Can't believe I've been here for 2 years!

I realized recently that I've just come up to my 2 year anniversary on Steemit. Two damn years. I was thinking about what I could write about, and how to reflect, and after a bunch of pulling back and forth I decided to just kind of wing it.

My stance is and will always be that this community is amazing. I don't just say that. I think it's absolutely fascinating how so many folks can circle around one common interest, and open each other up to so many other things. That is and will always be my favorite part of Steem. We came for the potential and opportunity, and stayed for the talent, personalities, and good vibes.

Lately I've been taking a break from Steem a bit more than I have in the past. I hated the fact that it might be because crypto is in the hole right now, but its, yeah, kind of part of the reason. But this isn't to say that I've lost faith in it, or want to leave. I'm still reading posts almost daily, and I'm still working on Steem Monsters stuff with the team. It's more just the fact that things are slow, so I reallocated some of my attention to other things that need it. I've always been one to work quietly. Usually when I'm silent I have the most on my plate, and this stands true now.

I'm working the full-time gig still. I've also been putting a lot of work into revamping some of my music lessons, so I'm looking forward to rolling out some new stuff over the winter. Steem Monsters is always in rotation, slowly but surely plugging away at voiceovers and processing audio and SFX.

I actually started writing music again, which is really neat. It's been a really long time since I started a new project, and lately I've been making some tunes that might constitute a new alias to keep them consistent. Usually I only write instrumental music, but for these I've been coming up with vocal melodies that I've been painstakingly been trying to put lyrics to. Although I'm not taking it too too seriously, it's so nice to have a little project that's just mine. I enjoy the intimacy of it, and hopefully I'll be able to release an EP or something in 2019 with this new sound. I think it'll be fun.

Most importantly, I'm trying to teach myself to stress less. Another huge part of my absence here has just been poor mental health. I'm not 'unhealthy' to the point of being unsafe, but I was getting into very self-defeating patterns, mainly because I just wasn't paying attention. Letting those kinds of things slide is an easy way to let things get out of control.

Anyway, I'm so grateful for all the people I've met here. Even in these tough times I can almost always look to Discord for some good vibes and thoughtful words, which are seemingly small but invaluable to someone like me. I work from home, and I work a lot of hours, and sometimes days (or weeks) go by without much of any kind of human interaction or anyone to tell me it's not all for nothing -- shit gets bleak. You're all awesome people, and especially during the holiday season, I'm reminded how lucky I am to be surrounded by such a crowd.

We're overdue for that bull run folks, but whether or not it comes, the value here is in the people, not in the token. Much love to all of you, keep those heads up. #steemon

Thanks for reading!

You can follow me and my tunes on Steemit / Choon / Dsound