Apologies in advance if my voice sounds a bit different this week. I've been overcoming a nasty cold and wasn't sure I'd be able to record at all. I hope you enjoy a luxurious night beneath the stars on a floating campsite on Lake Surrender. ✨ Also available on my podcast, Michelle's Sanctuary for Sleep ✨podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michelles-sanctuary/episodes/Floating-Camp-Beneath-the-Harvest-Moon-Sleep-Story-e2pju9f Gifts are always appreciated, for those of you who wish you show support: www.buymeacoffee.com/michsanctuary www.paypal.me/michellessanctuary www.venmo.com/michellehotaling
I can't thank you enough Michelle, you're ill and you're still looking out for, you're a living angel, take good care of yourself and wishing you get well very soon 🙏🤗💛
Michelle, I do hope you feel better soon! This sounds heavenly and I know I will enjoy it immensely! Thank you so much for your continued work to develop the best stories and meditations out there.
These are such beautiful scenes. I used to do civil war reenactments and I really miss those canvas tents. They're so cozy. I miss the lanterns, fires and bonds of friendships formed there. I specifically miss the September, October and November ones as those were the best. Vermont is such a beautiful state 😍.
Sending healing wishes and every day I just tell myself I’m a day closer to being back to healthy and you are too (even when it doesn’t feel like it). I’m so sorry and hope you are able to sleep 💜
Dearest Michelle, I’ve been an avid listener of your bedtime stories for years now. I truly love them and listen to your voice before falling asleep almost every night. However, I have noticed a drop in number of listeners of late, especially compared to the 500+K listeners you were pulling in just a few years ago. As a published author of (YA) fiction myself, I wanted to share with you a few ideas I’ve had about that… Of course, as one of the very first creators of sleep stories, you had little competition to begin with. Nowadays, it seems like everyone is trying to make sleep stories - with varying degrees of success - and of course there are the big apps like Calm, Headspace and so many others now. I still choose you over anyone else because I know how good you are at what you do. There have been changes in your stories over the years which is perfectly natural as you grow and develop your style. And almost all of those changes have been for the better. Your tone of voice has changed too, and definitely for the better, even though you’ve always sounded incredibly peaceful and relaxing to me. Yet I have noticed one major difference in your story-telling that I don’t think is working out for you that well, and it’s simply that your stories have become increasingly more descriptive. I happen to love description and I love writing it too, but some of my readers have complained that my novels have become TOO descriptive (and therefore a bit boring in parts) and I’m thinking that the same thing might be happening to you. Of course, quite a bit of description is necessary in sleep stories in order to help listeners ‘see’ the story play out on the dark backdrop of their closed eyelids. But a huge amount of description is not necessary because we all have our own powers of imagination to make up missing bits or to fill in the blanks. I truly love all your description, however because your stories have to be a certain length (and I appreciate that your sleep stories are much longer than most), including a great deal of description means that there isn’t so much time left for actual story - and although I love description, story is what we all come for. Now I know the point of your stories are to help people unwind and fall asleep, so the story can’t be too exciting or detailed, but that’s not what I’m suggesting. Your very peaceful and incredibly cosy storytelling is second to none, and that’s why I want more of it. Not more action, just more story, like you used to do. I can’t promise I’m right, but I do know that’s the main difference between your stories today and your stories from back a few years ago when you were easily pulling in half a million listens, and deservedly so. I'm certainly not suggesting you cut out all description - it is a very necessary and beautiful part of your artistry. I just think you might have more success if you tried to redress the balance just a little. Just a little idea from one storyteller to another. 😉 With love and so much thanks for years of peaceful stories, Tabitha 😊♥️
Thanks for your feedback and being along for the ride. In terms of my stories you may be referencing they were simply much shorter and often only twenty minutes long. This upset a lot of people. The main thing is that the majority of my audience is now listening to me on Insight Timer and my podcast. They tend to be better platforms for a lot of people. RUclips isn’t as favorable at pushing my content for a few reason. 1. I’m a female content creator. The sleep story space and search results push male voices exclusively. 2. My fellow creators are releasing content four times a week. I simply cannot release that much and so my content isn’t pushed as much. And 3. Many are releasing four hour videos even though the story is under an hour. It’s another tactic I found listeners just don’t like. And the last thing is that they are spending money each week for promotions so that the videos are seen with a higher budget. This is something I also rarely do. I am more than happy to make a less descriptive video and I have been doing that with my tiny stories. But there never has been that much “story” as too much action keeps people up. Again, if there’s a particular story from the past you are referencing and want more of let me know.
