So this last week I got to spend an incredible 8 days, 7 nights in Anaheim, California, one of my absolute favorite places on this planet! I was in town visiting friends, going to Disneyland, as well as attending the amazing VidCon, a big YouTube convention that has happened for the last 7 years. This year, I was finally able to accomplish a major goal of mine!
This last weekend I had the immense pleasure and honor of meeting two incredibly talented and sweet people that have ever walked on this earth, Peter and Evynne Hollens. If you do not know who either of those people are, you should just go look them up on YouTube (I'll provide links to my favorite videos of theirs). I knew they'd be sweethearts, just based on their interactions with people on twitter and on Patreon and in the comment sections of their videos but man... all of my expectations of these two beings were just blown out of the waters.
So if you don't know the story of my first VidCon (AKA Last year's Vidcon), essentially Peter was one of the youtubers I really wanted to meet. And it felt like whatever higher power/deity/God is up there was telling the universe that he wanted play a game and see how many times I could miss Peter by literal seconds (it always seemed like anyways). Last year I wasn't super desperate to meet him but I really was disappointed by not meeting him because he's incredibly talented and I could tell that he has a really sweet soul about him and I really like having people like that in my life and I just wanted to meet him so I could tell him that. (I'm sorry but I go off on a long, but related, tangent here...)
Last year (a few days after my 21st birthday actually), Peter had posted a video of him covering Mad World. Earlier this year he had posted a blog post about it, talking about his struggle with depression and that sort of thing. Long story short, I essentially left an incredibly long comment telling this virtual stranger that I looked up to my story and my struggle with depression and the scars and fears it has left me with. Well, I wasn't expecting a response at all. I really wasn't. I've learned over the years that opening up would typically not lead to anything or anywhere but I felt something tell me to tell Peter my story in the comment section of this blog post. Hours later, I was sitting in the computer lab at school, trying to mentally get ready for another critique in my life drawing (I think it was a critique day... or something was going to happen in class and I was really dreading it)... I just happen to check my email and I saw I had a response... from Peter... to that comment.
It honestly not only made my jaw drop, but it also brought tears to my eyes reading what he said. I have a screen shot of it on my phones, favorite, so I can read it every day when I wake up and when I go to sleep and when I'm standing at the edge between sanity and sinking back into that dark dark hole that depression is...
Anyways this year it became incredibly important for me to meet Peter. I had to tell him thank you in person. I just... there was nothing more important to me this year happening at VidCon than getting to tell someone thank you for giving me the most encouraging words I've ever received, and not telling me the same thing that my high school teachers and counselors told me ("you should go get professional help" "you should really look into getting medicated" etc).
First day of VidCon. I went to a panel and was waiting for my friend to show up because we were there to see one of my absolute favorite humans ever moderate a panel on how not to make a film (long story short she never showed) when I got a text from one of the girls I was sharing a hotel room with. It was a photo of Peter doing an interview in the Patreon lounge on the creator level. Accompanied with that photo was something along the lines of "You should get over here now! We found Peter!" I was anxiously waiting for my friend so she could hold my seat while I ran over to the lounge for a second to meet Peter when I got a text from my friend that she wasn't coming and then right after that my other friend/roommate for the weekend sent me a text saying that he had already left the lounge. I sat in my seat thinking "Oh great. Here we go again." I think I even tweeted something about it that both Peter and Patreon favorited and the Patreon twitter page even told Peter to fix it (the fact that I hadn't met him yet). All day I just kept thinking "if it doesn't happen, it wasn't meant to happen and I'll just live with that." Fast forward to the next day... Peter was on a panel with Nick Pitera, Mike Tompkins, and Taylor Davis talking about being musicians on YouTube (it was a a Q and A and it was really fascinating :D) Afterwards we all kind of gathered in the hallway and the panelists were out there meeting those of us that went to the panel and whatnot and suddenly I found myself a couple of people away from Peter. I could feel my mind go immediately into panic mode, so much so that I almost walked away.
It got... emotional. I knew it would be too much to hope to get through a VidCon without crying (I cried last year meeting one of my female role models... different story for a different day). But as I'm standing in front of this human being who is not only so incredibly gifted with a talent that so very few people have, but is also incredibly blessed with this gift of love and compassion and understanding and joy for his followers/fans, telling him just how much his response meant to me... I definitely cried. Everything around me was a blur with the exception of Peter because all I could do was focus on him (I definitely got tunnel vision). Next thing I knew he was hugging me and then we were taking a photo together and I just... I turned around and started walking towards Evynne. It really felt like time had slowed down so I could enjoy that moment with Peter, sped up again as I walked towards where Evynne was talking with a couple of people, before slowing down again so I could enjoy a moment with Evynne.
