Becoming a YouTuber?!

Chapter 9: Setting your pace

The following month was about finding my pace. I probably should have known just how much unloading videos to a site could impact your life. I mean, I had seen and heard stories from family and friends. I even lived with someone who has been very successful doing just that.

Though I would say I knew a lot about what was going on in Nate's life, I hadn't understood the full magnitude of what it took to be a full time YouTuber. The people that do it professionally have a ton of stuff happening off camera constantly. "YouTubers" weren't just making YouTube endeavours but dipping into several other businesses, like publishing, films, blogging, podcasts, presenting, camera development, you freaking name it.

For a girl that had always just been going to school, college and university, this was odd. As stupid and spoiled as it sounded I had never held a "real" job in my life. I had been fortunate enough to rent a flat for little money with my sister and though I had a big student loan, I knew I had been lucky. Along my journey I had started sharing my photos, a hobby I had been enveloped in since childhood, on a website and suddenly that turned into blogging and a business. Now I had expanded onto a video platform and slowly, but surely, I was following the footsteps of many "YouTubers" before me by creating my own "career".

I still had wanted to do everything and thus took on way more than I could handle. My body gave me a warning and I had decided to listen to it carefully, after being persuaded by my loved ones.

I had now spend over a month trying to figure out how much was too much and how much was just enough. I still pained me when I would have to turn down great opportunities but I knew now that if it all became too much I would break down again.

It was a day in early April that I had headed out from a morning meeting at Gleam to take photos in the nearby London, when I realised I had finally found the balance and set my life at the right pace. I had made my way to Regent's Park, just a little bit away from the office.

"Gotcha," I whispered to myself as I managed to capture a photo of a little sparrow sat peacefully in a tree.

The air felt fresher and spring was just about to have sprung for good. But what really made me realise it was that my mind was quiet. For a very long time, my mind had been a constant buzz, constantly reminding me of all the things I needed to do. I knew I still had responsibilities but I felt completely at ease.

Camera in hand and channelling my creativity.

That was how I needed to be. I wasn't a professional office kind of girl. I didn't particularly like to be sat in an office chatting with stranger that appeared so professional that it scared me and made me anxious.

I still enjoyed filming videos though and wanted to put more effort into those and not being scared of getting personal. Uploading my vlog of the Leap Day had gone down splendidly. People absolutely loved it, though most of it was just me chatting about random things or shots of Nate and I being silly in our PJs. It was simple, yet included a couple of time lapses of us playing cards and cooking dinner. I had also some shots of our flat where I had added a voice over afterwards. It was definitely and uniquely my vlog.

"Excuse me?" a male voice asked me.

I spun around to find a teenage boy whose clothes looked just like he was stepped out of a hip fashion magazine. He's hair was different shades of silver and he had a lip piercing. He looked exactly like someone who was way too cool and edgy to speak to me. But I long ago learned not to judge someone by how they looked or make assumptions about their personality based on it. Megan looked like a complete badass and had a mean attitude but she's got a heart of gold. 

"Yes?" I asked with a big smile to the silver haired boy. Then my eyes drifted to his hands, which held the very same camera that I was holding.

"I... Hi Abigail. I watch your videos," he said. "I noticed you and took a couple of photos of you..."