My Beautiful Stories

Restore our Earth through Hope
EPISODE 3 - CABLE THEFT
By Nadine Matthews

Welcome to our month-long 2021 PLANET PROJECT SERIES. On the 22nd of April 2020,  During the hardest lockdown, over 300 podcasters, artists and writers joined hands virtually and created one piece of digital work each, in a united effort to recreate impact and influence of the 1989 Baltic Chain.  We called the event the PLANET PROJECT. The impact of the project was so great and the work created so powerful, that I wanted to recreate the hope and sense of community we all felt on that day, by narrating some of the written pieces on the podcast this year.

During our DAILY PODCAST SERIES IN APRIL, you can enjoy listening to one artist’s thoughts about the Earth – our Planet, each day. Some of the pieces are narrated by me, and some by the artist themselves. At the end of each piece you will hear the artist’s name. You will be able to find each artist’s website and social media handles underneath each episode, on this page. I hope you enjoy this series.

Support the show (https://ko-fi.com/alexcuncev)

EPISODE 2, APRIL 2nd: NEW MEMORIES– by Ellen, Published 22.04.2020 For The Planet Project.
Welcome to our month-long 2021 PLANET PROJECT SERIES. On the 22nd of April 2020,  During the hardest lockdown, over 300 podcasters, artists and writers joined hands virtually and created one piece of digital work each, in a united effort to recreate impact and influence of the 1989 Baltic Chain.  We called the event the PLANET PROJECT. The impact of the project was so great and the work created so powerful, that I wanted to recreate the hope and sense of community we all felt on that day, by narrating some of the written pieces on the podcast this year.

During our DAILY PODCAST SERIES IN APRIL, you can enjoy listening to one artist’s thoughts about the Earth – our Planet. Some of the pieces are narrated by me, and some by the artist themselves. At the end of each piece you will hear the artist’s name. You will be able to find each artist’s website and social media handles underneath each episode, on this page. I hope you enjoy this series.

Support the show (https://ko-fi.com/alexcuncev)

Restore our Earth through Hope
EPISODE 1 - THEIA
By Genevieve Dutton

Welcome to our month-long 2021 PLANET PROJECT SERIES. On the 22nd of April 2020,  During the hardest lockdown, over 300 podcasters, artists and writers joined hands virtually and created one piece of digital work each, in a united effort to recreate impact and influence of the 1989 Baltic Chain.  We called the event the PLANET PROJECT. The impact of the project was so great and the work created so powerful, that I wanted to recreate the hope and sense of community we all felt on that day, by narrating some of the written pieces on the podcast this year.

During our DAILY PODCAST SERIES IN APRIL, you can enjoy listening to one artist’s thoughts about the Earth – our Planet. Some of the pieces are narrated by me, and some by the artist themselves. At the end of each piece you will hear the artist’s name. You will be able to find each artist’s website and social media handles underneath each episode, on this page. I hope you enjoy this series.

Support the show (https://ko-fi.com/alexcuncev)

Welcome to our month-long 2021 PLANET PROJECT SERIES. On the 22nd of April 2020,  During the hardest lockdown, over 300 podcasters, artists and writers joined hands virtually and created one piece of digital work each, in a united effort to recreate impact and influence of the 1989 Baltic Chain.  We called the event the PLANET PROJECT. The impact of the project was so great and the work created so powerful, that I wanted to recreate the hope and sense of community we all felt on that day, by narrating some of the written pieces on the podcast this year.

During our DAILY PODCAST SERIES IN APRIL, you can enjoy listening to one artist’s thoughts about the Earth – our Planet. Some of the pieces are narrated by me, and some by the artist themselves. At the end of each piece you will hear the artist’s name. You will be able to find each artist’s website and social media handles underneath each episode, on this page. I hope you enjoy this series.

Support the show (https://ko-fi.com/alexcuncev)

NEW PODCAST EPISODE: The last episode of series 3, which told Stories of 2020, comes from Vicky, Caylee and Therese.

DISCUSSION:

The episode centres on the power of memories. We speak of the narrative communion we felt whilst narrating other people’s memories and being thus made part of  someone else’s life and perspective, particularly in times when meeting people was so much less possible.

This is the series we both most enjoyed producing and we leave it with a heavy heart. It is the series which offered the two of us a fast track lesson in humanity, with all its facets and all its beauty.

RECOMMENDATION:

We recommend Rashomon, a film which centres on the power of stories and storytelling. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The series has closed, but we still accept stories of 2020. If possible, I would like to bring all the stories together, into something which can last through time. So please send your story 

You can listen to all this series’ episodes on the app. Together, they constitute an uplifting narrative of last year.

The podcast is on a break in March. We are planning to return in April with a Planet Project special.

Lastly, THANK YOU to everyone who has shared stories, listened to the podcast, sent comments, messages and letters. For us this has been the most fulfilling series yet and it feels very emotional to close it today.  

Series 3 of My Beautiful Stories podcast offered a space for YOUR STORIES to be heard. You can listen to the first story from our audience here. 

Share your stories of 2020 with us and let's create a safe space where to keep a memento of what 2020 really was like - the beauty, the humanity, the heartbreak.

We invite a diversity of voices to join us in telling the stories of 2020.

If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please do share with other people, please write a review or a rating.

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‘In hindsight I can see perhaps it was good that I was forced to confront my grief in so unadulterated a manner, but it was so hard - I would never choose it!’ Tamlyn

TW: This story and the conversation which ensues includes mentions of grieving and death.

Tammy lost her mother a few weeks before the first UK lockdown. Even more, 8,000 miles separated them and returning to the UK was  in itself a little miracle.

DISCUSSION:

We discuss how having to grieve in unusual situations (such as a global pandemic) can feel like imprisonment with grief.

We argue that in order to overcome grief, a level of grounding ourselves in daily routines and usual encounters with people can be essential. Tammy was deprived of this.

Our discussion concludes with our own positive experience of having overcome grief, or rather, having learned to live with the loss.

RECOMMENDATION

Our recommendation is Arvo Part's Stabat Mater, a meditative and wonderfully evocative piece of music.

Series 3 of My Beautiful Stories podcast offers a space for YOUR STORIES to be heard. 

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‘and while she bends down to sit at the corner of fall and winter

her worries settle down with her

as they shake and shake

until the very last brown leaf drops.’ (@komorebi.koyama)

Today’s story comes in the shape of a poem, shared by Jennifer Koyama. Jennifer is a writer and poet who captures the fragility of the human nature in her writing.

DISCUSSION

We discuss the relationships between feelings and nature, and question whether this has dramatically changed during the last year. Are we going to nature with a different intention? Is our communion with nature becoming less unidimensional and more of a coming together, a coming towards each other with deeper understanding  and need?

To listen to the episode, look for My Beautiful Stories in your podcast app. If you’ve enjoyed the episode, please share it with others.

RECOMMENDATION

Our recommendation is Louise Gluck’s The Wild Iris, a series of poems which link feelings and nature in a beautiful way.

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Despite being chronically ill, Nola preserved a beautiful memory of the lockdown dinner organised by her family, which turned out to be a really special ocasion. 

DISCUSSION

We discuss the concept of happiness. How has this been influenced by the last year, when our habits were modified and our expectations changed? 

I share a little about Zygmunt Bauman, a sociologist who argued that in 'liquid modernity', people's behaviours change, and their concept of happiness can be influenced. 

RECOMMENDATION

This week's recommendation is Babette's Feast, a perfect example of magic in the mundane. 

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