Tell Everyone to Fuck Off and Hit Record

Nobody is watching you as much as you think. That's exactly the problem.

You're scared of the camera, but you're not actually scared of the camera. You're scared of what people are going to think of you for daring to show yourself. "Oh, now they think they're an influencer." "Look who started filming themselves." That voice isn't yours, it belongs to someone else living rent-free in your head, and you let them move in years ago.

And here's the uncomfortable part: we call that "shyness" or "humility" because it sounds better than saying "I'm scared of being judged for wanting people to see what I make." Shame isn't protecting you from anything. It's only protecting you from the possibility of someone seeing you try, and for some reason, that terrifies us more than being invisible forever.

Nobody is thinking about you as much as you think

Here's the part nobody tells you: people scroll past your video in three seconds and go back to their lives. They're not analyzing your tone of voice, your face, whether you look "authentic" or "forced." They're thinking about their own ex, what to eat for dinner, their own anxiety about why they haven't posted anything either. The scrutiny you're so afraid of almost never exists outside your own head.

You feel embarrassed filming yourself because you assume the entire world is as focused on you as you are. News flash: it's not. And instead of being depressing, that should feel completely freeing.

And if people laugh anyway, so what? Let them laugh. Let them say you think you're an influencer, let them comment whatever garbage they want underneath the video. That doesn't cost you a thing. The only thing you actually lose is your own work staying unseen because you're scared of a comment that will probably never even come, and if it does, it's not going to change your life for better or worse. The only version of you that actually loses here is the one who never tried.

The "influencer" you're afraid of being isn't the problem anymore

Ten years ago, showing your process made you look like you were fishing for validation. Today, not showing it is the strange part. The artist hiding behind their work isn't mysterious anymore, they're just invisible in a world where people discover work through how the story behind it gets told, not through the work alone. You can hate that reality all you want. It's still the reality.

This isn't about becoming someone you're not in front of a camera. It's about letting people see the awkward, clumsy, real process instead of waiting for the perfect version of yourself before you finally feel allowed to show up.

The move

Film yourself today doing something related to your work, even if it feels ridiculous, even if you stumble over your words, even if you think no one's going to watch it. Don't over-edit it. Post it with the awkwardness still attached.

The shame you feel isn't proof you shouldn't do it. It's proof you haven't done it in way too long.

Seventh post in the series. If this made you want to open the camera and close it again, it's already working.