I feel kinda weird about making a Patreon, because my videos have always been kind of a personal endeavor. I don’t talk about myself, I don’t even show my face, and yet all of them come from something I’m going through in my life while I’m writing them.

I wrote my Spirited Away video while I was in a liminal stage in my own life: out of a job, moving between countries, and terrified of the prospect having nothing stable to cling to. My analysis of the film happened hand it hand with trying to make sense of my own anxiety, and it took me ages to untangle my thoughts and feelings into something coherent. That video ended up being the most popular one on my channel. I guess it resonated with a lot of other people too.

My videos are a labor of love. They’re also a labor of labor. My last video on The Age of Innocence took 30 hours to edit. Just to edit. I’d tell you how long it took to write but honestly I was working on it on and off for the better part of six months. Basically, each video turns into a part-time job while I’m working on it. I’ll often stay up until midnight to finish one.

I do all this because I love, love, love making connections, finding the truth underlying things, and disentangling my muddled thoughts into some kind of clarity. And I really love getting comments from students who use my videos as a jumping off point for their own analyses, or messages from people who say I helped them understand their own reactions.

I would love to be able to make these videos on a more regular basis. I would love to eventually be able to hire someone to help me with the recording and editing so that I can get them out more consistently and with less hair-pulling. I would love for this little baby channel to become more of a Thing.

If you would like to help me make it a Thing, and if you can spare dollar or two, I hope you’ll consider chucking something into my Patreon hat. And if not, I hope you’ll continue watching, because I really treasure your views and comments.

Thank you all for your wonderful feedback and all your support. I love you guys.