***Hello my name is Zoe Ackah. I am a musician from Toronto and if you google me you will find me.***

I got the know Zoe over the course of one very intense year back in 2010, when we were both students in the Bachelor of Education program at The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. I was so struck by the passion that seemed to just emanate from her at all times. She had this loud, clear voice, that was always asking the most thoughtful and probing questions. She was one of the few students that already had their own children, and so she knew what she was talking about in a way I really didn’t. Nothing about our class discussions was theoretical for her — she wanted practical, effective solutions to the problems she cared about. What she cared about most was making sure that kids and families, especially ones that had been traditionally not listened or made to feel welcome within the school system, were heard, represented, fully included and given full access to the supports they needed to succeed. She was also very, very funny.

Neither Zoe nor I ever went on to become public school teachers. I think I was vaguely aware back then Zoe was a musician, but in the years since I have watched her music career unfold with admiration and interest.

In late 2020, she released her debut album, The World Inside, which was followed this past May by a second full-length, This Hen, a record steeped in classic country.

1. Logic Pro X

I really enjoy producing records. The tool I use is Logic Pro X. I take it for granted that I started out producing when I was young, so I feel very comfortable slogging away in a piece of software that is nothing short of labyrinthian. I first learned how to “program” music in the basement of Trebas Institute at the teaching studio run by Sam Weller, Anthony “Bassy” Hibburt and Noel “Gadget” Campbell. Back then the program was called Atari Notator which ran on, you guessed it, an Atari Commodore 64. I had gotten a small FACTOR demo grant, so I was never a student of Trebas, but Sam Weller sat me down in the room behind the vocal booth and told me to start programming. Every time I hit a roadblock Sam would come over and show me what to do. I slowly learned how to make a record, a process I found I really loved. When I finally started making my own records and producing them myself again after spending a couple decades raising my kids, all the basics were still there. I am blown away by the progress these programs have made over the years. What used to be racks of expensive machines is all “in the box” of a single powerful program. I have made so many mistakes and learned a lot the hard way and I look forward to making many more (mistakes and records)

2. The album Moussolou by Oumou Sangare

When I was 19 I went into a bookstore called The Every Women’s Bookstore on Wellesley street to buy a planner they had there with a period tracker in the back. It was called an Everywoman’s Almanac and it came out every year. This is the pre cellphone times when we kept track of our lives on gentle, silent, innocent paper. You kept it in your purse and took it with you everywhere, that and your book of phone numbers. Anyhow there was a record playing in the store and I thought “this is the most beautiful music I have ever heard.” I bought a cassette. It was Oumou Sangare’s first record Moussolou. I had all her records for a while and my favourite is Worotan. She is also my favourite singer in the world. Sadly, I have never seen her live. I hope I can someday!

3. The ocean

I love the ocean. I think we all do because just listening to waves is so relaxing and healing for people. The last time I took a vacation (in 2016) I went to stay in Hotbox Jamaica. I would swim in the sea everyday and I did a lot of sleeping. While I was there I took recordings of the waves and the tree frogs, creating song sketches with them. That began an obsession with nature sound recordings. Right now I am working on the programming and production of a followup to The World Inside. Every song has a nature sound element. I am loving it! Here is the video for the song I wrote with the help of the sea. At that time I swapped my iphone recordings of the sea for film quality recordings provided by San Page, who mixed the project. Now I have a growing library of nature sounds I use to create.

4. The hours between 11 pm and 3 am

I love the hours between 11pm and 3 am when everyone is asleep. I love walking my dog then and I love writing and singing in the quiet when there are no competing sounds and no one to disturb me. I also like the colours of things at night, soft shadows and starlight. I don’t feel afraid at night, I feel hidden and protected. No one can see me or judge me and the trees come alive and breath making wonderful smells. You can hear the breeze as well, one of my favourite sounds. I can listen to the wind for a weirdly long time.

Here are Forest Sounds at Night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVV4-2G0t3k

5. My dog

I inherited my dog when my friend Sandra Whiteley died of cancer. I thought having a dog and three kids to raise alone would be too much but it turns out a dog makes a house a home. He brought us closer together and we treasure him. During Covid I was alone in the house all the time and he was truly my best friend. He is 13 now. I find his gentle snoring comforts me all day. I love walking him though these walks are getting shorter and shorter. I also never miss an amazon delivery or visitor because he is an incredibly effective doorbell. I love him so much!

6. Time management

I am a person who struggles with their mental health every day. I did Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in 2017 and that began my passion for time management. Poor time management is, in my opinion, an indicator of mental illness! I see it in many people with mental health struggles. Almost every Sunday I make a calendar in a spreadsheet and plan my week. I thought about trying an AI scheduler, but taking the time to think about my week myself helps me gain focus. I have read lots of books about optimizing performance, habit building and goal setting. I am always planning and working. People often wonder how I manage to get so much done and maintain my persistence in the face of adversity. Part of it is grit, but in fact I plan to stop feeling out of control and hopeless. When I make a plan and I start feeling bad, I can just look at my calendar to know what I should be doing and do it even though I am scared or sad. When I feel worthless, I can look at last week's calendar and see that I have actually accomplished a lot. I share with you my sacred calendar template. Download it to your drive and edit the heck out of it and keep changing it until it is exactly what you need.

7. These books

Here is a list of good books that can help you change. Changing is hard but anyone can change, in fact we are always changing without being aware of it. Don’t spend money. Download the Libby app and use your library card to either listen to all these books for free as audiobooks! I love audiobooks and I love free. You can add multiple library cards, your public library and any other libraries like your university or college alumni library membership.

The Brain That Changes Itself - This book summarized the last 20 years of research into the human brain.
Atomic Habits - This is an instruction manual for changing things in tiny, tiny steps. All things are done one small step at a time. This idea was made popular by the Japanese who have a beautiful concept called Kaizen which you can read about in any of the many Kaizen books.
Hardwiring Happiness - This is a wonderful book about how to be happy based in neuroscience. The author narrates the audiobooks and his voice is very soothing!