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Doing This Makes Me Happy, but Maybe it Doesn't' Seem that Way?

2018-11-16 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:52 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria · mode: Personal essay · tags: recurring series, civic or action cta, community lore

Reading Nerdfighteria Census responses, Hank notes that viewers fear the brothers are stressed and miss their sillier days; he agrees stress shows, from a decade of obligations, a less carefree internet and worry about the future, but says Vlogbrothers is a freeing creative outlet, not maintenance, and that the point of life is joy.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Haircut thanks; the 2018 Census is still open; Census ideas for Hank's upcoming punishment

  • ★ Hank thanks John for a video that reminded him to schedule a haircut; he can tell it's time when his hair invades his ear canal. (playful) — 00:00:00 · John Green
  • ★★ Hank says the Nerdfighteria Census is still open for a while, takes people about 15 minutes, and asks viewers to pause the video and fill it out now. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank says Census responses gave him many ideas for his upcoming punishment; he is pretty sure he knows what he will do, and it will be unpleasant. (hedged) — 00:00:00 · Punishment

00:00:33 — Census feedback: viewers fear the brothers are stressed and miss the silly days; where the stress comes from

  • ★ One respondent wanted Pizzamas merch without John's weird face on it; Hank understands and agrees it is a weird face. (playful) — 00:00:33 · Pizzamas, Pizza John
  • ★★★ A much more common Census theme: respondents don't want to be a burden, fear the brothers are stressed out, and want to help give them time off. — 00:00:33 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ Many respondents also say they liked the brothers better when they were more freeform and silly and less serious and stressed. — 00:00:33
  • ★★★ Though they still make silly videos, Hank thinks the 'too serious' feedback may be less about video topics than about the brothers looking stressed out. (hedged) — 00:01:19
  • ★★ Hank doubts viewers want them back in their 20s; he thinks the wish is that they chill out and enjoy the thing, which rings true to him. (hedged) — 00:01:41
  • ★★★ Hank says their stress will come through whatever its cause, which could be the obligations taken on over ten years: family and life, work and projects. (hedged) — 00:01:41
  • ★★ Hank adds that the 2018 internet has a less carefree vibe than the 2008 internet. (hedged) — 00:02:10
  • ★★ Hank says he now feels more strongly the responsibility of using the platform correctly. — 00:02:10
  • ★★ Hank is more worried about the future of humanity than ten years ago, and doesn't know whether that is age or other changes. (unsure) — 00:02:10

00:02:36 — Vlogbrothers as a freeing creative outlet rather than maintenance; the point of life is joy

  • ★★ Whatever its source, Hank says, if viewers feel the stress it's because it's there, and the brothers won't hide it. (hedged) — 00:02:36
  • ★★ Echoing John's last video, Hank says he loves every individual thing he is doing. — 00:02:36 · John Green
  • ★★ Hank says that, as next week's (week of 19 November 2018) Dear Hank and John will show, he and John agree with Kurt Vonnegut that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance; Hank doesn't mind maintenance but prefers building. — 00:02:36 · Dear Hank and John, John Green
  • ★★★ Hank says Vlogbrothers has never felt like maintenance or keeping a thing alive to him: it is a creative outlet with freedom and complete control over the process. — 00:02:36 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ The obligation Hank feels on the channel is never frustrating, only freeing. — 00:03:06 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ Like Nerdfighters who want him less stressed, Hank wants that too; some things he can't or won't change, but he thinks there are ways to be a little more free. (hedged) — 00:03:06 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★★ Hank, who doesn't understand people who see achievement as the point of life, thinks the point of life is joy and, beyond that, helping other people find joy. (hedged) — 00:03:35
  • ★★ Hank closes by calling for more joy in 2019. (playful) — 00:03:35

In the description and comments

  • ★★★ Hank writes that the obligation of having an audience and being a respected member of a community makes him less forgiving of his own mistakes, so more careful and less spontaneous and carefree. — video description
  • ★★ Hank stresses that he wouldn't make Vlogbrothers if it weren't bringing him joy. — video description · Vlogbrothers

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Nerdfighteria Census · psychological stress

Also: Dear Hank and John · Happiness · Kurt Vonnegut · Peeps · Pizza John · Pizzamas · Punishment

Also centred on Nerdfighteria Census: New Channels, New Songs, and Just Plain News · My Freakish Talent · Nerdfighteria Census 2014 Results! · Corndog Ghost Attack, Book Towers, and Census · The Cold War of Nerdfighteria · Sleep Paralysis, Double-Pregnancy, and The 2016 Census

Also centred on psychological stress: Raw Onion, Twerking, and Speech Jam · Stress and Joy · Let's Talk About Stress! · Finding Respite in 2018 · I feel like I can't talk about this… · I've Not Been Doing Well

Replies to

  • continues · HAIRMERGENCY! — “Thanks for a very good video. Uh, reminding me to- schedule a haircut.”

Later videos replying to this one

  • 2018-11-20 · Cause for Celebration (John) — continues — “Your video on Friday reminded me that we don't talk enough about joy” (00:00:00)

Part of an exchange of 3 videos, 2018-11-13 – 2018-11-20.