tabitha., i know you were trying to be helpful. i think you should trust that Michelle knows what she is doing. views are not the only thing that is important. it is the quality of the story that matters. I know this was supposed to be constructive criticism, but it was a little too much. I have a deep love for you, Michelle, and I guess I am very protective. you have brought me so much peace and joy. you are better than 10 years of therapy. keep doing what you are doing! and thanks for making this when you were sick! much love, lizzie
@@lizzieloca thank you for your kind words and support. I really appreciate it. It's definitely a lot to receive that level of criticism when sick especially even though it's well meaning. I am going to make a short video about it-- because I do tend to receive a lot of criticism and I think it's important for growth to some degree but it also can really make it hard to create. I am only one person putting out at minimum one 3600 word story a week and having a whole other career on the side. I really appreciate you recognizing what it has taken and I love to keep releasing even when things like getting sick try to impede it. The best way anyone can ever offer guidance is by telling me what they like, or what story or meditation works best and why-- that gives me healthy guidance that doesn't hurt my creativity or have me second guessing. Thank you again. I am grateful to be able to help and so glad you've been part of this sanctuary 💜
Hope you have a quick recovery! Since I know that a lot of your places are composites of places you’ve experienced, is there an actual place that offers camping on floating docks in the middle of a lake? This is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing.
Thank you-- I don't know anything exactly like what I wrote but I have read about floating camp experiences in Maine and in California on different lakes.
As an Australian I have never experienced this as we don;t have autumn . Half the year ( Christmas half ) its hot and raining other half cold and dry .
Apologies in advance if my voice sounds a bit different this week. I've been overcoming a nasty cold and wasn't sure I'd be able to record at all. I hope you enjoy a luxurious night beneath the stars on a floating campsite on Lake Surrender.
✨ Also available on my podcast, Michelle's Sanctuary for Sleep ✨podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michelles-sanctuary/episodes/Floating-Camp-Beneath-the-Harvest-Moon-Sleep-Story-e2pju9f
Gifts are always appreciated, for those of you who wish you show support:
www.buymeacoffee.com/michsanctuary
www.paypal.me/michellessanctuary
www.venmo.com/michellehotaling
Prayers for your healing 🙏 ❤. Thank you 😌 ❤.
If you aren't feeling well you can do a compilation of your Cotswold series 😉. Just an idea. Take care 🙂.
@@christierichardson2841 I think it's only missing the "Cozy Attic in the Cotswolds" ruclips.net/video/y6P3WG28OWk/видео.htmlsi=SIagdqQ_wxRWhXCG
It's always autumn and spring with the most cold and flu issues.
😭😭😭
@@FlamingBasketballClub I know and it got me early this year! Hoping it's the last sickness until 2025.
I can't thank you enough Michelle, you're ill and you're still looking out for, you're a living angel, take good care of yourself and wishing you get well very soon 🙏🤗💛
Thank you so much-- sweetest of dreams!
May I send all healing blessings to you. ❤
I appreciate that and you ✨
YEAY, SUGAR HOLLOW!!!!! I'm so excited about this one. I love, love, love Sigar Hollow.
I'm so glad you enjoy it-- I love it too. Always feels like the right place to be in the fall.
OH WOW. Cannot Wait for this one!!!
God Bless you, I pray for you each week.
Thank you 💜 I hope you enjoy it!
Cosy in bed for this. Physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.
I can relate! Sweet dreams ✨
I hope you can surrender your day and get some good sleep 😴 😊
Fall….Sugar Hollow….. Perfect 😍. Feel better soon Michelle and thank you for this story.
Thank you so much-- hope you enjoyed this one!
Hope you start to feel better soon Michelle 🙏
I could not live without you... U have helped me and changed my outlook on how I treat myself so forever grateful I will always be to you.
