You Live and You Learn

6 streams, 13 hours of live time, and 3.5 months later… so what do I think about streaming?

Last November, I decided to dip my toes into streaming and see how it went. Overall, the experience was a mixed bag.

First, I want to genuinely thank every single one of my friends who subscribed, followed, liked, or engaged with any of my content. You were the highlight of my streaming experience. Mushy stuff aside, having people engage with me, lift me up, and laugh with me really did make it better. It was genuinely fun going live and seeing my friends, and sometimes even random viewers, pop into chat.

However, everything else wasn’t quite as enjoyable.

Streaming is incredibly vulnerable. I often felt like I was standing on an open stage, being watched and judged, and that was difficult for me. The constant pressure of being “on” was overwhelming. Having to talk continuously and entertain viewers eventually felt less fun and more draining. This became even more noticeable when my streams shifted from playing with others to streaming solo.

I also struggled with consistency. Between streaming beginning to feel draining and living with disabilities, it was hard to find the motivation to go live. I wasn’t following my schedule the way I intended, and I was missing more streams than I was actually doing. Part of that comes with the territory of being chronically ill, needing rest and rescheduling things, but this time it was also because I simply didn’t want to stream.

For a while, I felt obligated to keep going. I thought, “I’ve already put time and money into this, it would be a shame to quit now.” But the truth is that not every hobby works out, and that’s okay.

Overall, I’m still glad I tried it. The experience was worthwhile, even if it’s not something I plan to continue in the future. I’m proud of myself for giving it a genuine shot and sticking with it long enough to learn from the experience.

You live and you learn.

And again, a sincere thank you to anyone who supported me while I was exploring this hobby. It truly meant a lot.

— Elle