I quit my job in 2021 and tried my hand at being a content creator in 2022. I like sharing my views and I have no problem with a spotlight (which is a new re-discovery for me in the last handful of years). It was fun and if I had that golden retriever, fetch-and-retrieve-til- you-cant-walk-anymore inclination, I probably would have kept up with it.
Because you have to keep up with it! Like it’s your job. Which, yes, fair, if folks are making their living off of it, then working on it for many many hours a day makes sense, but even then, the hustle, work your butt off only applies in some situations, in my opinion. More on my beliefs and how I live those beliefs about work later.
The thought, preparation, and whole brain devotion that it takes to being a content creator is real. Like planning out a book, over and over again.
There are some really great ones out there.
I personally love
Anne Helen Peterson
And
Are my favorites and they’re great.
It was the planning and continual execution that was my struggle. Being consistent is never something that I have been good at and I’ve come to terms with having strengths and weaknesses rather than just trying to go above and beyond to be something I’m not. (That doesn’t mean I don’t do my best to show up for my family and friends and places where secure attachment matters, but that’s where communication comes in, yet another topic to write about).
So, maybe you are here for the Hurricane Helene aftermath content and are waiting for me to get to the goods.
Right now, there are these giant helicopters flying around (photo from my bf). One of his favorite content creators has a youtube video up (that I haven’t watched yet) about bringing his helicopter down here. Phil (my BF) told me the name of these giant helicopters, but I’ve already forgotten.
The gas station just up the street in West Asheville just got a tanker of gas and I swear within seconds there was a line down the street in both directions waiting for that gas.
All of this speaks a little to how creating content in this aftermath is different than what I experienced 2 years ago in trying to be a content creator, and actually is a better representation of who I am.
It’s about living right now.
Yes, I’m queuing up a couple posts to go live while I’m on my upcoming trip, but I don’t feel the pressure to have, several weeks of content figured out, or the pressure to devote to it. Instead, I just write what comes up with some relationship to an idea I might have had a couple days ago.
The result, probably much more stream of consciousness writing. My college writing coach probably wouldn’t approve of the structure of my writing, either having a thesis with several supporting points or the idea of building a story arc.
I don’t do well at following the rules. Not because I think I am above them or they don’t apply to me, just that it’s not how I think. And from what I can tell it’s hard to succeed as a content creator without following the rules, but you know what the rules keep changing.
That’s one of the things that I am grateful for with living in the aftermath of Helene. It’s unclear what the rules are right now so it’s just about doing the next right thing. Like on the airplane, put your oxygen on first, do that right thing, and then go from there.