Congratulations to you for finding ways to change your outlook. I'm so glad you're here 💜
*To everyone having rough time, you got this. Better days are coming soon :) I wish you wonderfull day.*
They certainly are. And sleep will help 💜
Michelle, I do hope you feel better soon! This sounds heavenly and I know I will enjoy it immensely! Thank you so much for your continued work to develop the best stories and meditations out there.
Thank you! I'm getting there-- it's a chance for many naps with a healing puppy.
Beautifully done story telling Michelle ❤️. Thank you for taking us to lovely places 💕. Reaching peace and sleep.
Thank you so much. May you continue to find peace and dream away ✨
Camping 🏕 ⛺️ woo hoo lake surrender 😊Goodnight and thank you, Michelle ✨️
Enjoy!
Hope youre feeling better soon Michelle 💓 looking forward to visiting sugar hollow again.😊
Thank you- every day gets a little better. Hope you have an amazing listen 💜
Such a cosy harvest moon story today 💤
Sweet dreams!
What a wonderful story! Every time I listen I’m baffled by your creativity! I’ve been hoping to hear one of the witch stories this October!
I am working on one in my mind- definitely this fall. And thank you 💜
@@MichellesSanctuary you did a great job!! I love those sweet witches and their cozy cottage
Another awesome story ! I do hope you’re feeling better, Michelle
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’m almost back to myself 💜
Wow! I love this story and the visuals.
I'm so gld you enjoyed it! Sweet dreams ✨
Ooh! Looking forward to snuggling up with this one tonight! Look after you 💖
Hope you like it! And thank you 🥰
This is the best one yet! Thanks :)
Glad you think so! Thank you so much 💜
Hope you start to feel better soon Michelle. That was brilliant! Really enjoyed it. Good night and God bless x
Thank you so much!
These are such beautiful scenes. I used to do civil war reenactments and I really miss those canvas tents. They're so cozy. I miss the lanterns, fires and bonds of friendships formed there. I specifically miss the September, October and November ones as those were the best. Vermont is such a beautiful state 😍.
What a beautiful memory! 💖
I feel you Michelle. I have a serious chest infection. Now in week three. Had Covid in August too so my body is struggling.
Sending healing wishes and every day I just tell myself I’m a day closer to being back to healthy and you are too (even when it doesn’t feel like it). I’m so sorry and hope you are able to sleep 💜
Did a great job 👌😁, hope you are feeling better soon!!!!
Thank you so much 💖
Dearest Michelle, I’ve been an avid listener of your bedtime stories for years now. I truly love them and listen to your voice before falling asleep almost every night. However, I have noticed a drop in number of listeners of late, especially compared to the 500+K listeners you were pulling in just a few years ago. As a published author of (YA) fiction myself, I wanted to share with you a few ideas I’ve had about that…
Of course, as one of the very first creators of sleep stories, you had little competition to begin with. Nowadays, it seems like everyone is trying to make sleep stories - with varying degrees of success - and of course there are the big apps like Calm, Headspace and so many others now. I still choose you over anyone else because I know how good you are at what you do. There have been changes in your stories over the years which is perfectly natural as you grow and develop your style. And almost all of those changes have been for the better. Your tone of voice has changed too, and definitely for the better, even though you’ve always sounded incredibly peaceful and relaxing to me. Yet I have noticed one major difference in your story-telling that I don’t think is working out for you that well, and it’s simply that your stories have become increasingly more descriptive. I happen to love description and I love writing it too, but some of my readers have complained that my novels have become TOO descriptive (and therefore a bit boring in parts) and I’m thinking that the same thing might be happening to you. Of course, quite a bit of description is necessary in sleep stories in order to help listeners ‘see’ the story play out on the dark backdrop of their closed eyelids. But a huge amount of description is not necessary because we all have our own powers of imagination to make up missing bits or to fill in the blanks. I truly love all your description, however because your stories have to be a certain length (and I appreciate that your sleep stories are much longer than most), including a great deal of description means that there isn’t so much time left for actual story - and although I love description, story is what we all come for. Now I know the point of your stories are to help people unwind and fall asleep, so the story can’t be too exciting or detailed, but that’s not what I’m suggesting. Your very peaceful and incredibly cosy storytelling is second to none, and that’s why I want more of it. Not more action, just more story, like you used to do. I can’t promise I’m right, but I do know that’s the main difference between your stories today and your stories from back a few years ago when you were easily pulling in half a million listens, and deservedly so. I'm certainly not suggesting you cut out all description - it is a very necessary and beautiful part of your artistry. I just think you might have more success if you tried to redress the balance just a little.
