Life review

On paper

After the incredible Download festival, I got sick for a few weeks, keeping me down.

I wrote about it before but didn’t stop thinking about it.

So what I decided to do was to make a list!

I knew that something was eating at me. I wasn’t sure why, so I proposed to Paulina that we could have a series of conversations over a few days where each evening, we sit down and analyse our lives - from individual perspectives and then together as a married couple.

The list had things like career, money, marriage, living situation, etc.

It was a good, albeit sometimes challenging, experience. 

Sometimes we are so busy with daily tasks that we don’t have time to stop and think about where we are going. And if the path is the one, we want to follow.

Plus, in a marriage, if both paths are still aligned.

I also wanted to discuss ideas for the next few years - what do we want, where do we see ourselves?

Our work, our time together, our house.

We think that people can read our minds, and they think we can read theirs. 

Or even though we might have had similar conversations in the past, we are still the same.

No, we are not. 

Everyone changes every day, bit by bit.

Then, years later, we hit our midlife crisis because we were on a path by default that we didn’t like or want to follow anymore.

So we talked, discussed and came up with a few ideas. Some are more outrageous than others.

For example - having a 2nd home in Poland and living between the two countries, spending more time with the family.

It sounds fun and interesting; it could work. Who knows?

But if you don’t say it out loud, don’t discuss it and then don’t do anything in that direction -  nothing will ever happen.

I mean, things will happen, but you will be a passive receiver rather than the initiator.

And by the way, that’s an excellent name for a metal band.

PODCAST PRODUCER LATEST

Casefile episodes are ready, with the last one before the mid-year break to be released next Saturday.

I’m waiting for Anthony, our editor, to send me episodes for a show we are currently working on.

I also finished the first three episodes of the new podcast we are working on with Raquel. I have two more I want to do this week.

On top of that, I want to start preparing music libraries for Casefile 2024 episodes, but this will have to wait until I’m back from my Poland trip.

Plus, we have last-minute changes on one other show I (thought I had) finalised.

The pursuit of perfection never stops, and we always aim to do the best job we can.

YOUTUBE

Last week we released a video on why I moved everything back to Pro Tools. It was a good experiment, but ultimately, sometimes, it is good to admit that what we were doing in the first place was okay.

Also - people make fun of how I pronounce Pro Tools.

We also released a couple of fun shorts! We’ll be launching them on Instagram and TikTok soon.

LEARNING

I am nearly done with the music editing assignment. After the initial feedback, I simplified my work, and I’m redoing a few scenes. I hope to upload it early this week, but I need another full listen on the headphones to tweak a few things.

I’m also finishing the Writing Trailer Music course, and the section on mixing was very insightful; I noted several techniques I would test in my work.

BOOKS

Hell Yeah or No by Derek Sivers. A short but insightful book on how to live a meaningful life. The book has several short chapters on ideas on what’s worth doing.

How to Live by Derek Sivers. Another short one by Sivers. In this book, he gives an idea of how to live life, and the next chapter directly contradicts it. It was interesting with the ultimate conclusion that our lives are like one giant orchestra with many different instruments playing simultaneously.

How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil. A tough read by a professor and researcher who tries to explain that the world is way more complicated than we all think. It’s challenging because of the use of data, but so far, I’d recommend it.

FUN

The Witcher S3. We continued to watch the series, and so far, I am disappointed. The first three episodes could have been faster, with better editing and CGI. The showed picked up the pace in episode 4, and episode 5 was good too. Hopefully, they can keep it up in the second half of the season.

LOTR and Beyond. On Sunday, we attended London Concert Orchestra in Bristol, performing music from Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, Witcher and many more fantasy movies. Amazing day out, and it is always so awesome to hear a full orchestra with a choir playing my favourite soundtracks.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you (hopefully!) next week!

Mike

https://mikemigas.com/

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