RE: Better Lives Through Steemit! A Pause for Gratitude
I echo this sentiment ten fold and share in that gratitude! Steemit has saved my arse many times over the years and has literally been the source of being the food on my table at points.
When lockdown hit in 2020, South Africa had some of the strictest and limiting rules worldwide - we also had the longest hard lockdown in the world. My partner Dave works in the events industry so that went to a complete standstill and I no longer had a business to provide for us as I had closed those doors.
Steemit was SOLELY responsible for helping us survive that period. Yes, I had to power down everything I had - but it kept the roof over our heads, food on the table, and my enabled me to continue paying for my sons education. It literally was a life saver!
Yes, agreed - I also wish I could power up everything all the time, but we do the best we can and as I no longer have a formal job, I make ends meat in a variety of manners - Steemit being one of them, but I do try to consistently add more than I take - even if it is in value and nothing else.
Gosh, we sure have been around the block a few times here haven't we, lol! I can remember some years ago, when mu moms fridge broke. She was distraught because her art classes only really brought in enough to cover her rental and to buy food. She really didn't have enough to spend on buying a new fridge - and unfortunately, at that time, I was not really in a position to help her either.
Then I went to have a look at how much liquid Steem she had collected and she had enough to buy herself a new fridge! I will NEVER forget how absolutely over the moon she was... my mom was not a woman who splurged, spoiled herself or even spent very much in general... and that day, was like Christmas for her!!! It was really emotional to witness actually. She even decided to be bold and got herself a red one, lol - which initially I thought was totally out of character... haha - but it actually looked amazing in her place and her art students were so sweet that they started buying her all kinds of cute red kitchen accessories to highlight and compliment he new fridge :)
Personally, I feel that Steem and Steemit have a very solid future ahead and I too am very grateful to be a part of that journey as well as for everything it has done to support me along the way!
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Ah, yes, those Covid years were difficult time for many of us! I remember reading about how things were going in different places and often found myself sending a warm thought you away after reading how tough things were in South Africa. It must have been quite scary to make it all work, particularly with Dave not being able to work.
For us, we lost 100% of the income I normally get from selling my stones at arts and crafts fairs, which is basically 95% of the total revenue they generate. Meanwhile, Sarah (my wife) lost about half of her income from counseling because she could no longer see people face to face and a lot of her clients were just not willing to do Zoom or FaceTime sessions.
Even my business as a book editor went down, which I could never quite make sense of. People were stuck at home and had more time to themselves than ever, and yet it seemed like there were few gigs coming my way, and a lot of people actually said that they were waiting to work on their book projects until "after Covid." the only thing I can suppose, is that they felt like they had less money coming in from other sources to afford to hire an editor.
We certainly have! And thank you for being one of the few people with whom I have felt connected all this time. I am just really grateful that you are in the world and in my life, even if you are halfway around the world!
That's such a cool story about your mom, by the way. And she definitely looks totally stoked to have her red fridge!
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