“My hope for this passion project is that it re-energises people; fuels their creativity and gives practical tools for creative mental success.”
Alex Normanton: Founder, Creator & Host of DOPA
Born out
of critique.
Over the last few years, mental health, mindfulness and wellness have been on the
rise at an alarming and progressive rate.
‘Roughly 1 in 4 people will deal with a mental health issue during their lifespan’.
(World Health Organisation, Feb 2021).
‘People working in the creative industries are three times more likely to suffer from a mental health problem than the general public’.
(Inspire and Ulster University, March, 2019).
Dream it.
However, in the midst of the mindfulness conversation, not a lot of people are talking
about ‘Creative Wellness’.
So, what does that mean?
How can we keep our minds free from negativity, doubt, fear and self-sabotage?
How can we start to speak positivity into the negative thoughts that often go through our creative minds on a daily basis?
Test it.
It all started one Saturday morning in early February, I’d arranged to record a couple of pilot episodes with Graham Sturt. Graham was kind enough to open up his beautiful home in De Pijp, Amsterdam at very short notice. It was the combination of being in a home, being relaxed and slightly under prepared that gave DOPA its casual DNA.
What started out as a couple of test episodes quickly became two very compelling recording sessions. They both made the final cut and the sound recording imperfections make it a very genuine listening experience.
Make it.
From creating the DOPA brand in sound
with composer Keelan Doyle, to buying and returning lots of audio production kit, through
to writing the sessions, preparing our speakers, editing, post-production, content generation, designing the brand etc…
You could say it’s been a steep learning curve (I’m not an audio engineer). However, I’d do it all over again. It’s good to give something back. Available now across all the usual audio streaming platforms.