So, I started this journey promising myself I would write every single night. I thought, “Oh, no big deal! I can do that. No problem!” until I actually sat down to do it. Sometimes, I just have no idea what to write about. Tonight, I had decided to write this big, long post about my best friend. Do you think I saved it as a rough draft before I tried to view it? Of course not! Who would do something smart like that? Certainly not me!
And, I lost the entire post about my best friend. I was struggling with it anyway because it only touched the very surface of our friendship, and I wasn’t happy with it. I don’t know if I should break each of shenanigans into a separate post, or make one big post? I’ll have to think about that and would appreciate any suggestions in my comments section. Jesus, you can tell I watch too much YouTube!
Speaking of YouTube, what’s your favorite types of channels to watch? I started with beauty and make-up videos and have now landed in the world of live streams. There’s a woman I watch live streaming from an area in Ohio where we plan to move. She does games and has just a generally nice stream. I enjoy listening to her while I write. I also discovered some really nasty people who live stream on YouTube. I’ve seen scams from these types of groups. I’ve seen people putting other’s information online, including criminal records. I’ve listened to groups of people discuss how to take another person’s YouTube channel down if they e-beg or beg for money to support them. I don’t know if I just grew up sheltered or what, but I’ve never dealt with some of these types of people and it shocks me to know they’re out there. Anyway, I guess I got off on a rant there. Moving on…
So, it’s an exciting Friday night in the Lea household. My son’s talking to his friends and playing a game with them on X-Box, and I’m sitting here listening to a live stream as I write. This is a pretty typical night for us, and that’s about as exciting as it gets!
Ramblings of a Small Town Girl 
You could maybe do a homage series to your best friend highlighting a piece at a time, how it strengthened your bond, lessons learned, mutual bonds, and the feels that came from it? I think we could all learn from that. Just a thought.
I started with and still sit in the makeup, soap/bath bomb, all things animal & political communities. I tend to listen to them while I’m working or at night after hubby has fallen asleep. I’ve also spent time in the Drama community where it was more than apparent I didn’t belong so I moved into the craft and colorist community.
I can’t take hate and drama for the sake of hate and drama. I don’t understand that people feel hating, doxing and destroying is entertainment. It’s a destructive, bullying and counterproductive force that just breeds hate and infighting. People who were once friends betraying that friendship by sending out screenshots sometimes in defense and sometimes offense. Us against them schoolyard mentality generally in the community. Black and white with no grey and no context to force the point someone is trying to make. Conversely, I also met some really good people in the Drama Community that I count as online friends. They tend not to be the major players driving the hate. I did for a bit sit quietly in the side chat but I just stopped going in period. I did not like that feeling of being weighed down when I turned off the monitor. Nothing changes. Same fights a year later, same people fighting, same groups at the base with interchangeable players from the other side because they serve a purpose to the opposing group.
Now having said that, if you separate out core people in the drama community and engage them on their own merits concentrating on their other gifts of creativity they are actually really nice people. It’s like the Drama Community appeals to their base. We all need to have a sense of belonging. How we choose to exercise that need is what is important to me.
I love to sit on side chat in hangouts. It’s a chance to socialize from the comfort of my own home and get to know people. To my mind, hangouts should leave you feeling empowered, strong, walking away with a sense that you’ve learned something, even if it’s not from the core hangout but rather in the side chat. At the very least you should leave feeling good about your time spent.
When you leave a hang out angry, frustrated, depressed or with that feeling of being weighed down it is an exercise in futility. You should walk away feeling good about yourself and those around you. Live is complicated enough without taking on even more negativity.
You make a valuable point on YT and the subcontext of e-begging and I think, if it works for you, that your “rant” would be a value-added topic! Thank you for this blog. I really enjoy it!
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