Barely Adulting in NYC ep.1

@bonsanemera

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SoundTikTok sound · original sound - bonsanemera

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Why it worked

The video uses a high-quality, cinematic vlog style combined with a relatable, philosophical hook about the 'boredom' of adulthood, which keeps viewers engaged through the storytelling.

Summary

The creator discusses the concept of creating a 'second character' to balance the demands of adult life in NYC with personal creative pursuits. He uses his own experience as a doctor and creative to illustrate how to avoid the monotony of a purely reactive adult life.

Structure

1Introduction to the 'Barely Adulting' concept
2The struggle of balancing a career and creative dreams
3The core lesson: creating a second character
4Why the default adult script is boring
5How a second character reclaims identity
6Final question to the audience

Product placement

YNAB (You Need A Budget) is shown on a laptop screen during the mention of 'those damn bills'.

Original caption

Barely Adulting in NYC Ep. 1: Create a 2nd character🗽🤳 #adulting #lifelessons #newyork #howtoadult #adultingdiaries

More from @bonsanemera

Call to action

So let me ask you, who is your second character?

On-screen text

BARELY ADULTING ep.1 in NYC my name's bonsa 5 months ago i moved to new the sense that out of time to build my dream most of my 20s for a doctorate, adulthood for and it was so terrifying, it pushed me to finally chase career i'd been since then, life's been nonstop. i've been living like two different a sitcom titled "barely adulting." one of those characters is relentlessly building a creative identity, opening doors i used to only the other is juggling while navigating adulthood in a city that demands everything from you, which brings me to the first lesson of barely adulting: Lesson 1: Create a 2nd character you need to play two characters in your adult life. adulthood becomes painfully boring if you treat every hour before work as a prologue and every hour after as an epilogue. if all you do is show up as the adult version of yourself, your whole life becomes a reaction. the demands of your job, expectations of growing up, those damn bills. a second character allows you to create a storyline that's actually yours in a phase of life that's trying to claim all of your identity. it's the part of your life that's built on curiosity and desire. a second character is how you reject the default script adulthood tries to hand us. so let me ask you, who is your second character?

Transcript

Hi, my name's Bonsa. Five months ago I moved to New York City with the sense that I was running out of time to build my dream life. After trading most of my 20s for a doctorate, I stepped into adulthood for the first time, and it was so terrifying, it pushed me to finally chase the creative career I'd been putting off. Since then, life's been nonstop. I've been living like two different characters in a sitcom titled "barely adulting." One of those characters is relentlessly building a creative identity, and it's finally opening doors I used to only dream about. The other is juggling a demanding job while navigating adulthood in a city that demands everything from you, which brings me to the first lesson of barely adulting. Lesson 1: Create a 2nd character. You need to play two characters in your adult life. Adulthood becomes painfully boring if you treat every hour before work as a prologue and every hour after as an epilogue. If all you do is show up as the adult version of yourself, your whole life becomes a reaction: the demands of your job, expectations of growing up, those damn bills. A second character allows you to create a storyline that's actually yours in a phase of life that's trying to claim all of your identity. It's the part of your life that's built on curiosity and desire. A second character is how you reject the default script adulthood tries to hand us. So let me ask you, who is your second character?