Evynne was just... a total doll. She was even more beautiful in person and literally even more sweet! I just can't help but gush about her and her personality and how her laughter and smile just can warm anyone's soul. For real though... it's amazing! She recognized me from all the comments and stuff I leave on Nick Pitera's stuff and all my tweets and comments and things (I guess being a fan girl pays off sometimes...). I don't totally remember what we talked about exactly but we talked about Hamilton (she got fairly excited when I showed her my tattoos with my two favorite Hamilton lyrics on my arms... I think XD Sick brain doesn't want me to properly remember things right now), Anastasia, and other things. And at one point Evynne, Nick, and I were talking about Anastasia and how it has a bit of a small, cult following and I brought up how my other favorite Dreamworks film, Road to El Dorado, also has a small cult following to the point where I've only really seen a youtuber by the name of Jonathan Young cover anything from that movie. She got really excited and we talked about Jonathan Young for a minute, even telling Nick about him (because Jonathan Young is super amazing and his arrangements of songs and stuff is just... wow!)
The next day we had an unoffical/official HollensFamily meetup (unofficial because it wasn't actually associated with VidCon, even though it happened while at VidCon, official because well Peter and Evynne set it up). At this point I've realized that I've failed to mention that Peter has actually been pretty sick all week... Sick enough to where Evynne took him to Urgent Care that Saturday morning :( Poor guy :/ I honestly wouldn't have been upset if he had just decided to stay home and not come to VidCon at all because he wanted to sleep and get rid of whatever he had... but he was also such a trooper by coming... We met them at a Starbucks at one of the hotels and then found a little patio area outside where we sat and just kind of talked and quietly enjoyed each other's company. Evynne did the majority of the talking while Peter just kind of sat there and let the medicine kick in, which is fine. I was just enjoying being in the presence of those two and enjoying a quiet hour away from the craziness of the convention center/VidCon. My introvertness was kicking me really hard in the shins and I really just enjoyed sitting there. It was a very quiet, relaxing moment. Sitting there, I got to observe something up close...
(Photo credit to HollensFamily Member, David Gonzales)
I won't lie... I never thought I'd ever get to observe these two together... But being in such a small group that included these two... I got to see first hand the deep love and admiration that these two wonderful human beings have for each other and it was awe inspiring...
Anyways that's basically it.... I'm still in shock that it actually happened and that these two just kind of blew my mind...
I'm not much of a person of faith. In fact, I haven't been to church since I was 13 years old. But I do have a firmly belief that there is some kind of higher power/deity/God up there. I have a very firm belief that they direct us to those we are meant to meet and to the forks in the roads where we make our decisions (good and bad). I firmly believe that I was directed to Peter and Evynne when that higher power felt it was time for me to find their youtube videos. Their music came into my life when I was standing on that line between sanity/normalicy and that dark hole of insanity and depression again (a hole that's hard to climb out of, where terrible things happen...) two years ago. I'll forever be grateful that I've been able to enjoy their music that they put out into the world. They are far too sweet, kind, and caring to those of us who love and appreciate their work. As I told them at the meet up "we found you because of the music. We stayed because of how much you truly care about us". Peter and Evynne totally just blew me out of the water with their kindness, warmth, and generosity with us at VidCon. These are people who are a dime a dozen, people who are genuine with their personality and have more raw talent in their pinky toe than some people have in their entire bodies. They are people that you can't ever replace. And they gave us a bit of something that can never really truly be replicated. Ever.
Favorite Peter Covers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yymS1Pb7JfM I See Fire (Originally sung by Ed Sheeran for The Hobbit)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25qfzAcnqHw Mad World (Originally sung by Gary Jules/ Tears for Fears)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6qd_diN7KQ Epic Goofy Medley (Performed with Stuart Edge)
Favorite Evynne Covers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnS_yUOaGSQ Fight Song (Originally Sung by Rachel Platten)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tfVXIKk_GM Shut Up and Dance Mash Up (Shut Up and Dance mashed up with Video Killed the Radio Star) (Performed with Nick Pitera)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6id8Sa_SO-w Stitches (Originally sung by Shawn Mendes)
Favorite Duet(s) of Peter and Evynne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j6mT_0xUeo 1989 in Four Minutes (All the songs from Taylor Swift's album, 1989)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Gx6CBnWhc The Prayer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGMgdmrlZHM A Thousand Years (Originally sung by Christina Perri for Breaking Dawn Part One)
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