Nathaniel Drew or the art of self-development

As a free streaming platform, we often think YouTube is full of useless or simply uninteresting videos. And sometimes, it’s true. But what about golden ones? What about specialized channels that can educate or make us discover something new? Nathaniel Drew is surely one of those creators when it comes to understanding the art of self-development.

If you entered into a bookstore the last ten years, you necessarily have noticed something. Stuff about self-development issues. Fiction, essays, comics… and of course, it invaded the wider entertainment area with a lot of podcasts, web series and shows emphasizing on questions like the pursuit of happiness, self-love, peace… Or, in Drew’s case, ‘mental clarity’.

Initially, we weren’t very keen on this particular topic which is extremely over-saturated. Not to mention the fact that a lot of internet sellers are constantly using it to promote low-quality ebooks and questionable online courses everywhere on the internet. As self-development relates to the inner self, and broad interrogations like ‘the meaning of life’ or the ambiguous ‘quest for truth’, it’s become mainstream. Which is not exactly a compliment in this magazine.

But Nathaniel is, in fact, not strictly doing self-development. He’s a lot better than that.

Drew’s more some sort of (brilliant) filmmaker and storyteller, and that’s what we love so much. With the help of his short video stories, we’re not supposed to learn a specific knowledge, basically. On the contrary, he is inviting us to think and take a step back to look at ourselves and our environment. Probably to eliminate negative thoughts and sometimes persons from our lives that can be toxic for us.

We also appreciate the ‘minimalist’ proposition which is something many people are thinking about since the pandemic. Slowing down, living differently, eating less (or no) animals, sleeping more… All that makes sense.

Many of us have heard of those behaviors and remedies to reduce stress, anxiety, and fear. But not that way.

At a time where lots of humans are suffering from depression with our new ‘mask society‘, this ambitious search for ‘mental clarity’ could be a genuine solution not only to feel better, but to be better, in a sense.

You can learn more about Nathaniel Drew on his YouTube channel.