My favorite YouTube couple and channels
I hardly ever watch the television. Hence, for most of my post under-grad years, one of my few go-to sources of entertainment (roughly 5 years) has been YouTube. I'm subscribed to several YouTube channels and I can't deny the fact that the majority of these channels have added a lot of laughter, joy, inspiration, and knowledge to my life in the past few years.
Of all these channels, if I were to pick out two and delete all the rest, my choice would be as follows:
I pick these two channels for totally different reasons, but the common thing is that each of them has enriched my life beyond my expectations since I started watching them. Now, let's talk about my favorite YouTube channels.
The MarkE Miller Youtube channel is owned by a talented American videographer and vlogger who goes by the name of Mark Miller. Mark has a boyfriend named Ethan with whom he has been for at least, 3 years. And over time, the channel has evolved into the couple's own rather than just Mark Miller's YouTube channel.
Of course, the main reason I like the channel is because of the couple, not really because of either of the guys or the stunning videography they often put out. Mark and Ethan are both incredibly handsome, display good chemistry on screen and consistently make videos that are so positive that they leave you feeling joyful and fulfilled after watching them. They're mutually driven, ambitious and adventurous.
Apart from all the positivity, there is one most important reason for which I consider Mark and Ethan's YouTube channel to be indispensable for me. I feel this way because Mark and Ethan's channel helps me keep a special hope alive. Hope that someday, I will find love with a man; love that is as true and fun as the one between Mark and Ethan. Love whose be-all and end-all is neither the size of his dick nor the juiciness of my ass. Love where we can meet each other where we are and support each other to grow into the future we desire.
Honestly, if I was not aware of a couple like this, I would probably be like most other gay men in Nigeria who consider homosexuality a sentence to a string of hookups and short-lived relationships. Who consider their homosexual affairs only as a phase before the world coerces them into getting married to save face.
Each time I watch their channel, my heart says a silent prayer for them. It blesses them for sharing so freely their joy, a formidable weapon against all the darkness that daily threatens to subdue the world as we know it. It prays that their relationship stays alive and keeps waxing strong. For the world would be even darker without such a light as theirs shining out to brighten up the lives of their viewers.
As the picture above says, The School of Life actually aims to teach people how to live! Yes. A discipline which we humans are generally too conceited to admit we need targeted guidance at. The owners of this channel do this by creating phenomenal animated videos which touch on one important area of life at a time.
The School of Life videos usually feature the voice of the founder, Alain De Botton as the narrator. Alain has a very soothing voice which could arguably be described as ethereal. They cover psychology, emotions, relationships, career, business and you name it. From experience though, I'd say their focus is mainly on relationships.
The main way in which watching TSOL has improved my life is in its positive impact on my emotional intelligence. Since I started watching TSOL, I've been less quick to anger. My general attitude towards someone who has hurt me has changed from confrontational and menacing to conversational. I'm more aware that every unkindness done to me is likely a manifestation of pain in the perpetrator. Hence, it's easier for me to overlook and excuse hurt, since the last thing someone in pain deserves is anger. No, it's my pity and kindness they crave, even though the only way they've learned to express that need is by being unkind. What an irony!
Furthermore, I'm a little less prone to making assumptions about the people I encounter. By default, if someone I'm interested in is not as conversational or responsive as I expect them to be, I assume that they're just leading me on and really don't want anything to do with me. Of course, that's my default stance because of the many painful experiences I've had since I started dating actively in 2014.
TSOL encourages me to be a little more patient and to lean towards resolving conflict with gentle conversation. It has taught me that instead of concluding based on my intuition's version of reality, I should have an actual dialog with the other person about why they're acting in a certain way and tell them in a calm tone of how it's making me feel.
Since I started watching TSOL, I've been more self-aware. Just last week, I publicly apologized to my colleague after I indiscriminately voiced out my negative opinion of him in public. I noticed how his attitude towards me changed from warm to "barely tolerant" after I judged him publicly. The next week, after much consideration of the situation, I walked over to his desk and told him loud enough for the rest of his team to hear how I was really sorry; sorry for what I said about him the other day. After that, it's undeniable how slowly but surely, he's started to warm up to me once again. Without the teachings of TSOL, I'm sure my ego would never have allowed me realize how I was at fault in this scenario.
On a final note, TSOL makes me understand that emotional suffering is universal. This knowledge helps me stay sane and positive about the future, despite the fact that I've been single all my life, and not for lack of trying. For a change, I no longer see myself as inferior to those who have been in numerous relationships. TSOL helps me understand that even though right now, I feel like getting in a relationship is the last ingredient I need to reach happily-ever after, there's nothing farther from the truth. I now know that getting in a relationship is a decision to trade one set of problems for another. And that only a relationship where both participants are ready to work together through the many challenges that life will throw at it is even worth initiating.
