H: Alright Shane, you're on
S: Oh, do you see my birthday presents? Do you know why those are there?
H: (laughs) Oh boy
S: Cause my 30th birthday is tomorrow H: Cool Christmas wrapping
S: (laughs) Why did you wrap them in.. H: (laughs) It's all we had
S: I have been keeping a secret from all of you, a pretty big secret
And it's finally time that I can tell you about it
When you search my name on Google
The top suggested result is "Is Shane Burcaw dead?"
And the answer, at least right now, is no
When I first began my blog, Laughing At My Nightmare
Which is a big reason why many of you know about me
I did not believe I would live to be 30
I wrote that in my very first blog post
That I would probably be dead by the time I was 30
I was 19 then, so 11 years later, still here, still kicking
But that outlook on my life played a huge role in my perception of myself
And my disability, played a huge role in my writing
And I wrote that blog for six years
It led to everything that I love about my life
And that's not even an exaggeration
It led me to meet Hannah, it led me to the careers that I have today
It led me to a life full of adventure and love
I am a writer at my heart, and writing has always been my way
Of making people laugh, and making them understand how I see the world
I wrote that blog for six years, and then life happened and got busier
And my time and energy to write consistently dwindled
Until I wasn't writing anymore
The blog died
I didn't die, I was living more vibrantly and more busily than ever before
But something was missing, and I think it was that passion that I had for writing
And sharing my life with people through my writing
So tomorrow, on my birthday
This is the big secret, the big reveal
H: Here we go S: Here we go
I am starting a new blog that will not include this looming cloud
Of inevitable death hanging over me
So much has happened in those years since I stopped writing consistently and today
And I'm such a different person than I was back then
That is what I'm most excited to share with you
The new healthier happier version of me
The blog will be called Shane Is Alive
Because I am
And it's gonna give you a behind the scenes look at my life and how I think
And what makes me laugh, hopefully It'll make you laugh
And it's going to live right here on Youtube
And I know you're all like wait, what, this is for videos
Nope, actually, on the community tab of our page, Squirmy & Grubs
I am able to write and share my stories there
If you would like access to this brand new blog
You can click the Join button below which is next to the Subscribe button
You'll see that I am asking for a fee of $2.99 a month to access
All of that money, 100% of it
I am giving directly to Laughing At My Nightmare Inc, our 501(c) charity
That provides free equipment to people that live with disabilities
I want it to be a way to support the amazing work that we do at LAMN
While giving you tons of content to consume
I'm gonna be making posts every Saturday
And I've been working on this for about a year, would you say?
H: Yeah S: All in secret
I'm having an amazing time writing these things for you, you've read some of them
H: They're amazing S: Thank you
H: I mean I always think what you write is amazing
H: But every single time I read something that Shane has written
H: I can't believe how good it is, every single time
H: I don't know when my expectations will adjust
S: Thank you, thank you wife H: (laughs)
In addition to the weekly posts, you're also gonna get access to a video each week
A private video, of me reading each post
So maybe you don't feel like reading, you can listen to it
You will also get a special badge next to your username
In the comments section of our Youtube videos
So everyone will know you're one of the cool kids that reads my blog
You will also get access to a members only comment area on these blogs
There's already one post up where I just want everyone to introduce themselves
And I've been loving conversing with you there, so you get that
I could not be more excited to share my first posts with the world
Kind of nervous, but 150 of you have already signed up
From the little announcement that I did yesterday on Instagram, so thank you
I am so excited to share my life with you again
And I hope you're excited to come along
It would mean a lot to me to have you read what I write
Thank you
And happy birthday... to me (Hannah laughs)