7 Questions with Twitch Streamer, and Content Creator @NolaQueenRell

We created “7 Questions With” series to meet new and old friends of the Aloe Bud community and to learn about the way they incorporate self-care and take care of their mental health in their daily lives. This month we are meeting Rell, aka @NolaQueenRell, a Twitch streamer and Ambassador of the Aloe Bud community.

Q1: Tell me about yourself?

Image via @NolaQueenRell

@NolaQueenRell: So me, myself, and my stream are very well connected, like, you know, it's very similar to who I am off-stream. But pretty much, I'm just kind of a bubbly person. I love to help people. I love to travel when I'm able to. I love to play games. Big on watching horror movies. It's just one of my favorite genres, but I also like things where you can kick back, and relax, and you don't have to stress out and have those good vibes, and good energy. I do love to cook. I want to get more into the baking side of things, which I kind of put off. I do some occasionally, but I want to get more into that. I've always been fascinated with seeing people who decorate cakes and their different designs. I just think that is so cool. Yeah. So I want to get to doing that.

Q2: What got you into streaming?

@NolaQueenRell: August will be three years. Initially, when I got started, it was just supposed to be me doing something for fun, just doing something, you know, to kill time and just to have another way to interact with people that I met through Twitch and Discord, like during the pandemic and everything. I started to get connected with a lot of people in different streams, and different communities. Because I always had an interest in vlogging, but I was like, you know what I say? You know, streaming might not be so bad. But again, you know, it was nothing that I was going to try and build into, like a career or anything. But the more I started to do it, I just fell in love with it. I don't know, it was just a good feeling. Like I said, the engagement or just connecting with people or just making somebody else's day was a fulfilling feeling. So I stuck with it. And then from there I kind of was like, you know what? I kind of want to keep doing this. I want to make this a long-term thing. I don't want to just, you know, do it here and there just for fun. I really enjoy it, and  I already love playing video games, something I've been doing since I was like three years old. I was like, you know what? We can do both of those. Why not? So that's kind of how I got into it.

Q3: Tell me about your Twitch community?

@NolaQueenRell: I would describe them as chill, chaotic but fun. We have, you know, all types of personalities in there. But I think one thing that everybody in the community has in common is, they just like having a good time. They love to laugh. They love to be silly. They're very funny people. Like, if you pop in, you might see them say something crazy and usually they're joking around and stuff. But yeah, I love them. They have supported me throughout this journey and I would not trade them for anything in the world. They helped me along the way. You know, even when I'm not feeling my best, they have been there, so I thank them so much. I appreciate everyone who has supported me.

I do have a personal Discord that we, a lot of us, connect in. Some of these people I am friends with outside of the community. Some of us text, keep in touch, and have planned things. A lot of us follow each other and stay in touch that way. But yeah, there are some people that I have connected with and made genuine friendships with and I'm grateful for that.

Q4: Why is self-care so important to you personally?

@NolaQueenRell: For me personally self-care, if I didn't take those times, whether it's to step back for a week or just to sit back and have a day where I just reset, I don't think I would be able to function properly. I want people to see every part of me, but I still want to give my best in every situation. And just taking care of your health is essential anyway. You want to feel like your best self or at least try, you know, even if it takes baby steps to do that it's truly important to your overall health. If one thing is not feeling good, then it kind of throws everything else off balance. Kind of like what a car, you know, if the brakes are not working properly, then it can mess up everything else. So pretty much the same thing with our body, you know, even if we're physically in pain, it affects our mental health and vice versa. It's important to take care of yourself. If you need to take some time away from social media, streaming, or whatever, just always take care of yourself and do what's necessary to get yourself back to being you.

Q5: What do you do during streams to take care of yourself?

@NolaQueenRell: I always make sure before I start the stream I always have water. I usually have two bottles that I keep on my desk. Before you start, make sure you get your water. And then if I feel a little hungry if I didn't get a chance to eat right before a stream, I always have a little snack, whether it's, you know, some crackers or some cookies or something, so I can kind of keep my energy going. I always make sure I have that. I’m big on water.

Q6: Do you do any sort of community self-care?

@NolaQeenRell: And then as far as, like during the streams, I always check in with everybody as well doing streams, seeing how they're doing. They can share, you know if they had some lunch or dinner. Did they hydrate? You know, are they taking care of their mental health? Some people might be like, you know, I've been working for seven days straight and I haven't had a break. And I just kind of always reiterate you know, please, take a moment to take care of yourself. Don't allow your job or your career to take away from you mentally, because you're not going to be your best self at all. You're going to run yourself tired into the ground; we don't need that. So I always make sure to, you know, outreach and kind of preach about those types of things.

Q7: What advice would you like to give Twitch streamers experiencing digital burnout?

@NolaQueenRell: I suggest knowing your limits because you do eventually like, you kind of know you figure it out after a while… if I push just a little bit more,  I'm going to feel horrible. So know your limits. Don't feel like you're not doing enough. I mean, a lot of us, sometimes we do get in our head and like, oh, I could do this better, which is nothing wrong with doing your best work. Or you know what? You feel like you can push yourself to your fullest potential, but don't overdo it. Don't overthink it. Live in the moment. Just have fun in the process. You want to put out great content, but you also want to enjoy what you do and do what you enjoy in the process. So definitely don't over-push yourself. You did enough in that moment, and I'm sure your community feels like you did enough as well. So just make sure to take care of yourself.