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Life Changes Show, April 12, 2021

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Life Changes Show
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Social VR – The Next Generation of Co-Creation with MICHAEL NEWTON and Musical Guest JENS JARVIE

Life Changes Show with Filippo Voltaggio and cohost Mark Laisure, with Executive Producer Dorothy Lee Donahue

“Social VR – The Next Generation of Co-Creation,” with Guest, Media Shaman and VR Evangelist, Michael Newton; and Musical Guest, Singer-Songwriter of Devotional Music, Kirtan Wallah, Multi-Instrumentalist, Jens Jarvie on The LIFE CHANGES Show #628

Guest: MICHAEL NEWTON; and Musical Guest: JENS JARVIE

Guest, Michael Newton

Guest Name
Michael Newton
Guest Occupation
VR Social Community Builder, musician
Guest Biography

MICHAEL NEWTON

Born in Yorkshire, grew up in South Wales. I loved music from an early age, and I learned many instruments while playing drums in a punk band. I was accepted into College at 16 years old to study music and electronics.

I graduated 1980 during the beginnings of electronics and computers in music.I had an exciting career commuting between LA and London. So I started out an early adopter of tech when a revolution was happening. 

I met my wife in San Diego. We had a great life. My wife suffered with depression that became worse, so we relocated to the rural Midwest to be closer to her Mom and sister. I got a regular job in IT, so I could be a better caregiver. Several years passed, and I suffered a stroke. Shortly thereafter, my wife’s sister and mother died accidentally. This was all too much for my wife’s mental state so she took her own life.. 

This left me 2 dogs and 2 cats stranded in the rural Midwest with no support and less than adequate health facilities or therapists. So I turned to music as my therapy. I first had to figure out my recording systems, and I entered music in step time because my tremors in my right hand made playing impossible. I wanted to document my progress in music and to date have written nearly 1000 tracks on Soundcloud created whilst volunteering for a theater post production audio and scoring a series of local radio plays. However my reading, writing, and speech needed help. I cussed a lot, which is a normal symptom post stroke, and people say I am blunt. This amount of trauma will do that to a person.

I managed to contact an old friend musician Lightyear in Florida, and via Skype, embarked on a book study every Sunday until my reading and speech improved. I went to therapy groups and was just about to venture into the real world when the pandemic hit.

If I wasn’t isolated before I was now. I had been using a virtual reality headset for exercise and meditation, and although I had worked with 3D modeling software in my career, I still lacked the motor control to build anything in VR. I discovered Social VR and with the help of music industry friends like Lightyear who were dealing with challenges due to COVID 19 persuading them to join me in building worlds in VR. Group therapy and support meetings began to flourish covering all kinds of mental health issues in a tailored space – people say they feel more present  compared to zoom.

Using social VR i have reconnected with old industry friends and made new ones. The VR community is growing organically with community input. New experiences are being created in media, education and support groups. I have seen theatrical productions conceived, cast and rehearsed in VR gone to comedy clubs talk shows all created by the VR community.

To this end, I help co host a weekly event virtual discussion of content creation where we help foster the community in our story-based mentorship. Whether you are a seasoned professional, content creator, or just curious, this is the place for you to turn dreams into reality, and it is truly a mind blowing event.

My life has had its challenges,but I am optimistic about the future. Social VR, I believe, will be the next generation of media, and I am so glad to play some part in it to help share it with the world.

Guest, Jens Jarvie

Guest Name
Jens Jarvie
Guest Occupation
Singer-songwriter, kirtan wallah, multi-instrumentalist, meditator, yogi, father, land steward, and lover of life
Guest Biography

JENS JARVIE

Jens is a passionate singer-songwriter, kirtan wallah, multi-instrumentalist, meditator, yogi, father, land steward, and lover of life who has carried a vision to uplift and assist the great awakening of humanity through music for the last 20 years.

He studied “music as a mode of transformation” at Naropa University integrating music, psychology, and religious studies. His chanting and original lyrics will inspire you to take flight in the vastness of the heart. Jens’s songs invoke healing and love for the benefit of all beings, inviting you on a journey of depth and transcendence. His music is about celebration, embodiment and remembrance of our deepest wisdom. Through positive affirmations, ancient mantras, engaging melodies and driving rhythms Jens offers a spirit of strength and devotion to soar into gratitude for this life we are living!

Jens has recorded and produced 4 albums in the last 10 years and resides in Sebastopol, Ca where he continues to grow his current project, The Heart Wide Open, “mantra music for an awakening world.”

Life Changes Show

Show Host

Come and join the conversation about what's going on and what we can do together about it, with it, and for it. We have the choice, we have the power. We can do magic if we just believe!

A show about the changes going on in us, to us, around us, and because of us. Therefore, it's technically a show about "Everything," only with a how to make it better, see it better, be better.

In the show, there is talk about, and with, people who have either been through major changes, are helping others with major changes, or people who are changing the world for the better in a major way.

The show is a one-hour talk show format with a monologue by the host, a 30 minute interview with a guest of note, capped by a "Producer's Wrap" segment, in which Filippo and Co-Host Mark Laisure, and sometimes surprise guests, bring it all home for the listeners in a sometimes humorous and sometimes touching, but always entertaining conversation.

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Weekly Show
Schedule Station
BBS Station 1
Schedule Broadcast Day
Monday
Starts
9:00 pm CT
Ends
9:55 pm CT
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