Yeah, let's take the trash out. Let's have Daniel walk to the dumpster because THIS is the opening reflection video for the Scotomaville Prologue - the first of all of the reflection series. Diffuse time is very appropriate modeling!
If you've watched numerous episodes, you remember I frequently walk to the dumpster. Yes, I'm taking the trash out, physically and metaphorically. I've missed doing this during the pandemic. I'm purposefully doing it now because I was setting up everything in my mobile office, suite, and video editing area and wondering why I'm getting so stressed out.
DUMPSTER TREKKING DIFFUSE TIME
AUTHORS NOTE: I've considered the effort and potential return for a couple of weeks before committing to creating thirty reflection videos that very few people will watch. I decided to mimic Filmmaker James Cameron's Masterclass example: 'follow me, and don't step on what I did.'
DUMPSTER WALK TURNS EDIFICATION TALK
I appreciate you. I wanted to be sure to say to you how unique you are. Someone will rarely take the time and commit to knowing Why They Do What They Do. So I want to edify you. Well done. I've committed to making thirty Reflection videos expressly for you.
"You are rare, special, and appreciated"
"Less than 1% of people care to know themselves"
"You reading and watching is Onus Probandi"
BACK AT MY WORKSTATION
You're watching the first self-reflection video looking back at everything I've done for four years. You're going to gain some new tools from this series. You're not going to escape who you are, but you will have some tools to deal with it. You'll be able to go for a walk and understand Why You Do What You Do (WYDWYD) in the moment and better what to do about it. That's the beauty of self-reflection and video modeling - two expressions I've recently learned after four years of work on this.
What's upcoming is a complicated explanation about acclimating by hiking uphill three steps, and coming back down two steps. This builds memory by growing dendrites to change your reactions. It's a lot of good stuff.
5m WORK FOR 3s B-ROLL
That three-second shot of the hat took over five minutes to shoot. I had to set up the tripod and remove little things in the background. If you're like me you might get emotional - something like ahhhhhrrg@! Take deep breaths. Let learning and dendrite growth take the time they need.
Now that the trash is out and I'm thinking clearly, let's jump into the Prologue opening scene. This clip fills in the timeline ahead of what I've already finished.
We're looking back with self-reflection to illustrate insights you can gain from what I had no clue about. Here's an example of yielding to events and not adhering to a timeline. I take two steps forward and three steps back, resulting in one step of progress.
LEARNING ABOUT REVERSED VIDEO
Look closely at the street signage as I walk. The signage is reversed, demonstrating that even while taking a time out to gain clarity, challenges can appear. I discovered my smartphone video flip settings while editing the reflection video.
I didn't know to change my smartphone's selfie video option. I learned to save screen captures by pressing the volume and power buttons simultaneously. That method captured the volume control in the screenshot. Eventually, I discovered swiping the side of my palm across the screen to capture.
This insight demonstrates that to advance a single step in producing an episode, you might need new insights - going slower to speed up. Learning slows anticipated progress down, but overall you're still advancing. That's just like climbing a mountain.
PROLOGUE DEFINED
"A prologue is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details to often some earlier story that ties into the main one along with other miscellaneous information."
You've heard me talk about Everest because it's a great analogy. To get up Mount Everest you have to acclimate yourself to avoid having edema. As you climb, the air gets thin, and the pressure reduces. Your brain swells. You can hemorrhage and die if you climb too fast.
To avoid this, climbers go up and down and up and down to acclimatize their brains to the elevation. It's very similar to a Personal Everest.
CLIMBING EVEREST STAGES
Before you can start your way UP Everest you fly to Kathmandu and then to Lukla, and then trek through numerous camps before you even get to Base Camp. In other words, there's a lot of stuff that happens far in advance of climbing ON Everest.
LEAVING SCOTOMAVILLE STAGES
Let me show you how that's worked with Scotomaville. Four years ago April 9th of 2018, I uploaded my first YouTube video. For two years I tried various topics and themes to tell stories incorporating emerging events. I was looking for my style, voice, audience, and pace - essentially my route to my summit. I deduced that I wanted to produce a book with wisdom about blind spots and scotomas.
BEGINNING OUT OF ORDER
In March of 2020, as the pandemic began, I shot the third episode - the Sleeves Illusion. Then the second episode on Pattern Recognition. I persisted in producing the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh episodes. Then in April, I edited my 71st YouTube video - the v1.01 Scotoma Episode. Do you see how they're out of order?
