I often mention in my YouTube videos, well, it's a request more than anything, to just be kind to each other. I once heard someone say - just don't suck. I give a few examples of saying hi, or holding the door open for someone, and yes, I practice that in real life, but things have happened this week that make me believe that if you are kind, it's returned to you.
Many may not know, or care, that in addition to this and the YouTube channel, I stream on Twitch. I live stream my game playing for an space adventure game called No Man's Sky. It has a small following, but it's been out for a while and it's been years since anyone thought it might be the 'next big thing'. Still, it's a game I like and while I'm doing that, I may as well build my comfort level in front of the camera and share the game play.
I have other friends that also stream, and some of them have built quite a community in a time where we don't really go to each others houses anymore. It's an opportunity to hang out with friends or others that have a similar interest, and socialize. There is also no restriction on which part of the world someone may be from. If you are streaming 'Game Night', you may have friends join your games from anywhere in the country, or the world. People that you never would have met having a typical game night at your home.
I tell you all of that, to tell you this. This week, while just playing my game with a few people watching and chatting, a group of almost fifty people came in to hang out, support my channel, watch and chat with me. I was overwhelmed. Dozens of people and only a few that I acually knew came to visit, and we had a blast. It didn't cost anyone anything, there wasn't some grand scheme to get everyone in a room to listen to a timeshare presentation or anything, just a group of friends that picked me to visit, and many of them hung out with me until the end of my stream, when it was my turn to lead the group to someone else's live stream. Wow.
We chatted, they asked questions, some were familiar with the game and talked about their experience or playing again, and some just hung out and watched. They watched and hung out to learn something new, to support a friend, and in some cases just to be kind to the next person. It was amazing, and it gives me new motivation to just be kind. Life is good people, bad things happen, but life is good. Enjoy the experience, because noone can ever take that away!