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ORANGES, PYJAMAS AND WINTER DELIGHTS is a brief meditative story designed to bring relaxation, peace and joy to your day. Using a blend of storytelling, visualisation, music and sounds, we take you on a relaxing imaginative journey. Enjoy the benefits of a pause away from your immediate surroundings. Here’s a snippet of the story: ‘There is no point recoiling from memory; it would be not accepting a message from the past which is trying to reach you.  I find myself in my parents’ apartment, nine, or ten years old, watching the lights flicker on the Christmas tree.’ FOR WHOM This story is meant to be enjoyed by everyone, as a pause to your day. You can listen on your own or with your family. HOW TO LISTEN Use this story as a reminder to be excessively kind and generous with yourself. Find a comfortable corner at midday. Leave your worries behind. Grab a glass of water, sink into you chair, close your eyes, and drift away for a short while. Come back to whatever you are doing feeling calm, peaceful and refreshed. SOUNDTRACK The sound and music accompanying the stories are carefully selected to create a space for reflection, relaxation and introspection.   THANK YOU. By purchasing this story, you are helping us continue financing My Beautiful Stories – the podcast.  Support the show

Today’s beautiful story comes from Raquel. It’s a beautiful ode to our mother, the Earth. It’s also a beautiful story to close series 4 of the podcast. We have seen in this series the most unusual objects. We have listened to stories of deep sorrow, of death but mostly of love along the way and this is what I would like us to take away from this series: the deep love that we inspire in other people. The potential that love has if shared with others. The colourful, warm and gentle trace we can leave behind. The podcast will be on a break. But please do listen back. Listen and honour the stories of others. Use them to remind you of your own, valuable stories. Tell stories, forgive and love more. Support the show

Gus’s lamb - A CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT Today’s story is a bonus to the Christmas ornament episode. It is the special mention story from the competition. It was sent by Nicole Coonradt. We hope you enjoy it.  Wishing you a Merry Christmas! Support the show

SHOW NOTES: THE STORY – CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT: Today’s story is the WINNER of our Christmas Ornament competition, which ran over on Instagram last week. We are excited to announce that after long debating, as we were overwhelmed by the quantity as well as quality of the stories we received, we have reached a decision. THE WINNER of the Christmas ornament competition is Caylee, who sent a story of a handmade cross-stitch ornament. The runner up is Nicole Coonradt. We will think of how we can share her story also – let us know if you would like to hear more stories of Christmas ornaments! DISCUSSION: We discuss relationships, how friends create a connection and help define who we are. We also reflect on the knowledge that there is always someone, somewhere in the world, thinking of us. We take this as a reason for purpose and hope. Thank you, Caylee, for sending this story. It was so beautiful and a real pleasure to read and discuss. Many thanks to everyone who shared a Christmas ornament story with us – we are all so grateful for your stories, which brought light and joy to our day. To hear the whole episode, look for EPISODE 10 of series 4 – The Series of Things, all on the MY BEAUTIFUL STORIES PODCAST. We continue to invite you to bring your stories to the fold! There is no deadline for sending your stories as yet, we have decided to let this series run for as long as it is financially possible. Please share the stories of those things that are not just things here or send me an Instagram message. My Beautiful Club ko-fi members have priority, but we will endeavour to narrate as many stories as we can on the podcast! You can listen to all previous’ episodes on the app. If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please do share with other people, please write a review or a rating. The show is currently unfunded. To ensure we can provide a whole series, please support us. Support the show

SHOW NOTES:THE STORY: Today's story is written and recorded by Amanda. It is the story of a box, which is 'nothing fancy' on the exterior, but incredibly meaningful inside. We will let you discover what the story is about by listening to this episode. We were once again humbled to receive such a personal and thoroughly touching story for the podcast. DISCUSSION: We mainly discuss what it means to leave something truly valuable behind. Utterly taken by Amanda's description, our recommendation is of a film where something - 'nothing fancy' is passed on in a similarly meaningful way. The film is Cinema Paradiso, a classic which we decided to revisit after recording this story. Thank you, Amanda for sharing this moment with us. We are humbled and honoured to be the curators of your stories. To hear the whole episode, look for EPISODE 8 of series 4 – The Series of Things, all on the MY BEAUTIFUL STORIES PODCAST. We continue to invite you to bring your stories to the fold! There is no deadline for sending your stories as yet, we have decided to let this series run for as long as it is financially possible. Please share the stories of those things that are not just things here or send me an Instagram message. My Beautiful Club ko-fi members have priority, but we will endeavour to narrate as many stories as we can on the podcast! You can listen to all previous’ episodes on the app. If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please do share with other people, please write a review or a rating. The show is currently unfunded. To ensure we can provide a whole series, please support us.   Support the show

