msXPLR

1 week ago | [YT] | 0

msXPLR

Five years.
I don't think I fully understand what it means to say that yet.
In September 2021, I started editing. Seven months later, in April 2022, I finally took the courage to share my work with the world and start posting on YouTube. 🎥
Seven months of creating random stuff. Figuring out what I was even doing. And then one day, I decided to let people see it.
I don't think the person I was back then could have imagined that something I started as a creative escape would become something I could genuinely call my career five years later.
Editing became such a huge part of my teenage years. It gave me memories, friendships, opportunities, lessons, phases, failures, achievements, and so many versions of myself that I don't think I would've met otherwise.
The phases where I thought I was finally getting somewhere. The videos that nobody saw. The videos that unexpectedly reached thousands of people. The drafts that took forever. The moments where I was incredibly proud of myself, and the moments where I wondered if any of this was actually going anywhere.
And I think that's something I really want to be honest about on the internet.
Being a creator isn't always this perfect journey where you post something and suddenly everyone sees it.
Sometimes you flop. Again and again.
Sometimes you put so much into something and barely anyone talks about it.
Sometimes you watch other people grow quickly and wonder why your own journey feels so slow.
Sometimes you get validation, and sometimes you don't.
And as you grow as an editor, I think it's completely natural to want more validation too. Who wouldn't? When you've put years of your life into something, of course it starts to mean more when someone notices it.
But I've also learned that success doesn't happen overnight, and your creative life isn't going to feel the same forever.
Things change. And I've definitely changed.
The amount of K-pop edits I make has faded. Birthday edits have become less frequent. The way I create has changed. The way my editing styles were has changed.
Because as much as I love this career, I also have to be honest with myself about where I'm going.
There is a big possibility, honestly, around 75% right now that this is coming to an end.
That doesn't mean this is a goodbye yet.
It doesn't mean I've made a final decision.
And it definitely doesn't mean I know what the next few years will look like.
Things can change. I can change my mind. I can discover something completely different.
Right now, I know that things are becoming different.
And if one day this chapter really does come to an end, I don't want it to feel like something that suddenly disappeared.
I want to make the ending beautiful.
I want to fill whatever time I have left with nostalgic memories, projects I'm proud of, things I've never tried before, and moments that make me look back and think, I'm really glad I lived through this.
Because five years is freaking crazy.
To every person who watched, liked, commented, shared, subscribed, came back, discovered my work for the first time, or simply enjoyed something I made, thank you. 🤍
Some of the people who made this era what it was aren't here anymore, some of the things I used to make aren't part of me anymore, and even I am not the same creator I was when this began.
People grow up. People move on. Audiences change. Life changes.
But that doesn't erase the fact that you were once part of this story.
And to the newer viewers who found me somewhere along the way, thank you for becoming part of a chapter you weren't there to see from the beginning.
I also want to appreciate Ari, because even if you don't see her all over my channel, she has seen so much of my editing self and has supported that part of me in ways that mean a lot.
I don't make huge amounts of money from this. I haven't had the kind of collaborations or opportunities people might automatically associate with calling something a career.
But I'm still incredibly proud to say that this was my career.
Because a career isn't only measured by how much money you made from it or how many people knew your name.
Sometimes it's the years of work you created.
The things you built from nothing.
The risks you took.
The skills you taught yourself.
The people you met.
The person you became while doing it.
And I've learned so much.
I've learned that you're going to have moments where you feel validated and moments where you feel completely overlooked.
I've learned that not everything you create is going to blow up.
I've learned that sometimes the smallest achievement can mean more to you than something thousands of people saw.
And most importantly, I've learned that sometimes you have to look back and let yourself feel bittersweet.
Because you lived it.
You really freaking lived it.
You were there when nobody knew what you were doing.
You were there when things worked.
You were there when things didn't.
You were there when you were proud.
You were there when you wanted to give up.
And you got through all of it.
So if you're a new editor or creator reading this, please don't think you have to become successful overnight.
Your first edit might flop.
Your first few posts might barely reach anyone.
You might spend months or years wondering when your moment is coming.
Keep learning. Experiment.
And don't forget to celebrate the tiny things too even the ones nobody else sees.
Because it takes a lot to create something from nothing.
It takes even more to keep believing in it.
Five years ago, I was just someone sitting there making edits and wondering where they could take me.
Seven months later, I finally found the courage to share that work with the world.
And whatever happens next, I'm proud that I got to live this chapter. Always a bit better than nothing.
Five years of editing.
Five years of |swaggyspace|ms.hwang|ms.xplr|
Tack så mycket 💌

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 1

msXPLR

100 days on roll 🍰

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 4

msXPLR

Happy Birthday @Hichasestokes 🤍 Watching his talent come to life through John B in Outer Banks has been such a wonderful experience. From pulling off those insane stunts to giving us so many of the series’ most iconic moments, he made John B feel like sm more than just a character. hearing him talk in interviews about how he was struggling financially, even staying in his car at one point, & then somehow landing the role that changed everything. He really was a Pogue before he ever became John B. 🥹 His story is honestly so relatable to me in the way he’s spoken about being broke & not knowing what was coming next. He gave us a character who reminds us to keep looking forward, make the most of what we have, and believe there are still good things ahead. We may not know what’s coming, but hey… we’re Pogues. Our mission this summer is to have a good time, all the time. 🏝️💙

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 1

msXPLR

Audrey Hobert - Sue Me (sped up) turns 40k. Crazy things. So freaking grateful <3 🙏🏼

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 1

msXPLR

4 years, 4 months, M. 🫀💟








‪@딸기.딸기‬

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 1

msXPLR

Happy Birthday Hannie & Felix 🩵

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4 weeks ago | [YT] | 2

msXPLR

💐💐💐

1 month ago | [YT] | 3

msXPLR

Holy shit. I don't really know how to put this into words, but this project has been a long time coming.
Living Reality isn't just a project about editing or creativity. It's a little reflection of what it's been like to grow alongside something I genuinely love, while trying to figure myself out through it too.
A lot of what I create exists online, but somehow social media can make something so personal feel very distant. You post something you've spent hours on, watch it go into the world, and sometimes it feels like nobody really sees what exists behind it. You don't always know who's watching, what they took from it, or whether they understood what you were trying to express.
That's something I've thought about a lot.
I've spent years editing, experimenting, learning, starting things, abandoning things, coming back to them months later 😭 and trying to stay authentic through all of it. There have been moments where I've felt incredibly proud, and others where I've felt overlooked, undervalued, overwhelmed, or like I was falling behind.
I also wanted to bring Zara Larsson's creative world into this in some way because her work and the way she documents and presents her creative life inspired me to look at my own differently. Making it coexist. I'm not trying to tell her story or compare our experiences, we're obviously in completely different places. I just wanted to explore that feeling that exists between artists and creators: the work becomes a part of the person making it.
Living Reality became my way of documenting something I don't normally document. Even if it's telling the world a huge speech.
Not perfectly. Not completely. Just honestly.
The video I posted is only a small glimpse of the bigger picture. There is so much more behind it, and honestly, even this post doesn't capture everything I've felt throughout these years.
But maybe it doesn't have to.
I'm just really grateful that I got to make something like this at all. To look back at where I started, where I am now, and everything that happened in between is something I don't think I would've appreciated enough if I hadn't stopped to actually look at it.
Thank you to everyone who's watched, supported, noticed, or simply been there somewhere along the way. Even if you don't know the whole story, you've still been a little part of it.
Merci beaucoup <3

1 month ago | [YT] | 1