Note: This is Excerpt #39 in Diane’s Diary. If you would like to read previous excerpts, you can find Diane’s Diary 1-38 here.
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In Diane’s Diary #38 I promised that I’d take a break from writing about the boring behind-the-scenes (budget) stuff. For me, the really fun part is filming and editing and sharing it with you. (I bet that’s the most fun part to read about too.) But we’re not quite there on a regular basis yet. And even when we get there, there will be a constant refining of budgets and continued fundraising.
In 2020 there was still a chunk of time that I wasn’t filming- partly due to Covid and partly due to a lack of funding. So what was I doing?
Well, did you see, or join, the incredibly successful Facebook Group 'View From My Window' early in the pandemic? It was (and still is) a beautiful group that invited members to share a photo of where they were holed up. Some of the views were stunning and others, more modest from all around the world. But the group enabled people to not feel so alone and that was HUGE, and in a matter of weeks, the group had over a million members (and now they have 2.3 million members!).
I had a lightbulb moment to start a Facebook Group that would similarly bring animal lovers together. I had grand ideas that this would be wildly successful like the View From My Window group. Well- I am truly grateful for all of our members. But we still have a way to go.
In an attempt to reinvent the group to better reflect what I’m doing, I renamed it The Science and Magic of the Human-Animal Bond. Since I knew that the films were going to take a while to create and release, I thought I’d build up a community of like-minded people. And in the meantime, since I wasn't yet filming, I began interviewing people who had something to do with the human-animal bond- whether it was through therapy animals, service dogs, equine therapy, pet professionals, trainers, and more. This cost me nothing since it’s all been virtual rather than in person. And, as you might know, it's called The Science and Magic of the Human-Animal Bond interview series. I’ve had a blast doing the interviews and connecting with people I knew and meeting other people for the first time.
During 2020 I also learned how to set up my YouTube Channel, joined a couple of groups for Pet Entrepreneurs, met and worked with an animal-loving grant writer named Carly (lovely), and watched a bunch of documentary films to start getting a feel for what I like and don’t like.
Then some cool stuff happened with Kaitlyn (the young lady who was waiting for her service dog). And THAT’s what we are going to talk about in the next blog post.
**WATCH our most recent Mini-Doc!**
Before the pandemic (when this was filmed), therapy animals were making finals week just a tad bit less stressful for college students. Can you imagine how excited students will be when these visits resume in person?