Just a little idea from one storyteller to another. 😉
With love and so much thanks for years of peaceful stories,
Tabitha 😊♥️
Thanks for your feedback and being along for the ride. In terms of my stories you may be referencing they were simply much shorter and often only twenty minutes long. This upset a lot of people. The main thing is that the majority of my audience is now listening to me on Insight Timer and my podcast. They tend to be better platforms for a lot of people. RUclips isn’t as favorable at pushing my content for a few reason. 1. I’m a female content creator. The sleep story space and search results push male voices exclusively. 2. My fellow creators are releasing content four times a week. I simply cannot release that much and so my content isn’t pushed as much. And 3. Many are releasing four hour videos even though the story is under an hour. It’s another tactic I found listeners just don’t like. And the last thing is that they are spending money each week for promotions so that the videos are seen with a higher budget. This is something I also rarely do. I am more than happy to make a less descriptive video and I have been doing that with my tiny stories. But there never has been that much “story” as too much action keeps people up. Again, if there’s a particular story from the past you are referencing and want more of let me know.
tabitha., i know you were trying to be helpful. i think you should trust that Michelle knows what she is doing. views are not the only thing that is important. it is the quality of the story that matters. I know this was supposed to be constructive criticism, but it was a little too much.
I have a deep love for you, Michelle, and I guess I am very protective. you have brought me so much peace and joy. you are better than 10 years of therapy.
keep doing what you are doing! and thanks for making this when you were sick! much love, lizzie
@@lizzieloca thank you for your kind words and support. I really appreciate it. It's definitely a lot to receive that level of criticism when sick especially even though it's well meaning. I am going to make a short video about it-- because I do tend to receive a lot of criticism and I think it's important for growth to some degree but it also can really make it hard to create. I am only one person putting out at minimum one 3600 word story a week and having a whole other career on the side. I really appreciate you recognizing what it has taken and I love to keep releasing even when things like getting sick try to impede it. The best way anyone can ever offer guidance is by telling me what they like, or what story or meditation works best and why-- that gives me healthy guidance that doesn't hurt my creativity or have me second guessing. Thank you again. I am grateful to be able to help and so glad you've been part of this sanctuary 💜
you are so very welcome. I love you, Michelle ❤
By the way, your voice still sounds amazing. ❤❤😊
Thank you-- I tried!
Hope you have a quick recovery! Since I know that a lot of your places are composites of places you’ve experienced, is there an actual place that offers camping on floating docks in the middle of a lake? This is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing.
Thank you-- I don't know anything exactly like what I wrote but I have read about floating camp experiences in Maine and in California on different lakes.
As an Australian I have never experienced this as we don;t have autumn . Half the year ( Christmas half ) its hot and raining other half cold and dry .
Well luckily these stories can give you an idea of this amazing season.
@@MichellesSanctuary they do . For sleep I am finding your other channel to be better recently. Those get back to sleep ones .
@@aleximalmgren5301 Great. I'm working on a new sleep meditation to be released soon.
@@MichellesSanctuary the visualisation ate more customisable
💜
Sweet dreams ✨
@@MichellesSanctuary aw thankyou sweetheart
October 14th, 2 years since I lost my daddy 😢 RIPARADISE dad😇🥰
So sorry-- it's still so fresh. You do such a great job of honoring his memory 💜
@@MichellesSanctuary ❤️ thank you for saying that🥰 I think of him every day💙
Your voice sounds lovely, as always, but having an autumn cold to hint at Jennifer Connelly’s mustn’t ever be a concern.
Thank you-- copious amounts of tea have helped.
Oh yeah, can we visit the witches cottage on Halloween ?😊🩷
Sounds like a good idea!
@@MichellesSanctuary yay!! Let's go see the witches 💜🦋💜