In autumn, crazy zoologists begin actively stocking up on leaves, pieces of wood, mushrooms and other stuff coming their way. What for? "Well, firstly, it's beautiful!" (c) A.S. Gatilov.
Secondly, leaves aren't just a thing of beauty, but also a perfect substrate for terrariums, food for invertebrates such as snails, millipedes, woodlice and stick insects. Plus, they can rustle!
This time we collected leaves at the Botanical Garden in agreement with the park management. They let us bring a small truck, showed us where every kind of tree grows and then left us to enjoy our work aimed at making our pets happy.
The answer to yesterday's top question:
"Juliet Sim
17 hours ago
Question: what impact (if any) did blogging have on your life, and how much and in what way has it changed it, made it harder/easier, enriched/limited it? What was most pleasant (or unpleasant) experience it gave you, and what turned out to be an unexpected bonus?
Basically, what is it like being a popular blogger when it wasn't a set goal and just happened naturally?"
It had a very strong impact.
I never thought what it could possibly lead to, and I still don't. I blog because I enjoy it and get positive emotions from it, so I barely notice any negative side. If it exists at all. Sure, there are people with strange and infuriating reactions, but my personality allows me not to pay much attention to them.
Life has changed, or rather began changing very dramatically. On a psychological level, I got rid of many insecurities. They weren't a serious problem in the first place, but life without them is definitely better. For example, I used to think I have a horrible, unpleasant voice and tried to talk less, embarrassed of my dyslexia. Now I'm happy to talk a lot and tell stories, and I don't care if I mix up words or syllables, or if I forget the names of some things.
I found lots of new friends, acquaintances, great people and activities. I now spend less time home (which, of course, is not always a good thing). I get a lot of support from people I would've never met and gotten to know. I get tons of positive emotions from people's reactions to what I do and what happens around me.
It's hard to explain the feeling of satisfaction I get knowing that my simple videos without editing or any sort of sorcery inspire people to love nature, help animals, gain new knowledge and cherish the world around us. Tens and hundreds of animals have been rescued thanks to subscribers that found out what to do and who to contact from my videos. This alone is worth starting the channel for.
Of course, a very nice bonus is the income from the ads KZbin offers you to watch. Thanks to this income and the donations from my subscribers, I began turning my dream into reality: to buy land, build a base and make a sanctuary for wild owls that cannot be returned to the wild. I've already bought the land, and I'm now saving money for building! Without this channel I had never even dreamed of this.
I get to do what I love doing, it gives me pleasure, and I'm able to share my emotions with others.
As far as the downsides: too much socialising, which sometimes exhausts me. I can understand that people want to have a talk, tell me about their impressions and activities, make friends, ask questions, etc. However, in one day I have roughly 30 conversations updated on VK, and I have to select the ones where an animal needs urgent help, ignore those where a random person says "hi whazzup", ban a couple of naked penises, chat with my friends and sort out some matters. And that's just VK. Some people, after receiving a reply from me, consider me their friend and begin to actively "friend" me. I'm not ready for this. Some people think it's okay to text during the night, one word per text, bombarding my ears with notifications. I don't put my phone on silent, so I don't miss those who truly need help. On Instagram I try not to check my messages at all. Here I try to read all the comments, but only reply to a few.
And sometimes I come across weird, irrational people that scare me. Some threaten me. Some stand under my window or wait for me outside the train. They don't mean any harm, but it can still be scary. I don't mind people sending me messages asking me if I would mind. I don't mind. But I've already written a note to the police and spoken to the local policeman. He told me to call him immediately if anything happens, and he is even subscribed to me. :D
I don't feel like this channel limits me in any way. Or rather, its existence doesn't go against my lifestyle and worldview in any way. The only thing that I sometimes find difficult is uploading a video every day. It can be difficult especially when I have to travel somewhere and don't know if I will have Internet access.
I'm running out of space here, so I'll continue in a pinned comment.