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How I Learned To “Be Myself” As An Adult
When I was a teenager, I was recording a YouTube video with my friends in the park. Let me paint you a picture: this was in 2010, the era of Smosh, PewDiePie, and smaller cliques of YouTubers that everyone knew. I got it in my head that I was going to be a YouTuber too, so I took my camera everywhere.
I’m recording this video — a vlog. I set up the camera, hit record, and start talking… But my friend stays silent.
“What am I supposed to say?” he asks. “What do I do?”
My loud and outgoing friend was suddenly camera shy. Flabbergasted, I tell him, “Just be yourself.”
He responds, “I don’t know how to be myself.”
Those words, that little moment of honesty, stuck with me for a long time. When I was editing the video, I couldn’t put my finger on why it seemed so important.
My Experience
Fast forward. Everything is different. We carry around mini computers that can answer questions in seconds. There are countless YouTube channels with goldmines of information. And yet, it’s harder than ever to pay attention.
