On YouTube

What It Means To Spend Time On The Line

^This video is not about me. This video is about a conversation where I happen to be one part among many on this particular day. But this Substack is about me, obveeusslee.

If you put my name into YouTube, then things will appear in the search. I could link specific videos here that I like, but so far I’ve enjoyed every video / livestream that I’ve been part of.

I should note that I’ve started a YouTube channel where I turn all my written Substack posts into something like short films. I’m still getting caught up with the filming and editing, but I’m getting faster. I’m discovering different mediums for different ideas and the translation between mediums is becoming more natural.

https://www.youtube.com/@ethan.caughey

The short films don’t appear exactly like these written treatises; I attempt to display whatever idea I’m chasing here on the screen in a more physical manner. There are portions of the Substack script I leave out. And there are things I build for the films that can’t be put into writing.

Writing is different from filming. A YouTube short film is different from a YouTube livestream with a chat room running simultaneously. Both of these are different from an audio podcast, which is different from a poem and when that poem is spoken aloud it turns into a performance which is different than quietly reciting a poem while seated atop an armchair in the late hours.

I am working on balance. If you have opinions, comment.

[Editor’s Note, April 30, 10:38AM: I spent 8 years from 2017 to 2025 barely online. I rarely entered any algorithm. I spent a year counting screws at a medical device production facility where I listened to a shitton of YouTube; I didn’t listen to whatever the hell was being pushed into ‘My Feed.’ Don’t let someone else feed you; feed yourself. I searched out specific topics and listened to old lectures, even if the audio quality sucked. The quality of thought is what matters.

I remain out of the algorithms to this day. I don’t know the memes and I don’t know what ‘based’ means—this is OK becasue trends are like sifting sand being piled up to be crushed underfoot. If you want to be the kind of human that can withstand crushing pressure, then you’ll have to learn to feed yourself because what others want to feed you is usually poison for profit, unless it’s someone you trust.

(Learn how to cook. Learn how to prepare what you cook. Learn to make the raw ingredients you need in order to cook them. Learn where the raw ingredients come from. Learn how to plant / harvest / raise raw ingredients. Learn what makes wheat / clams / chickens thrive. Argue with everyone that soil quality / water quality / animal quality / air quality / sunshine quality does matter and should be a part of any argument for a meaningful life AND THIS IS OF COURSE WHY EVERYONE WANTS TO MAKE THESE THINGS POLITICAL AND TRIBAL. Just make them human. We are all here and have to learn to live together with as little violence as possible. And when violence comes knocking… I suggest becoming the kind of human that steps forward and says, “You can beat me in place of them. I will die for them because I follow Jesus and death is not the end.” There is a way; find The Way.)

Find a trusted curator and follow them. Listen to who they listen to, until you’ve retrained your brain and can clearly define who is worthy of your trust. The algorithms are incredibly dangerous places with hidden rules that you can never see. I don’t play games unless the rules are clearly explained and everyone agrees to them, otherwise it’s all bullshit. Develop a zero-tolerance policy for bullshit, especially with the human beings you trust. Few things ruin relationships like bullshit.

Technology is a tool. We can use it wisely, but that also means we can use it incredibly foolishly, which usually involves becoming the thing that is used in service of something beyond you. Know the terms of service and don’t always accept them. Some things are worth fighting for. END EDITOR’S NOTE]

This is what I know. I live first. I write second. I film third. This is all an attempt at capturing, transcribing and spreading that which is eternal.

When I write, I generally take to time to consider every word on the page and how they’re all arranged. I try to be careful. The short films feature what I’ve called: swift jesterhood. I think both are needed. We need arguments that are considered. We need to know that the people arguing are real human beings and capable of absurdity. And of course we need to know that we are a we; and that we are not alone.

It has been a blessing these last few months to have met some fellow collaborators. At the same time, I cannot wait to be home in Wisconsin and once again among my long-time collaborators.

There is a lot on the line. And being online is walking a tight rope. Balance is required. No one person or any one place has the answer. Answers require searching, of that I am convinced.

However, you can search a country for a lifetime, but you can also search a backyard and learn just as much. There is infinite complexity in your back yard; potential waiting to be unleashed.

And if you don’t own a backyard, then go get one. I don’t own one yet either, but soon my soon-to-be-wife and I will. Soon we will own land, no matter the sacrifice. Soon there will be a place for our soon-to-be-children to run and search and sit and cloud-stare and chalk-draw and scream-cry-rage and laugh with Mom and wrestle with Dad and get wisdom from grandpas and grandmas and maybe even one day fall in love while k-i-s-s-i-n-g-ing in a tree.

Do whatever it takes to not let Any own you besides YHWH. You cannot serve two masters.

We have work to do. We have things to build. We have art to create. We have children to raise. We have grandparents to care for. These are complex tasks and they will grow in malevolent, infinite complexity if we own nothing.

Take ownership. Write something down. Pick up a camera. Walk the line. Buy a house. Fall in love. Balance, lest you fall to a place you cannot stand up from. “Taste and see that the LORD is good;” rescue is reality.

Ta ta for now!

P.S. I have a list of 20 different things that I’m currently crunching through that will be appearing across YouTube and Substack. I am adamant about getting into a rhythm of writing—editing—filming—editing—random livestream—hyper focused research—repeat. I’m probably a month away from that. The fiancé and I are also planning a wedding that occurs in early September along with a roadtrip from Alaska to Wisconsin and all of the many transitions in between.

Thank you for being here. May you find thanks here, in your very being.

Grace and peace. God bless; God speed.