Cheryl Beer shares her creative life as a Hearing Impaired, Environmental Sound Artist, Composer & Writer. Currently, Cheryl is working in the Rainforests of Wales for her Unlimited Main Commission, CÂN Y COED - SONG OF THE TREES - composing tree-led music from biorhythms beneath the bark. www.cherylbeer.com
I had such a great time at Carmarthen Book Fair yesterday, organised by the lovely Sarada Thompson, that I thought I would share with you here, the FACEBOOK LIVE posts that I made during the day. Interviews with authors, the organiser and a glimpse at all the loveliness ...
Haiku to the shops in town Lots of people came What a fab idea Shopping Centre Managers Erect Gazebo
Now to find artists Ask a local charity Arts Care Gofal Celf
They telephone me 'Can you do Origami And Haiku Workshop?'
'Yes, I'd love to. Where?' 'Down in the Shoppping Centre' 'The Shopping Centre?' 'Yes, is that OK?' 'Off course, I'd love to, thank you. How many people?' 'Not sure, say 50' 'Oh, Righty ho, busy then. Best get more paper'
Haiku day arrives Extra paper just incase You never can tell One hundred people!!! Queuing to take part in my Japanese haven
Who would have thought it Children desperate to write A haiku poem Even though it is The school summer holidays 'Look at my poem'
And this genius Idea is from Merlin's walk? A Shopping Centre? How good to know that Even the private sector See value in Art Inspirational Ways of attracting footfall Pretty impressive www.merlinswalk.com
I was so utterly taken aback by the response to my Drop in, particularly the children's enthusiasm for Haiku and how the parents took to helping them, that I am now writing a little e-book to help parents who would like to write this traditional form of Japanese poetry with their children at home. To find out more, click the links below.
It would be so lovely if you decided to LIKE my Cheryl Beer Writer page on facebook. That's where I share daily insights & exciting previews of my work as a writer. Here's a link ...
Tonight, was my first ever FACEBOOK LIVE. It's part of my new plan to build a platform from which to share my work as a poet, writer and songstress. Having hyperacusis means that performance is pretty much out of the question, at least for now, until I can devise new ways of making it so.
To be honest, if I look back over the last year, who would have thought that I could have come this far in terms of carving a whole new life around my hearing needs, so ... 'Never say never' (as my Nan would say)
Here's the first facebook live, this one was on my new SOUL INK writer's page and to be honest, not many people jumped in ...
Feeling more confident with the technology (in that I actually worked out how to turn it on!) I then I went over to my main facebook page and did a second LIVE SOUL INK recording.
Here it is (below) ... as you can see, many more people responded because my main page comes up in their feed, whereas my new Writer's Page is a Business Page, so it doesn't seem to. It's all a learning process ... which is fabulous.
I got quite emotional at times because friends that I have not seen for ages, were responding live, and in real time, it felt very magical indeed. Like a proper connection. So, despite feeling sick with nerves before doing it, I am so pleased to have begun this facebook LIVE journey. That I can speak to you from the bed where I wrote my book 'SOUL INK for the Morning' and do readings personally for you, in a real time response, is beyond words really, it's an emotion I haven't felt for a very long time, if ever. And when something feels this right, well, you just have to keep going with it.
The quest for disability friendly platforms continues and I am finding it quite exciting. My hyperacusis means that being in large crowded theatres and venues has become untenable, mostly because theatres sadly do not have the equipment I need to able to access performance. So, unperturbed, I am currently exploring ways that I can work from the quiet of home and yet still creatively connect with people who might be interested in my work.
As I wrote in an earlier blog, I have spent some time re-vamping my youtube and now today, I am going to try and get to grips with FACEBOOK LIVE!! I am a tad nervous but in a good way.
The first thing I have done is opened a Cheryl Beer SOUL INK page dedicated just to my writing. This is an enormous step for me. Deep down, I have this feeling that my little humble offerings are not really going to be of any worth, so I tend to push them to one side and make myself too busy, by helping everyone else. But then this week, I went for an Angel Card Reading with the lovely Mandy Hawkins and what came up was that I need to 'turn up the volume and allow myself to shine'. Well, I started crying when she said it. The very thought of focusing on my own work quite frankly, makes me almost giddy. But, I'm not one to argue with angels and whether you believe in angel card readings or not, Mandy's loving encouragement and ability to switch on my sparkle, was really beautiful.
Anyway, I digress, so, I opened the writers page and over 200 people joined within 24 hours ... which was just MIND BLOWING and gave me affirmation that I am walking the right pathway.
So, tonight at 6.30pm I am going to see if I can get facebook live to work. I have no idea what I'm doing but I am guessing we can all learn together.
The idea is that I will be able to give interactive readings from my new SOUL INK book, sharing with folks that leave messages in my feed whilst filming. What a lovely way to connect with folk.
