one point we were filming on a path and I was rattling through my lines while Adrian crouched down, shielding the microphone, oblivious to what was going on around us. It’s a quiet place frequented occasionally by dog-walkers, and Adrian was startled to hear me say, ‘there are no tricky sitting positions but there is a lady coming with a dog!’
Then, towards the end when I had become quite comfortable with what I had to say, I apparently suddenly started to sway from one side to another, moving to a different foot with each line. I had no idea I was doing this but of course it was really noticeable on camera!
The whole experience has made me see news reporters and documentary makers in a new light. I never realised the number of practical considerations that must be dealt with before the camera can begin to roll.
It was a lot of fun. At one point I felt a flash of guilt that I was enjoying myself on a Friday morning. Then I remembered, this was work! We were making a video so that I can tell more people about Mind Calm, which is work. It still doesn’t feel like work though!
Look out for the finished video and meanwhile, if you would like to keep in touch, please sign up for Tranquil News using the link below.
