HOW DO I CREATE THE ENERGY UPDATES?

HOW DO I CREATE THE ENERGY UPDATES?

It’s a question I am asked a lot, SO I thought I would share the process with you.

A day or so before I record the Update, I ask to be shown the themes for the month.

I am given 3-4 headlines which I write down on a small piece of paper, and then I give myself around 24 hours to sit with those energies and let them be in my body and consciousness until it is time to deliver the message. Usually I can identify with or personally recognize at least one of the themes, but it’s also always surprising to me what comes through so it’s good to have a day to calibrate.

I have learned that sunrise or sunset are the best times to film, because the energy and the light is changing at these times. Sunrise is my new favorite, as the world is still so beautifully quiet at those times (although go back a few years and the idea of waking up at 530 am would NOT have appealed to me!!). I leave the house quietly and drive the 4 minutes to the cliffside location where I film. A very short walk then I get settled, set up the camera and tripod, check the framing, and then hit record. Then I start and speak intuitively for the 15-20 minutes it takes to get the message out.

Sometimes before I record an update, I might have thoughts like ‘I’m not quite sure what to say about that theme’.

And when those thoughts happens, I remind myself it’s none of my business to ‘need to know in advance’ and that my job today is the same one I have had since 2012. Show up, speak, leave. Simple. I just need to get out of the way. ;-)

There is no plan and there is hardly any preparation apart from the physical aspects (camera equipment and timing for the light, etc). Recording an update is really a ‘response’ based exercise and when I hit record on the camera, I always feel that those of you who are watching and listening in the future enter the space behind the lens. You really are ‘there’ with me, which makes my job easy as if I listen closely enough, I will say what I am meant to say for and on behalf of you and all of us.

Sometimes when I walk away from recording one, it can be a strange feeling. It is less common these days but I used to always walk away and wish I had elaborated a little more clearly on something, or given more detail in a certain area, or shared a certain exercise. But doing these Updates every month for 7 1/2 years now are a true lesson in surrendering to the moment. I just have to trust that what happened and came through, is what was meant to come through, regardless of what my own mind may want to say about it afterwards.

These days I record the Updates around 7 days before they get released to you, as now we have quite a production around them. It really does take a village;

Once I upload the file, Rebecca will start her work on video editing, including creating the video trailer clips for the latest MP3, for which Davor creates music and Marti selects and transcribes a segment of the recording. Rebecca provides the video  in multiple formats (including creating the podcast audio version), Anna will transcribe the whole thing to create captions for the video and then creates a more reader-friendly text version (for those who read the update on the website). I then edit and sometimes further add some clarifications or extra pieces to the text version, while Nick will prepare for release on the various social media platforms and start creating the shorter ‘Energy Spotlight’ clips for use through the month. Marti builds out the Energy Update page on the website and she and Anna provide our designer Trent with select quotes and themes from it, so he can start designing the graphics that Meredith can post on Instagram and Facebook throughout the month. Our artist friend, Talia Lancaster, aka Sketching Scrum Master, creates the animated sketch version that we also share on social media. Noah oversees our schedule for all these nuts and bolts and by the time the newsletter goes out, it starts being found and seen in various parts of the internet.

We’ve come a long way from how it used to be and it makes me so happy whenever I hear how much they give to people and how they are a part of so many of your lives. It works both ways, so big love everyone.

Lee

x

PS Tanya Malott caught these shots of me filming the update for July 2019. She was finishing a day of photography with me that coincided with my filming deadline, but it gives a great perspective of the beauty of the cliffs. So if you ever see me out there with the camera, do come and say hi (but maybe wait til I’ve finished talking to the lens!!) ;-)