'I can hold the brooch in my palms.  I can carry on her legacy and lessons – the way she took care of the old garden; how to treat plants and people. I can remember her relentless resilience, and the way she took care of all of us.’ (Anett Teresia) SHOW NOTES:The STORY Anette sent, about her Grandma’s words, reads like a meditation, for an object, but also a person, that remained elusive to her for a long while and is still elusive, or rather mysterious in the story today. Written like a poem and with added notes, this story leads us to a DISCUSSION about the strength, resilience and example of Grandmas and we extrapolate on the role of women in general and the legacy (often, not material) which they leave behind. The RECOMMENDATION follows the same theme – the theme of formidable women- and though the character is by far a positive one, we recommend this documentary for its quality, historical value, and last and not the least, the element of surprise. Thank you so much, Anette, for sending your story. To hear the whole episode, look for EPISODE 8 of series 4 – The Series of Things, all on the MY BEAUTIFUL STORIES PODCAST. We would love for this series to be collaborative, and we invite you to bring your stories to the fold! Please share the stories of those things that are not just things here or send me an Instagram message. Click send your story or send me a message on Instagram.  My Beautiful Club ko-fi members have priority, but we will endeavour to narrate as many stories as we can on the podcast! You can listen to all previous’ episodes on the app. If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please do share with other people, please write a review or a rating. The show is currently unfunded. To ensure we can provide a whole series, please support us.   Support the show

'The last texts we exchanged were about the pan; he asked if I’d perfected the technique, and I told him I had, that I had been having a hot chocolate a day since he gave it to me, and I couldn’t wait till we were together at Christmas so that I could make him one. ' (Sophie Caldecott) SHOW NOTES: STORY: Today's story, about 'a blue and white enamel milk pan',  is written and read by Sophie Caldecott. Sophie Caldecott is a writer living in a cosy cottage on the edge of the moor in the South-West of England. She writes about grief and motherhood, empathy and connection, slow living and sustainability, as well as chocolate and all the simple pleasures that make life worth living. Today, she tells the story of a very special milkpan she received as a gift from her brother-in-law. We were both left speechless by the beauty and sadness of this story, by Sophie's intense grief and the graceful way she navigates it. DISCUSSION: Our discussion starts with a ponder on the quality of a gift and also the difficulty to make a meaningful gift in today's world. We then meander into a discussion on the meaning of relics in different spiritualities and end up with an appreciation of the importance of leaving a meaningful trace in life. We really enjoyed recording the episode and felt privileged to be the receivers of this story. Each time someone entrusts a story with My Beautiful Stories, a special link is created. So thank you, Sophie, for sharing this story. Our thoughts go to you and your family. RECOMMENDATION: Not really what it sounds to be, the recommendation is A Ghost Story. Really a film about the connection between the seen and the unseen and perhaps also about our need to be haunted. We would love for this series to be collaborative, and we invite you to bring your stories to the fold! Please share the stories of those things that are not just things here or send me an Instagram message. Click send your story or send me a message on Instagram.  My Beautiful Club ko-fi members have priority, but we will endeavour to narrate as many stories as we can on the podcast! You can listen to all previous’ episodes on the app. If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please do share with other people, please write a review or a rating. The show is currently unfunded. To ensure we can provide a whole series, please support us. Support the show

‘I really appreciate how my pen can make sense of my thoughts. Muddled midnight ramblings become coherent sentences with clearer direction once I touch my pen to paper. But it has to be this pen, the one that perfectly fits in the bump of my finger… the one that has my name, as it was when I was 10 years old, engraved on the end of it. The pen that holds a lifetime of dreams, and will play such an important role in manifesting those to come.’ (Tammy) SHOW NOTES: STORY: Today’s episode tells the story of a beloved pen. It is provided by Tammy. Thank you, Tammy for sending this story in! Middway through NANOWRIMO, our DISCUSSION, focuses on the creative process. How it is different for each of us and how important it is to acknowledge those 'details' that are actually really important, since they are inducive to creativity. How it can be very different things that lead to us being creative, it really is such an individual experience. Today’s RECOMMENDATION is THE PIANO.  To hear the whole episode, look for EPISODE 6 of series 4 – The Series of Things, all on the MY BEAUTIFUL STORIES PODCAST. We would love for this series to be collaborative, and we invite you to bring your stories to the fold! Please share the stories of those things that are not just things here or send me an Instagram message. Click send your story or send me a message on Instagram.  My Beautiful Club ko-fi members have priority, but we will endeavour to narrate as many stories as we can on the podcast! You can listen to all previous’ episodes on the app. If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please do share with other people, please write a review or a rating. The show is currently unfunded. To ensure we can provide a whole series, please support us. Support the show