Of all these channels, if I were to pick out two and delete all the rest, my choice would be as follows:
I pick these two channels for totally different reasons, but the common thing is that each of them has enriched my life beyond my expectations since I started watching them. Now, let's talk about my favorite YouTube channels.
MarkE Miller's channel or Mark & Ethan
 |
| Mark and Ethan, my favorite couple in the world |
The MarkE Miller Youtube channel is owned by a talented American videographer and vlogger who goes by the name of Mark Miller. Mark has a boyfriend named Ethan with whom he has been for at least, 3 years. And over time, the channel has evolved into the couple's own rather than just Mark Miller's YouTube channel.
Of course, the main reason I like the channel is because of the couple, not really because of either of the guys or the stunning videography they often put out. Mark and Ethan are both incredibly handsome, display good chemistry on screen and consistently make videos that are so positive that they leave you feeling joyful and fulfilled after watching them. They're mutually driven, ambitious and adventurous.
Apart from all the positivity, there is one most important reason for which I consider Mark and Ethan's YouTube channel to be indispensable for me. I feel this way because Mark and Ethan's channel helps me keep a special hope alive. Hope that someday, I will find love with a man; love that is as true and fun as the one between Mark and Ethan. Love whose be-all and end-all is neither the size of his dick nor the juiciness of my ass. Love where we can meet each other where we are and support each other to grow into the future we desire.
Honestly, if I was not aware of a couple like this, I would probably be like most other gay men in Nigeria who consider homosexuality a sentence to a string of hookups and short-lived relationships. Who consider their homosexual affairs only as a phase before the world coerces them into getting married to save face.
Each time I watch their channel, my heart says a silent prayer for them. It blesses them for sharing so freely their joy, a formidable weapon against all the darkness that daily threatens to subdue the world as we know it. It prays that their relationship stays alive and keeps waxing strong. For the world would be even darker without such a light as theirs shining out to brighten up the lives of their viewers.
The School of Life (TSOL)
 |
| The School of Life YouTube Channel |
As the picture above says, The School of Life actually aims to teach people how to live! Yes. A discipline which we humans are generally too conceited to admit we need targeted guidance at. The owners of this channel do this by creating phenomenal animated videos which touch on one important area of life at a time.
The School of Life videos usually feature the voice of the founder, Alain De Botton as the narrator. Alain has a very soothing voice which could arguably be described as ethereal. They cover psychology, emotions, relationships, career, business and you name it. From experience though, I'd say their focus is mainly on relationships.
The main way in which watching TSOL has improved my life is in its positive impact on my emotional intelligence. Since I started watching TSOL, I've been less quick to anger. My general attitude towards someone who has hurt me has changed from confrontational and menacing to conversational. I'm more aware that every unkindness done to me is likely a manifestation of pain in the perpetrator. Hence, it's easier for me to overlook and excuse hurt, since the last thing someone in pain deserves is anger. No, it's my pity and kindness they crave, even though the only way they've learned to express that need is by being unkind. What an irony!
Furthermore, I'm a little less prone to making assumptions about the people I encounter. By default, if someone I'm interested in is not as conversational or responsive as I expect them to be, I assume that they're just leading me on and really don't want anything to do with me. Of course, that's my default stance because of the many painful experiences I've had since I started dating actively in 2014.
TSOL encourages me to be a little more patient and to lean towards resolving conflict with gentle conversation. It has taught me that instead of concluding based on my intuition's version of reality, I should have an actual dialog with the other person about why they're acting in a certain way and tell them in a calm tone of how it's making me feel.
Since I started watching TSOL, I've been more self-aware. Just last week, I publicly apologized to my colleague after I indiscriminately voiced out my negative opinion of him in public. I noticed how his attitude towards me changed from warm to "barely tolerant" after I judged him publicly. The next week, after much consideration of the situation, I walked over to his desk and told him loud enough for the rest of his team to hear how I was really sorry; sorry for what I said about him the other day. After that, it's undeniable how slowly but surely, he's started to warm up to me once again. Without the teachings of TSOL, I'm sure my ego would never have allowed me realize how I was at fault in this scenario.
On a final note, TSOL makes me understand that emotional suffering is universal. This knowledge helps me stay sane and positive about the future, despite the fact that I've been single all my life, and not for lack of trying. For a change, I no longer see myself as inferior to those who have been in numerous relationships. TSOL helps me understand that even though right now, I feel like getting in a relationship is the last ingredient I need to reach happily-ever after, there's nothing farther from the truth. I now know that getting in a relationship is a decision to trade one set of problems for another. And that only a relationship where both participants are ready to work together through the many challenges that life will throw at it is even worth initiating.
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