Last week was by far the hardest week, but also most rewarding one, I have ever had in my life. I pushed my body and mind to their limits, and way outside the comfort zone I am used to. When I left for Steemfest, I decided that I’m going to suck it up and make the most of the time I have there, no matter how tired I feel, or how much I want to run away from social situations. It’s just one week and I didn’t want to waste a second of it. _{Spoiler alert: I did exactly what I wanted to and I’m darn proud of myself.}

Soul

For those who aren’t familiar with me previously, should be let known that I am very much an introvert, shy, and socially awkward. People who just met me or saw me last week, probably didn’t notice anything pointing to those traits. Hate to break it to you, but I was faking it. Though the interesting thing was that after some initial shyness, instead of faking it, I was making it. Once I got to know a few more people, I started to relax and really enjoy myself.

In my normal life, I spend the majority of my time either with my camera, or my laptop. You can ask for proof from my real life friends, and they will tell you that it’s quite hard to get me to socialise. I can easily spend a week with the only human contact being either on the internet, the cashier at the nearest grocery store or a food delivery man. I’m very good at entertaining myself.

It’s not that I necessarily hate people, but I am very picky about who I choose to spend my time with. Most humans aren’t up to my standards, so I’d rather spend time with my own wonderful self. I live in a small city, and finding likeminded individuals is not easy. After last year, and especially after last week, I feel like I want to spend time with just Steemians, because they already are a selected punch to start with. The percentage of people I like among Steemians, is much higher than with the regular human kind. You guys are special.

I usually feel completely drained even after few hours of social interactions, especially if they are new people in my life. With Steemfest, I pretty much loved every minute of it, and pushed the feeling of getting strained by it somewhere very deep to the back of my mind to wait until I get back home. Instead of wanting to run away from people to go take photographs alone, or spend time with my computer, I graved for more interactions. There wasn't a single night that I wanted to leave the party and go to sleep. I wanted every night to last forever.

Body

Here is the thing, I’m like a baby. I need a solid 6 to 8 hours sleep per night, and to be fed regularly, otherwise I get cranky. If I need to be, I am very resilient, but most of the time, I live a life of comfort, because I can.

Steemfest felt like a sporting event for my body!

I slept on average three hours per night, and for majority of the time I was awake, I spend on my feet. This princess ain’t used to it anymore! In my previous life I was a chef, so I was always on my feet for long periods of time, but nowadays I spend my time hunched over the laptop.

I wanted to look good so for an added level of discomfort, I was wearing some sort of heeled shoe majority of the time. Nobody made me do it, but I know heels makes for an extra oomph and I like that feeling. I’m usually pretty fine with wearing heels, but wearing them a lot and walking around hurt like motherfucker by the end of the week. My left foot is a quarter of a size bigger than the right one, so I get blisters on that more easily. My pinky toe has a blister the same size as the actual toe, I know, so sexy. But you know, my feet looked cute in heels so that is all that mattered to me.

Because I am blind as a bat, I need to wear glasses or contacts every day. I try to give my eyes a rest at home and wear glasses, but I don’t like that they get in the way, so I opt for contacts a lot of the times. I think it was only the first official day of Steemfest when two separate people asked if I’m high because my eyes are so red. Damn it, I wasn’t and I can’t help that my eyes are very sensitive. On a few nights, I almost had to pry my contacts off with my nails. I know I know, so bad and I could potentially damage my eyes, no need to tell me.

I think my throat got the worst of it during Steemfest. _{Queue for dirty jokes.} On an average day, I spend a lot of time typing, but not so much speaking. I can accidentally go for a few days without actually speaking to anyone. During Steemfest, I think I was speaking almost non stop, that is bound to have it’s toll on the vocal cords, and I know I was not the only one loosing their voice.

Apparently Krakow is one of the most polluted cities in Europe, and I can definitely feel the effects of the smog in my throat. Already after day one of Steemfest, my throat was hurting and it was hard to swallow. _{Queue for more dirty jokes.} The talking and smoking surely played their part too, all contributing to the effects.

I think I actually lost weight during Steemfest, which I of course have no need for, but let it be known, the white wine diet works. I don’t drink very often, and the last time I drank for two consecutive days was a year ago in Steemfest. This year, we went out drinking for five nights in a row, followed by different stages of hangover for five days.

Dear lord I am a dry bitch now! I never drink enough water anyways, and going out that much is pretty damn intense for my body. I think I should be hooked onto an IV for a week now.

Healing time

It will take me a good few days until I am back to 110 percent. Yes, 110, I don’t settle for 100.

I was planning on sleeping like a baby for 12 hours last night, but I think I only got five hours of shut eye, and anything but quality. I feel like I’m suffocating, my head is killing me and I want to shove knitting needles into my ears to stop them from itching.

I’ll spend the following days lounging around, detoxing and trying to nurse myself back to life. I’m so glad I’m a full time Steemian and I don’t have to got to a real job today like most others do.

I hope I didn’t sound like I’m bitching, because I am not! All the pain and discomfort was way worth it, more on that later on.