‘Memories of m children’s early years spill out in layers: I catch a glimpse of her first bib, speckled with polka dots and tomato sauce spillages too persistent to clean; here’s the dungarees they all wore for their early steps, wobbling like jack-in-the-boxes, mouths open with excitement and concentration, one shiny dribble at the corner. And so they emerge, year by year, each milestone a bounty of feelings and anticipation.’ Today’s episode tells the story of three things from our children’s childhood that are significant to me.  Our discussion focusses on how we assign value to apparently insignificant (even ugly) things. Do they carry hidden symbols? Do they tell the story of our own identity at that specific point of time? What baggage do they carry?   Though this is on the surface the story of a bag of things forgotten in a loft, the episode actually centres on rites of passage, shifting friendships and the mystery of life. Today’s RECOMMENDATION is Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver. . To hear the whole episode, look for EPISODE 5 of series 4 – The Series of Things, all on the MY BEAUTIFUL STORIES PODCAST. We would love for this series to be collaborative, and we invite you to bring your stories to the fold! Please share the stories of those things that are not just things here or send me an Instagram message. Click send your story or send me a message on Instagram.  My Beautiful Club ko-fi members have priority, but we will endeavour to narrate as many stories as we can on the podcast! You can listen to all previous’ episodes on the app. If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please do share with other people, please write a review or a rating. The show is currently unfunded. To ensure we can provide a whole series, please support us. Share this: Support the show

'The train slowed down and the man told me this was his stop. I got up and we hugged goodbye. For the rest of the ride I held on to the roses as I let go of my numbness. ' Therese Bagshaw SHOW NOTES:Today's story is shared by Therese Bagshaw. You can visit her beautiful writing here. This is a unique tale of hope and surprise. Therese also shared a story for series 3 of the podcast (STORIES OF 2020). You can listen to that story here.  In our discussion, we wonder at Therese's ability to seize the moment, to understand the importance of one brief, yet life-defining encounter. We also briefly touch on the importance of personal narrative to revealing truth which is difficult to grasp otherwise and the joy experienced when we succeed in sharing some of that truth. Today's RECOMMENDATION is Nomadland - a story of meaning - lost and found. To hear the whole episode, look for EPISODE 4 of series 4 – The Series of Things, all on the MY BEAUTIFUL STORIES PODCAST. We would love for this series to be collaborative, and we invite you to bring your stories to the fold! Please share the stories of those things that are not just things here or send me an Instagram message. Click send your story or send me a message on Instagram.  My Beautiful Club ko-fi members have priority, but we will endeavour to narrate as many stories as we can on the podcast! You can listen to all previous’ episodes on the app. If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please do share with other people, please write a review or a rating. The show is currently unfunded. To ensure we can provide a whole series, please support us. Support the show

'We’d started East, taking the DLR to the first of a series of events for the London Open House weekend. We had traversed the city by foot, on the river bank, imagining life in a river boat, garden on the roof, sun loungers folded neatly at the side, a pandemonium of flower pots hanging from each window. ' Today's episode, initiated by the story of a lost pink unicorn, includes a discussion on the spaces we live in. We ask who our buildings and shared spaces  are designed for, who is excluded from our designed environment, and what effect this has on the communities who live there.  This is EPISODE 3 of series 4 – The Series of Things. This new series is called: THE STORIES OF THINGS and it features  stories of  those things that are meaningful in our lives. We would love for this series to be collaborative, and we invite you to bring your stories to the fold! Please share the stories of those things that are not just things here or send me an Instagram message. The show is currently unfunded. To ensure we can provide a whole series, please support us. Support the show

'As a child, I heard about the tall rock my grandmother used to live on, at the edge of the sea. I heard of the waves, crashing onto the shore, of their unmistakable sound, of the salt in the nostrils and the grilled fish for supper. ' SHOW NOTES: EPISODE 2 of series 4 - The Series of Things. STORY: Today's story tells of the few scarcity of belongings kept by my migrant grandparents. DISCUSSION: We ask what else migrants leave behind, apart from country, culture and sometimes family. Our discussion concludes with a meditation on what we possibly gain from forming connections with the migrant communities. RECOMMENDATION: This episode's recommendation is another film: THE WEEPING MEADOW which tells the story of a migrant community and also, of the harshness of war and all that war takes with it. The film is aesthetically pleasing, each frame is perfectly constructed and curated to the most minute details. ANNOUNCEMENTS: We would love for this series to be collaborative, and we invite you to bring your stories to the fold! Please share the stories of those things that are not just things here or send me an Instagram message. The show is currently unfunded. To ensure we can provide a whole series, please support us. All My Beautiful Club ko-fi members have priority, but we will endeavour to narrate as many stories as we can on the podcast! You can listen to all previous’ episodes on the app. If you have enjoyed this podcast episode, please do share with other people, please write a review or a rating. To ensure we can provide a whole series, please support us. Support the show

'Holding inside her the secret pattern for the carpet, she would weave each thread gently in and gently out, through hard wired vertical, thick weft thread, stopping from time to time to align them . Sometimes the shed stick, the wooden stick separating threads, would drop, the tension in the thread would be lost, and words would pass, or would they retrieve their work peacefully and resolutely?' Welcome to episode 1 of series 4 - The Series of Things. This new series is called: The Stories of Things and it aims to feature  stories of  those things that are meaningful in our lives – those things that we have kept, that we have carried with us from house to house, the things that we do not remove easily from our possession. We would love for this series to be collaborative, and we invite you to bring your stories to the fold!  Please share the stories of those things that are not just things on the website or in an Instagram message. Support the show

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. Support the show

‘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.  Support the show