I need to decide because, at the moment, my options are messing with my head ending up where I feel guilty and overwhelmed at what I should be doing in this next phase of my life post-work.
Here’s my dilemma.
I have a YouTube channel called Life Lessons from Books which I started as a bit of lark in all honesty. It was my old Activate Learning channel where I used to post daily videos of what I was learning. I hid all those old videos from public view and instead, focussed primarily on reviewing fiction.
In particular, I share reviews of books that have provided me with life lessons of a new world that I’m trying to understand and navigate as a middle-aged woman.
With this YouTube channel, I also love the filming and editing process although I’m not as creative as I used to be in the past simply because I’m filming two videos every week. It about 3 or 4 times more effort to edit each video so it does take some time which means that the creativity has to go by the wayside. Instead, I “talk-to-camera” video of up to 15 mins; go on Melbourne book tours and peruse book stores.
I’ve streamlined the process as much as I could (without using AI which I’m keen not to use – nor use social media for promotion of the channel) and instead, grow the channel organically through others sharing it, or through those people who value what I share and return to the channel. Some have also started donating and I’m getting some small payments (about $100 every couple of months) through Page Views.
In effect, my aim is to NOT follow the traditional ways of building a YouTube channel, especially in a world that is social media saturated. I do not want to go back on X, Instagram, Facebook etc to build and promote Life Lessons from Books despite how many people telling me that this is how I need to build my channel.
I. Simply. Don’t. Care. To. Follow. What. Others. Are. Doing.
My strength is READING and LEARNING then sharing what I’ve learned for the purpose of more discussion with diverse perspectives that are out there. It’s NOT spending time writing social media posts, pushing advertising of brands, publishers and authors nor promoting my channel or myself. If that means the channel dies a slow death – then so be it. I’m okay with that.
AND THEN THERE’S MY OTHER OPTION:
My writing.
Recently I completed a short course through the Australian Writers Centre and have been writing creative short stories. I love the process of writing and devising a plot and characters and then writing short stories. I have even submitted a few of them to competitions – again for a bit of a lark.
However I’m at a point where I’m thinking that writing requires a lot of time committment to sit in front of a screen.
Do I enjoy my time in front of a screen, writing creative stories OR editing a video to upload onto YouTube for Life Lessons?
For the last few months, I’ve been grappling with this question. In between my golf, looking after my parents, learning French, the YouTube channel, reading and journal writing…AND LIFE, I’m also trying to devise creative short stories to write. Writing means that you’re staying inside the house which although at times it’s nice, I prefer to be out and about, looking at things, exploring, chatting to people before coming home to write or share my thoughts through video.
Part of me thinks that if I really wanted to write creatively, I would have started many years ago. I would have pulled together my stories or had an idea of a novel in me to write however, if I’m entirely honest with myself, I don’t.
I’m in love with the idea of writing a novel. I get excited about the IDEAS. However, the actual application is an entirely different matter. Once I start, I lose interest because it’s not enough to drive me to the end – hence why I prefer the short story format.
So I have to make a decision. Rather than beat myself up over whether I should take the YouTube Life Lessons from Books route OR to go down a completely new route of creative writing and devoting my time to just that, which one should I do?
I need to make a decision because I beat myself up over each day that passes where I haven’t written a short story of some sort. Whereas, every day, I read a book and I learn something new. I need to stop feeling so guilty and make a decision knowing that I need to commit to one or the other. If I do both, I will do both a disservice that will result in half-hearted attemtps being wishy-washy flitting from one to another.
On Another Note:
At times when I get myself into a tizzy about the next steps, I do have heart warming things happen that make me sit up and realise that there are people out there actually watching my stuff on YouTube (it’s easy to think that you’re just talking into the void).
I have had a lovely subscriber from my channel email me to ask me if I would consider writing a book about Life Lessons from Books. This is another option for me to consider given that I can write non-fiction without any problem – and create learning aids too given that’s my background. A wonderful idea that could blend both worlds.
Also, today I also had a donation from Ko-Fi from another subscriber who shared what I was reviewing helped her. It’s feedback like this that makes me smile and rethink about what I should be focusing my time on.
Righto. I’ll give it a few days to think about and decide what I need to do next.
Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels.com
Whatever you decide, I owe you a coffee. More than one. Way more than one.
Oh you’ve bought me more than my fair share. 🤣 Thank you!🙏
Have you ever thought that you could give really interesting talks at libraries to inspire and motivate people Helen. Try Mornington Peninsula Libraries for a start (where I work sometimes). There must be many people like you who have left corporate mania behind, either jumped or been pushed, and need some help in finding new directions and possibilities.
Hello Ian. How are you? I hope you’re happy, healthy and well. Corporate mania is a great way to explain it. I’ve met many people thinking the same – about wanting to leave work behind and try and find something else that “gets back to them”. Something other than work, home, kids, grandkids… there’s so much out there to explore.
I started my YouTube channel for this reason and I’ve come to the conclusion how much i need some creative expression but also how much I love being around others while doing it.
You’re not the only person who has mentioned this idea to me. Maybe it’s a sign from the universe about what to do next? I’ll definitely keep that in mind. Maybe I can put something together about this as I already have an outline in mind about how and what I can share with this regard. We are so lucky to have abundant free (and also paid) resources online but also in our community to explore. Thank you!