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TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH

2023-01-03 · letter vlog · John · 3:59 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Everyday life (also: Personal life, Nerdfighteria) · mode: Personal essay · tags: calendar ritual, self promotion

As Vlogbrothers turns 16, John says his yearly goals have nearly always meant turning it up a notch, and that his only goal for 2023 is to take it down a notch: less yelling at strangers online, and remembering his work is important but not that important.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Vlogbrothers turns 16; making a video each Tuesday is a gift and a choice

  • ★★ John notes that on January 3, 2023, Vlogbrothers turned 16 and so can drive; some viewers were born after it began. — 00:00:00 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ John says making a Vlogbrothers video every Tuesday can feel natural but is a gift newly given each week: making things with his brother and a community he cares about. — 00:00:00 · Vlogbrothers, Nerdfighteria

00:00:29 — John's yearly letters to himself and goals that turned it up a notch

  • ★★ John says the weekly video is also a choice: he chooses each Tuesday whether to make one, and viewers choose whether to watch, though he struggles to remember routines are choices. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Every year John writes himself two letters, one looking back at the past year and one looking ahead, to understand his choices and be intentional, usually setting goals. — 00:00:29
  • ★ John's past goals included exercising 150 minutes a week and finishing The Anthropocene Reviewed book, and he has a pretty good track record of meeting them. — 00:00:58 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)
  • ★★ John says most of his goals turned it up a notch (write a book, start a channel, make a podcast, produce a movie), and often pushing himself is what he needs. — 00:00:58 · Up to eleven

00:01:27 — The 2023 goal: take it down a notch (online arguments, Booklist calm, work not that important)

  • ★★★ John says sometimes you need to take it down a notch, and that is his only goal for 2023. — 00:01:27

    “sometimes you need to take it down a notch”

  • ★★ Last year (2022) John several times got into angry internet debates with strangers, such as whether access to life-saving medication is a human right, making him late to dinner without helping anyone. — 00:01:27

  • ★★ In 2023 John wants to keep advocating for global health equity and better funding of health care systems, but without yelling at strangers online. — 00:01:56 · health equity
  • ★★ John recalls that many years ago he worked as a student chaplain at a children's hospital. — 00:01:56 · first in: 2012-01-10 (said on 2012-01-09, implied), The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★★ After the chaplaincy John took a temp job typing numbers into a database at Booklist, and though very anxious, he became known there for staying calm under pressure: it was just a magazine. — 00:01:56
  • ★ John says Booklist had come out for 104 consecutive years, so it would probably come out regardless. — 00:02:26
    • a number in question (doubtful): "104" — check against the recording
  • ★★★ John wants to bring Booklist-era calm into 2023: his work is important, but not that important. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ John's rule: when he gets short with loved ones, defines himself by his work or image, or panics over a deadline, take it down a notch; nobody dies if a Vlogbrothers video is weaker. — 00:02:55 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★ John adds that he does not mean to pressure hospital workers and thanks them for the difficult work he bombed out of. — 00:02:55

00:03:24 — Young John would ridicule this; growing old; sign-off

  • ★★ John says his younger self, who made his first Vlogbrothers video 16 years ago, would ridicule this, but warns him that in time you become what you ridicule; he quotes Prufrock on growing old. — 00:03:24

In the description and comments

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Mentioned

Booklist · health equity · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book) · The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock · Up to eleven

Only in the description or credits: Awesome Coffee Club · TikTok · Tumblr

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