Then two months later, in June of 2020, I shot the 83rd episode - the v1.00 Prologue to the first book. I needed to wait until I had finished all the episodes in the first print edition.
I finished the second edition of Scotomaville with all thirty episodes in February of 2022 - short of four years of effort.
I then realized that subscribers might appreciate reflection videos looking back at the two volumes to gain confidence while making sense of their creative chaos. Assuming so because that would have been helpful to myself.
In route, I discovered the methods I was using are called self-reflection and video modeling. I edited my thesis abstract and wrote and syndicated two articles on the methodology.
The goal of self-reflection is to look inward to understand what is happening to mature through discipline and support and improve the experience of life. According to Psychologist Nick Wignall:
"Self-reflection is the ability to pay attention to your thoughts emotions, decisions, and behaviors. And while it's good to be self-reflective about what is happening in the past, it's better to be able to use self-reflection in real-time to improve your decisions and behavior."
SCOTOMAVILLE IS AN EXAMPLE OF SELF-REFLECTION
Self-reflection requires three things: openness, observation, and understanding. Those three things are foundational with Scotomaville. And the way we self-reflect is through smartphone journaling and video modeling.
SCOTOMAVILLE IMPARTATION VIA VIDEO MODELING
Video modeling is recordings of me that you view at a later time (you're doing in these series now). You can mimic me by creating your video series and then being able to look at them in hindsight to see your progress.
The model we are using is impartation, as in UM community development:
- I do, and you watch. (my videos and book)
- We do, and we watch (we're doing it now), and then
- You do, and I watch.
That's what's going on in the Scotomaville series and online platform.
This diagram illustrates my first episode and the thirtieth one near the very end of the book. It was a two-year production and transformation.
A COMPLICATED NARRATIVE:
Let me show you what happens when you get clear out here. I'm wanting to create this. I did the article and this certification page and uh um video modeling uh article which got syndicated. I can now start attracting people to the program. You're watching the reflection video of the prologue. It's not even at this time right now it's not even here I need to add the prologue but to do that I have to shoot the video which I am currently doing but to do that I had to go back and put inside of Scotomaville here's the book layout right there's the cover the intro here's the abstract I needed to be able to go through and update this see this the methods right to guide you in self-reflection via video modeling that was not even in my awareness that was not even part and this is four years before shooting this episode and then when I discovered that I have to then go back and adjust the thesis abstract here in the book and then all of the printed PDFs that get uploaded within each of these.
My point is:
I have to go back and fix stuff to go forward. It's just like climbing. You don't just go to Camps 2, 3, 4, 5 and then the summit. You go up and down, up and down, up and down building your endurance. You are building your perseverance, building your lung capacity, and getting all that excess oxygen out of your brain so that as it swells you don't bleed internally. It's a journey.
UNEXPECTED INTRUSION
That's an airplane. In future episodes, you'll see how much I used to get upset, and even trigger on intrusive noise and distractions out of my control.
PROLOGUE REFLECTION RECAP
This video is the Prologue to Scotomaville. I recognize how unique you are. The percentage of people interested in knowing Why They Do What They Do is small. It makes you very, very special.
Understand that your journey is not sequential. It's not linear. It seems much more chaotic, with lots of repetition and cycles going up three steps and two steps back. There's purpose and meaning and reason for it. You'll see a pattern in it.
I edify you for digging in, committing fully, and watching your journey unfold. It's a marvelous experience, highly frustrating and emotional. All kinds of things are going to come at you. I promise you. But at the same time, you're going to see things unfold in a way that you could not have imagined would come.
REPETITIVE INTRUSION
That's the same airplane. It just flew over a few minutes ago. In the upcoming episodes, you'll see that I used to get triggered over unexpected noises and appearances because I used to be overly sensitive to noise. You might be too, or as well... Grammarly, help me out here.
BOOKS & GEAR
Gear up with swag, shirts, hats, and books. Gift a brave male an adventure of a lifetime. Check out stuff you can start conversations with. Get your journey with a purpose outfitted with official Scotomaville mechandise. Follow in the way we began!
BASE CAMP
Participate in the next Base Camp Summit. Meet explorers and exchange expedition tales. Get your workbook and flag signed by the author, and ask tough questions. You can expect life to happen between your plans, so plan to attend!
SUBSCRIBE
Get started on a Personal Everest with an author supported expedition. Scale your Personal Everest with guidance and peer insights through the online discussion portal. Post your Episodes and ask questions of fellow Explorers and the author.