Saturday, March 23, 2013

Give Me Tiiiiime

It's been a rough week for me, and the next one is likely to be as well.  I have some pretty cool stuff I am working on, but I am struggling to find the time to do them all in the time frame necessary.  Part of the problem is the rendering time on my laptop.  It takes about 20 mins to render a 5 min clip.  Multiply that but 10 or 15 clips, and that's my render time for each video.  I think I am going to have to invest in a new computer, and it saddens me to have to spend more money...but I am also excited to have some time back in my hands to get ahead of myself, go back out in the world, and sleep hahaha.  A lot of you may have seen me up at unholy hours---many times, that's me rendering.  In fact, I am writing this while rendering.  This is my Saturday night.

I am not the only person who works hard on their videos.  Lots of people put money into their channels, but I think sometimes we forget about how much time goes into making a video.  Time can often be more valuable.  We talk to a camera instead of talking to the people we love.  We stay inside monitoring the progress on a screen instead of feeling the sun.  We make insane messes (prepping and executing videos) that require clean up and work, instead of kicking back and relaxing on the couch.

And we do this because we love it.  But sometimes it's hard not to get overwhelmed by how much time there isn't to do all the other things we love as well.  Add that to the negative feedback people can leave, and it sometimes can feel like people are saying you wasted your time.  I have seen a lot of content creators getting down over comments from trolls, and I although I might be part troll (on my mother's side), I'm not immune to being annoyed at the recent influx of negativity.  As ASMR becomes more talked about/known, the viewers will increase, and so will the trolls.  When there are a lot of them, it makes it harder to keep giving your time so willingly.  It becomes a chore.

This is why I treasure supportive comments so much.  What may take a person a few seconds to write, helps keep my head in a positive place.  Every supportive comment translates into "your time is worth something to me, so much so, that I am giving up some of mine to watch it and write this."  That's a special kind of exchange.  It means something.

So I guess what this ramble amounts to, is appreciation for all those giving their time; content creator and viewer alike.  If you are a viewer, thank you so much for making this experience feel like a beautiful use of my time.  If you are an asmrtist, thank you for helping me stop time and rest.  I value the seconds, minutes, and hours, you all give up to make others happier.  

"Time flies like an arrow;  fruit flies like a banana."---Anthony Oettinger 





20 comments:

  1. keep soldiering on chick! it's all appreciated =)
    this said... there really isn't enough time to do everything we ever want to... I wish there was =(

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  2. I second that! I've only very recently started watching/listening to your ASMR videos (in fact until a few days ago I honestly thought everyone experienced this tingling relaxing sensation) and in this short time I can already see the huge amount of thought, effort, passion and care you put into making each of your videos. very muchly appreciated, I feel like my normally stressed out mind is in an amazing place thanks to you (and other asmrists too) and what you've been creating. you've probably had heaps of people tell you this already, but don't let anyone discourage you from helping others the way you are :)

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    1. Thanks so much Brendan. Your comments warm my heart :D

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  3. Hello Heather,

    your real life is more important than anything else, so I do not think your loyal fans are upset because you take the time to create something amazing and share it with us.

    I really appreciate all the time and money you spend to make your videos.

    Thank you very much for all.

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  4. You are doing an AMAZING job Heather Feather, and you know we love you! Take care of yourself, okay? We care about you, and want you to be holistically well :)
    Lots of hugs <3

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    1. Thanks Melanie! After this week is over, it should be a lot easier for me. :)

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  5. Would you like to do a donation drive to build a desktop rendering machine? 5-600 bucks would shorten your render times by an order of magnitude, and I'd love to help you price the parts and even donate time to build it for you. =]

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    1. I actually just purchased a new desktop, but I really appreciate your offer to help. :)

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  7. If you can overlook how strange it is, I got bored and figured the numbers. Your 54 videos, 2,739 minutes worth of video with 2,296,836 total views, worked out to be 2 million hours or 230 years worth of tingle time given out so far. We appreciate it, hope this shows the scale.

    (edited my first post, the math was wrong.)

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  8. You are way awesome Heather, there are truly not enough nice things I can say about you. I am just blown away by the time and dedication you put into your videos. Anyone who takes the time to contribute their art for others to enjoy, creating videos, visual images, music, writing stories all contributing something positive. It all requires dedication, creativity, and it's sharing something of yourself. Thank you so much for all that you do! :)

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    1. Hello! Everything you said rings true for you as well. I do not know what I would have done without all your support all these months. You have been an amazing friend to me, and I never forget it. Thank you. <3

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  9. Heather! Great post that really nails down what it's often like on the content creator's side of the equation. A positive comment has often made the difference between falling into despair for a day and happy productivity. It's not easy to put yourself out there consistently only to be dumped on by negativity. Thank you for doing what you do and sacrificing large chunks of your time to make us feel relaxed and tingly :)

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    1. Thanks very much Nick! Thank you for letting me share my feelings with you, and thanks for being so kind about it. :D

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  10. Thank-you for creating such a charmingly warm,innocently tactile place in which to immerse oneself away from an ever harsher world.
    A sunny field in which Dormice,Butterfly and Bunnies can play with no fear of predation by Corvid,Mink or Fox.
    Ignore the Trolls they have no value, 'Ten a penny and they're all cracked' as my Grandmother would've said.
    ASMR is a real gem ,it's amazing what you can sometimes find whilst surfing Youtube.
    Take care old bean. :-)

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    1. Thank you very much, old bean. :P Your comment made me grin wildly :D

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