If you’re anything like me, quarantine has been driving you crazy. I spend so much of my time twiddling my fingers and on Zoom calls with my friends. Until recently, I felt like there wasn’t really anything to look forward to other than another assignment or Zoom lecture to do, until one day when I was scrolling on TikTok (like every college student does nowadays) and I saw this college student living a life just like mine while vlogging it. She expressed how much fun she had vlogging her life and how it forced her to do take control of her life and ‘become the main character’.
At first, I was skeptical; I thought it would be boring and no one would care in the slightest. But, I put on my vlog hat and started vlogging for the first time, and let me tell you, it’s not for the weak. I learned a few things: for example, I’m not a good editor. I did my vlog on TikTok, but I swear trying to cut clips and make them look aesthetically pleasing was the hardest thing ever! Of course, I’m a perfectionist so I had to make sure my 60 second TikTok no one was going to see looked good. I also learned my life is kind of boring, and it was time for me to spice it up a bit.
So, for it to look more vlog like, I lived the life the best version of me wanted to live (the one who wakes up at 6am and does morning jogs and drinks matcha tea). Soon, I started to feel happier, like this dark cloud came off of me. I started doing things I have always wanted to do. By day three, it had become a routine to wake up, do some yoga, listen to a podcast and meditate. I started doing things that would make me happy and recording things that make me smile. I experimented and even recorded outside for a few days. I learned that vlogging in public is frightening, especially when you’re holding up a camera and recording random things. After day five, it hit me that I had been more adventurous in these five days than I have ever been in quarantine. Since it was a holiday weekend, I was able to go places and vlog fun places. I even started dressing up and wearing clothes out of my closet I was afraid to wear.
By the end of the week, I felt better than I ever did before. For the first time in a while, I felt a sense of purpose in re-watching the videos at the end of the day reflecting on what I did and how I can make the next day better. This meant that I said yes to more things, I made the most of every event I was invited to, and I spent less time behind my laptop screen and more time enjoying my week. It’s not something I think I could commit to doing every week, but I think that filming myself every so often will really help me to live life more fully. Who knows, maybe Instagram TV will give me the platform to do this?
I recommend everyone to vlog at least once in their lives. It changes the way you view the world and by the time you’re finished, you’ll have a different outlook on life with the video proof to show it!