Wakening Life

 

(Image is not mine. I found it here on Pexels)

Youtube, Queen of self-upload videos since 2005, is now so massive there are 400 hours of videos uploaded to the site per minute. Think about that, that’s about 16 days worth of videos every 60 seconds! What?!

But with the impossible-to-watch amount of videos uploaded minutely, it can be challenging to find out-of-the-box smaller channels that will suit your tastes.

Here are my favorite channels that never fail to inspire or make me laugh:

1. jentotheden aka Jen Mother F***ing Dent–32,723 Subscribers

First off, this channel, hands-down has the best intro ever, so if that’s not reason enough to check it out, I don’t know what is.

Anyways, you probably know Jen either as other YouTuber JessiSmiles’ best friend or as the viral sensation, Drunk Lady Dancing:

(Thumbnail is not mine. This is a google image of a YouTube Video. The original video is actually a vine, and since vine is dead and I can’t find the archive-here’s Jen’s most recent video about this vine).

Jen is so much more than just this vine. She has a hilarious personality which she makes no attempt to hide, making her videos like the “Crazy Viner Series”, gold! My favorite videos are from her “Mom Series”, which make it clear where she got her eccentricity from. Her mom calls all of the viewers her “baby ducklings” which is so cute and also reason enough to watch a video. In one, Jen talks of the time her mom was so G she returned a bottle of lube to the store, only after offering it to Jen! I died. It was so funny!

Jen isn’t all humor she is also super passionate about advocating for mental health and sexual assault survivors. She is open with her followers about her battle with depression and shares the warning signs of toxic relationships she has learned.

This makes the channel the perfect balance of a good time, and a good lesson.

2. Andy Signs -33,584 Subscribers  

“My videos range from my performance with. . .Twenty One Pilots, to yelling at Siri for not understanding me, to opening up about my experiences and thoughts.”

(Thumbnails are not mine. Find them here)

Are you intrigued by sign language like I am? Do you have a hard time imagining life without one of your 5 senses?

Then this channel, created by Anderson Pleasants, a self-proclaimed deaf/hard of hearing guy, will show you the awesome beauty of ASL and will inspire you to accept yourself exactly as you are.

I discovered Andy from his interview with Chris Ulmer on another awesome channel you should also check out, Special Books by Special Kids. What Andy lacks in sense of hearing he makes up for tenfold with his sense of humor. When asked what he hopes people will think when they see him, Andy doesn’t miss a beat and responds,    “I hope they think first, ‘Wow that guy has some good hair’,”.

It is exactly with that comedic personality plus his self-acceptance that makes Andy so cool and inspirational! He does not want his differences to be ignored out of fear of offending him-he is okay with them and wants us to be okay with not only his but ours as well. Plus he is only 18 and has performed with Twenty One Pilots, and has given his own TEDx Talk!

 

3. Lucas Pucas -40,679 Subscribers

Your one-stop channel for finding out all about “Ashley Tisdale’s Iconic Music Career” or “MTV Reality Shows We All Miss”

(Thumbnails are not mine. Find them here)

Remember the Youtube classic “Fred Goes Swimming”?  Ever find yourself wondering what happened to our 2010s star of YouTube? How about any other 2000-2010s icons, like Ashley Tisdale or Jordan Pruitt? Then Lucas Pucas is the channel for you!

Nowadays Fred is dead, and Lucas Cruikshank is very much alive. With 2,842,166 followers on his self-titled channel, Lucas, creator of Fred, is living his best life. Filming hit videos like, “Buying Shoutouts From Celebrities and Youtubers”, and “Setting My Brother Up On A Real Blind Date” filmed with no other than his brother, Jacob.

If you think these videos sound great, wait till you watch Lucas Pucas. It is a podcast-esque channel, filmed by both brothers, that explores what happened to our favorite long lost and not so long lost celebrities and television shows. Or as they describe it, “[i]n-depth chats that will add extreme value to your life”.

Pretty much if you are into pop culture, like awkward sarcasm/obscure information, and want to laugh, go to Lucas Pucas like, now!

 

4. TheJoshElkin -59,201 Subscribers

What are you having for your next meal? Tortellini? Boring. Caesar salad? Boring. Grilled cheese? Boring.

Try herb chicken tortellini carbonara, caesar salad tacos, and garlic bread shrimp grilled cheese. These are just a few of Josh’s videos.

(Thumbnails are not mine. Find them here)

You have probably seen him on the Food Network Channel, currently, he is the host of Sugar Showdown. Maybe you’ve seen him on EpicMealTime on FYI or on YouTube making outrageously large meals from even more outrageous food combinations, like, “Fast Food Sushi“. But you’ve never seen  The Josh Elkin in his full glory until you’ve seen him with full creative control.

A self-taught chef who combines cook-with-me and watch-me-eat styles of videos, Josh makes eating at a home a goal instead of a chore.  From him hyping up the meal he is about to prepare, to the cooking, to the eating-beginning to end the videos are addictive.

Not only do they make you unbelievably ready for a bowl  of cereal, but they also help you gain inspiration and the knowledge to cook yummy food out of your comfort zone. Unlike other videos, and myself, that ramble on and on Josh gets right to his point. It is rare to find a video more than 10 minutes long so if you’re, like myself, impatient these will be perfect for you.

So if you want a shake-up from your usual meals and don’t know what to make head to this channel for some quick inspiration.

 

5. TinyKittens HQ -104,145 Subscribers

(Thumbnail is not mine. Find the original here)

Who doesn’t love a good cat video? Now imagine an entire channel dedicated to their lives. If you love cats and learning about animal behavior, you have to check out this channel. 

TinyKittens HQ is a live broadcast channel of kittens and cats. I repeat a live broadcast channel of kittens and cats!

A non-profit cat rescue in Fort Langley, British Columbia, they started posting back in 2013 and now have over 200 uploads, including their daily 24/7 live broadcasts. They’re dedicated to helping all cats in need.

I found them five months ago from a video called, “Chloe brings kitten to Ramona, ridiculous snuggles ensue”.  See, Chloe and Ramona (picture above) are feral cats who gave birth within 5 days of one another, helped each other through labor, and helped raise one another’s kittens. It is the sweetest thing and will boost your faith in humanity. 

On their website, which I highly recommend you check out, they further spread information on their rescues and feral cats. There are photo galleries and pages dedicated to their previous rescues where you can read and see where they came from and ended up.

TinyKittens wants you to know that feral cats and kittens are capable of a second chance. Now, if that isn’t a great message to spread I don’t know what is.

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Now that I have shared with you some of my favorite YouTubers, who are yours? I would love to know, there’s no such thing as too many positive influencers.

 

 

*I do not own any original images or YouTube content. Copyrighted or public use images/videos are linked and used as fair use.

Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.