Welcome to Otherworld. I'm your host, Jack Wagner.

This episode is about a man named Tim. Tim is a professor, as well as a painter, and the story you're about to hear takes

place while he is attending an artist residency in upstate New York. If you aren't familiar,

an artist residency is a special program that gives artists dedicated time, space, and resources to focus on their work.

It's a chance to step away from everyday life, create work in a new environment, and often connect with other artists.

This is something that you generally have to apply for and essentially win.

It's usually very competitive and it's a big deal to get a chance to go and do this.

There are residences for non-artists as well, but basically it's a time for somebody to truly focus on their craft and do special work.

And it's also a time that would really not be great to have any kind of interruption or distraction,

especially the kind that eventually happened to Tim, as you're about to hear.

Tim has lived his entire life as a staunch non-believer and materialist.

He is certainly not the first person of that sort to appear on this show,

but I think Tim really clung onto that denial of his own experiences longer than most would.

And to make matters worse, these things were happening to him while he was surrounded by a group of people

who were just as skeptical as him, that put him in a very difficult position,

and that was just the very beginning for Tim. As these experiences continued and their intensity

grew, so did his openness to the possibility that maybe there is more to this world

than we fully understand.

This episode is called The Residency, and you're listening to Otherworld.

Hello? Is this Bobby?

Yes, it is.

At its core, the science, you can't argue. It. I'm worried about all the science. Up in the sky. It's almost frustrating that it's happening. I'm lichy. I'm going to die. I'll bug like, like, wrong. It was just looking. It's limbs were just like wrong. Everybody moves back into the light, even if it takes them a minute. I'm Thanks for me. My name is Tim. I am 40 years old, and I'm a college professor. I teach people how to paint and draw. I'm also an artist that makes paintings mostly. I grew up a Christian, but I fell away from it probably when I was about 10 or 11.

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