Unus Annus: The Youtube Channel With Exactly ONE YEAR To Live

We live fast lives. It can sometimes seem like entire years have gone by in the blink of an eye, yet when we look back on what we’ve accomplished, it’s sometimes dishearteningly small. There’s a reason so many people struggle with mid-life crises. We lose our dreams in the rat race, and we miss out on becoming the person we were supposed to be. It’s a tragic and challenging thought.

Despite just how grim such ideas can be, two men, Mark Fishbach and Ethan Nestor decided on November 15, 2019, decided to start a channel that focused on just that reality. Called Unus Annus, the channel, from the beginning was destined to last only one year before it was entirely deleted off the internet. Mark and Ethan weren’t just going to stop making videos, they were going to wipe them from Youtube.

The channel’s motto? Memento Mori. Latin for “Remember Death”.

See, why Unus Annus is a very silly, comedic channel, it has a deeper purpose. It’s designed to remind all of its fans that all things must come to an end.

While this sounds like a very dark theme for a Youtube channel focused on just two pals laughing around, it’s actually quite the opposite. What you realize as you watch day after day of daily uploads is that in a lot of cases, what makes something beautiful isn’t necessarily what it is. What makes something beautiful is often the fact that you got to be there for the journey. I was lucky enough to be present on Youtube right when this channel was created, so I was able to follow Mark and Ethan the whole journey. It became a part of my routine to take some time to watch whatever they had uploaded that day. And this wasn’t because I always loved every single video, it was because I knew I wouldn’t have a second chance. If I missed a video and didn’t watch it before the channel was deleted, that was it. No do-overs.

And that is incredible

I am so lucky to have been able to watch videos of Mark and Ethan getting pepper-sprayed, or enjoy the new sport “Nutball”. But really, now that the channel is coming to an end, I’ve realized that Unus Annus has always been more than its content. It taught me that I need to enjoy the life I have been given, and I need to make the most out of every day. The clock never stops ticking, so neither should we.

And in the end, I want to be able to look back on all that I’ve done, and be just as amazed and proud of my life as I’ve been for the life of Unus Annus. In my last moments, I want to know that while I wasn’t perfect, I did the best I could, and that the world was changed because of me.

So remember death, my friend. You were given one shot at this thing we call life. Don’t waste it.

Memento Mori