Maybe you’ve come across one of his videos while
scrolling TikTok—I know that I can hardly open my
phone without seeing yet another one pop up. More
than any other creator, though, the videos of Timm Chiusano stick
with me. With over 900 thousand followers and thirty million likes
on his TikTok (@timmchiusano), Chiusano dedicates much of his
page to the documentation of his days living in NYC. Often
starting at frankly absurd hours of the morning, he takes you
through a day packed with training for marathons (though that
chapter closed with the end of the NYC marathon), meetings,
food, family time, and bits of advice and guidance he takes from
each day. A Tuesday might feature a six-mile run, train commutes,
hours of meetings, homework with his daughter, a date night with
his wife, the ever-recurring “snack hour,” a nightcap, and a perfect
loop right back to the beginning of the day.
Each day found on the page is just that: a day. They aren’t all
astounding or incredible or entirely out of the ordinary. That is,
however, part of what makes the ever-expanding series of videos
special. Yes, the day might be amazing on the whole, or it might
be particularly hard, but it’s never without anything to document.
There are routine things (like the sound of “Sunday” by HNNY,
which plays in almost every video) that might seem mundane or
repetitive. Those routine things—which are often taken for granted
in our own lives—are instead focused on in the videos to great
effect. “Sunday,” for example, has the ability to switch from
melancholy to optimistic. That’s part of what the series does quite
well: it gets you to think about your own days. It challenges you to
feel all the feelings and the highs and lows, the accomplishments
and the brick walls. And make no mistake, the brick walls are not
excluded. On a Friday in October, a particularly tough day of
work leaves Chiusano tired and questioning, asking himself if the
things he’s taking on are too manifold. While addressing these
questions, he comes to the understanding that his days are no
longer just about him. He watches his daughter’s karate moving
up ceremony and finds happiness in someone else’s day. There are
people in his life, and certainly in ours as well, that make life joyful
on a day when it feels like you’re barely scraping by. The unsaid
message of the days that might feel unremarkable: “Not every day
is good, but there’s something good in every day. And if there
isn’t, you’ve got tomorrow.”
Beyond the universal messages to be taken away from these
videos, there are quite a few that are relevant to high schoolers. For
one, managing responsibilities. For seniors in particular, the stress
of college applications and the impending transition into adult life
combined with school, clubs, sports, and family commitments,
make it all feel like too much. Similarly, the eighteen waking hours
of Chiusano’s days are full to the brim with things to do and people
to meet. The jam-packed daily calendar, Chiusano says, is
something he sought out. A consistent theme of his videos is doing
things for a reason, not just for the sake of doing things. When
overwhelmed, a reminder that all of these things do make him
happy and are worthwhile, along with the understanding that
being overwhelmed doesn’t mean that you’re incompetent or that
your life is out of order, is enough to head off the feelings of
anxiety. Another one is the previously touched-upon appreciation
of each day. For seniors, this is the last time we do all this. It’s the
last time we go to high school. For many, it’s the last time we truly
live in the town we grew up in, possibly the last time we live with
our parents. How do you properly process and appreciate that?
How can you not kick and scream at Time as it pulls us closer to
that space of complete change? There is no answer to be found in
Chiusano’s videos, but there is advice. For one, understanding that
the bad will pass, not just the good. It’s easy to feel as though this
year is an end, but it’s also a stepping stone to a new place, one that
you can choose to be excited about or resigned to. Just as with
everywhere else, not every day in that new place will be perfect or
even good. But just as NYC, his house, his commute, his family
and friends, and even his job are appreciated in Chiusano’s videos,
so can the aspects of life in whatever place you end up in. It might
not be good or even okay, but if you seek out the things that make
you happy, at some point it will.
I don’t necessarily know why it is that Chiusano’s videos strike
such a chord for me. It could be any one of the elements I’ve
discussed so far. It could be because it’s satisfying to see someone
living a life they have worked hard for. It could be because it makes
it seem like it’ll all pay off, like everything you work for is going to
end up with you living a happy and fulfilling life. Maybe it’s
because personally, I think (fear?) that I might end up in corporate
America one day. Whatever the case may be, Chiusano’s depiction
of a kick-ass Sunday in his forties is worth your attention. You
might get something out of a video, pick up a trick for dealing with stress
or appreciation, find it satisfying to see a life well-lived or just love
seeing the sights and sounds of NYC through new eyes. And if you
don’t, if today isn’t the right day to learn from or appreciate, you’ve
got tomorrow. His and yours.