Being on video is terrifying to me.
There is no medium that raises my anxiety like the idea of being in front of the camera. Despite that, I have always thought it would be so much fun to make YouTube videos or stream on Twitch.
So, at the end of March, I decided that I'm going to stream every day (except maybe weekends because I have a family I enjoy hanging out with) for the month of April. The goal is to remove some of this fear.
The first stream was on April 3, and I have to admit, I loved it. No one came to watch, but I just got to talk to myself while working on a project. Weirdly, the commitment to doing the stream gave me the sense of having a gym buddy, keeping me on task. Because I was on video and it was being recorded, the only way to stop working on the project was to completely bail on the video.
We are now on Day 3 of 30, and I'm starting to look forward to each stream. After the April 4th stream, where I completely bungled trying to add a jump animation to a sprite, I realized I wanted to be a little more prepared. You will hopefully get this newsletter before I stream today (which I'm doing at https://twitch.tv/thoughtlesslabs and usually at 12pm EST), so feel free to drop on by and see me complete the animation. I know I can do it because knowing I was going to stream today made me want to prepare, though I cannot guarantee this preparation trend will continue. That's really new ground for me.
Short story even shorter: I can't wait to do it for the rest of the month. I have no longer-term plans for this, but even after the first one, I got a whole lot more comfortable with being on camera, and that is a solid place to start.
Hope to see you there!
BONUS:
I wanted to see what would happen if I asked ChatGPT to rewrite this blog post and try to preserve my writing style. Below is the exchange. Let me know who wrote it better in the comments.
Facing the camera freaks me out!
But hey, there's something exciting about the idea of making YouTube videos or streaming on Twitch, right? So I thought, why not give it a shot?
And that's how I decided to stream every day in April (well, maybe not weekends – gotta spend time with the fam). The plan? Conquer my camera-shyness once and for all.
My first stream was on April 3, and guess what? I had a blast! Sure, nobody showed up, but I got to chat with myself while working on a project. Oddly enough, it felt like having a gym buddy to keep me focused. I mean, I had to keep going or totally ditch the video. No pressure, right?
Fast forward to Day 3 of 30, and I'm actually looking forward to each stream. After my April 4th stream – a hilarious attempt at adding jump animation to a sprite – I knew I needed to come prepared. If you're reading this before my next stream (catch me at https://twitch.tv/thoughtlesslabs, usually at 12pm EST), drop by and watch me master that animation! Streaming today gave me the motivation to prep, but let's see if I can keep up this trend. Fingers crossed!
Long story short: I can't wait to see what the rest of the month brings. No big plans for the future, but one thing's for sure – I'm already feeling more at ease on camera, and that's a great start.
Hope to see you on the stream!