Buffering. The word that for most of us is an issue we encounter while trying to watch YouTube videos with inadequate wifi capabilities. But, for YouTube sensation Hannah Hart, buffering means life. It's the ups, the downs, the really far downs, and the really high ups. It's a work in progress because life doesn't come easily, but you should attempt to enjoy the ride.
"Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded" is a biography telling the life stories of Hannah Hart who made her claim to fame by attempting to cheer up her friend by making a video titled My Drunk Kitchen. The rest is now history. Five years and hundreds of videos later - Hart is finally giving us the tales of her past.
Unless you are in the realm of working and living in the public eye you can't understand it, I sure don't. Hundreds of thousands of people just waiting at their computers for videos to upload so they can fangirl over their favorite star, leaving a comment in the hopes of getting a like or comment back. It must be exhausting. Becoming famous and an inspiration to others can be an incredibly powerful thing, but also lonely, wonderful and stressful. When is too much to share about oneself and when is it time to close the door?
As a Hannah fan, I love watching her videos. She makes me laugh, she makes me cry, she makes me cry of laughter. It's crazy to think that from watching her five to ten minute segments and following her on SnapChat almost makes her feel like a friend I know. I, at least, felt that way until I read "Buffering."
From start to finish, "Buffering" takes you on a heart breaking journey of Hannah's past including a disarranged mother who was summonsed by illness who made childhood difficult and lead to eventual emancipation. We cycle through the pain and excitement of becoming content with sexuality, with the eventual realization of a sense of self. From learning the very reasons why she made her first YouTube video to the rise of her career, Hannah dives deep, far deeper than I expected for someone who had shared very little of who she actually was before this book.
I give this book the highest of stars it can receive. Her book inspired me to not be afraid to step out of my comfort zone. It actually gave me the strength to start writing for the Odyssey. Though her book is very much about her, it is really about us all. As you turn each page, you learn to think about yourself a little more as you watch her learn. It's a book that you need to experience, again and again. Even if you have never heard of Hannah Hart, but his book and get an understanding of Hannah, because in return you may just be able to find a little of yourself in there, too.
