Many of my YouTube Shorts (vertical videos under 3 mins) are made for me, for cathartic reasons. I utilize Shorts because they host a video I make allowing me to pick commercial music that communicates a feeling, in this case, sadness and grief. This is the story behind one Short called Sundown.

While on an evening summer walk in late July, the golden light of the setting sun was bouncing off a Cedar tree casting shadows, catching my eye. I was reminded of a totem pole and the tree emitted a kind of spiritual aura. I was immediately pulled to filming it (in slow motion so that it has little to no movement) with my iPhone 16pro. Coming across magic in nature is my favourite inspirational source for creativity. The iPhone 16pro has incredible camera features and I use it all the time in nature. I made this Short after feeling profound sadness over the sudden loss of a beautiful young man, that sent a kind of seismic grief wave over me. I felt the need to do something about it, creating the Short with the Summertime Sadness song by Lana del Rey, a perfect fit for the mood. Sharing it here helps me to process the feeling. It was this event that kicked me into overdrive to get cathARTic explorer up and running, where I channeled my grief and helplessness into action.

Being naturally empathetic, means I can’t really control the wave that can come over me, even on behalf of others. My iPhone has been such a convenient and effective tool for creative catharsis. I also need to be mindful of the kind of content I consume online as I have found it to deeply affect me.

Summer is the hardest season for me. My senses become overwhelmed with heat, light, noise, and smell leading to insomnia problems. When insomnia hits, my equilibrium is further impaired and I become more housebound and that leads to other issues. And not to mention fire smoke, as today we were covered in it – an unfortunate impact of a Canadian summer. But I am glad we are now into September and while we’re still experiencing heat, I am hoping this is the last spell of the season. I am so ready for fall. And with that I bid summer farewell with this clip.

Activity: If you’re feeling creatively inspired and own a mobile device, go out into nature and look for patterns, shapes, colours, textures, or anything that catches your eye. Check in on how you’re feeling, paying attention to all of your senses, then record a vertical video clip. Use your Gmail to create a YouTube account if you don’t already have one. Upload your video to YouTube Shorts where you can add music to the clip if it’s less than 60 seconds long. Consider the mood you felt when shooting the clip and pick music that resonates with that. You can also use the natural native sounds and you will have up to 3 mins in length. Add a title and a few tags. How does it make you feel? Feel free to share it in the comments.