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On Exhaustion

2015-07-14 · letter vlog · John · 3:09 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life (also: Books & writing, Everyday life) · mode: Personal essay · tags: on location, self promotion

From the Birmingham airport, John admits he is exhausted by Paper Towns press but says he won't take a break, because stopping everything used to send him into a spiral, and vlogging and Nerdfighteria fill him up.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — John in the Birmingham, Alabama airport: great except for unchosen music from thousands of speakers

  • ★ John is in the Birmingham, Alabama airport, great in almost every respect except that music he didn't choose pipes out of thousands of speakers. (playful) — 00:00:01

00:00:20 — John takes Looking for Alaska director Becca Thomas to his old high school at night; graffiti 'The best is yet to come'

  • ★★ In Birmingham for just over 12 hours, John met Looking for Alaska director Becca Thomas and took her to his old high school at night, to the place where he used to smoke. — 00:00:20

  • ★★★ Graffiti there read 'The best is yet to come', which John calls one of the very few things he believes fundamentally and incontrovertibly true. — 00:00:30 · optimism

    “one of the very few things in life I believe to be fundamentally and incontrovertibly true”

00:00:38 — Itinerary: New York for press, then the Paper Towns tour in Indianapolis, Columbus and Dallas; free events in the doobly-doo

  • ★ John is leaving Birmingham for New York City, probably for press, though he doesn't exactly know why. (hedged) — 00:00:38 · New York City
  • ★★★ John will be in Indianapolis the next day for the start of the Paper Towns tour with Nat, Cara, Akilah Hughes and Nerdfighters, then Columbus and Dallas; events are free, details in the doobly-doo. — 00:00:45 · Indianapolis, Nerdfighteria, Paper Towns (film), doobly-doo

00:00:59 — Rant about the song 'Circle in the Sand' playing everywhere; hiding as far from a speaker as possible

  • ★ John hates the song 'Circle in the Sand', which plays from speakers everywhere in the airport, and hunts for the spot farthest from a speaker. (playful) — 00:00:59

00:01:14 — Paper Towns opens July 24; strong Brazil opening weekend; thanks to Brazilian Nerdfighters; good early reviews

  • ★★★ The Paper Towns movie opens July 24th; it already opened in Brazil with an amazing opening weekend, and the early reviews are great, a huge relief to John. — 00:01:15 · Paper Towns (film)

00:01:29 — John is exhausted but won't take a break: Nerdfighters' concern, his past spiral of doing nothing, and why vlogging keeps him going

  • ★★★ John is exhausted and drained: he is not good at interviews and misses his family and home; the last month has been exhausting with two weeks still to go. — 00:01:29 · occupational burnout, First World problem
  • ★★ John says Nerdfighters have noticed, commenting that he seems tired and shouldn't worry about taking a break, and he appreciates it since no one else in his professional life says so. — 00:01:53 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★★ John won't take a break from promoting the movie, which he has no contractual obligation to do, because he likes it and is grateful, nor from vlogging, which fills him up rather than drains him. — 00:02:04 · Paper Towns (film), occupational burnout
  • ★★★ For a long time, when overwhelmed and exhausted, John would spiral into doing less and less until nothing, still overwhelmed, because he stopped doing everything, not only what drained him. — 00:02:26
  • ★★★ So even vlogging over unchosen music and making videos that aren't that good, John will 'just keep swimming', because Nerdfighteria is a big part of what keeps him going. — 00:02:42 · Nerdfighteria, Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ John thanks Nerdfighters for worrying, says he is okay, and is excited to meet some of them on tour instead of answering the same 8 questions from press outlets. — 00:02:53 · Nerdfighteria

00:03:03 — Sign-off; sung 'Old school Vlogbrothers confessional video'

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The Dallas stop of the Paper Towns tour at The Bomb Factory features a performance by Saint Motel, whose song 'My Type' is on the film's soundtrack, and is hosted by Allison and Gaby of Just Between Us. — video description
  • ★★★ John thanks Nerdfighters, saying he is a bit lost in the wilderness at the moment and that this place, where he can make things and have people respond thoughtfully and generously, is tremendously important to him right now. — video description · Nerdfighteria

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: occupational burnout · Paper Towns (film)

Also: People: Akilah Hughes · Cara Delevingne · Nat Wolff · Rebecca Thomas

Works: Circle in the Sand · Looking for Alaska (film)

Organizations: Indian Springs School

Groups: Brazilian Nerdfighters

Terms: doobly-doo

Concepts: optimism

Places: Birmingham, Alabama · Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport · Brazil · Columbus, Ohio · Dallas · Indianapolis · New York City · Smoking Hole

Memes: First World problem

Only in the description or credits: Alex Wolff · Allison Raskin · Gaby Dunn · Just Between Us · My Type · Old National Centre · Palace Theatre (Columbus, Ohio) · Saint Motel · The Bomb Factory

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