INTRO

Hey guys! EX.02 here (EX is literal, zero is read as an O, and 2 is read as deuce/dos = Exodus!), and I am excited to be part of this community!

First and foremost I would like to say that my main goal here is

• to be able to produce material that not only imparts meaningful understanding of my chosen subject topics but hopefully also accomplish this in a way that can be practically applicable/pragmatically useful and incorporates what others need
  and
• engage others and their material in manner that promotes open-minded acceptance, insightful discussion, and purposeful communication which enables personal introspection that helps us all with our goals

But before I spout more on my wishes and aspiration here is a short write-up about me:

STORY TIME!

(scroll below to more Steem stuff as this ended up being drawn out... oops)

I was born and raised in a third-world country until mid-adolescence (with minor stints in more developing ones) and right before high school moved to a first-world western country. Throughout those years it was ingrained in me the value of education which I definitely took into account and prioritized, enough to pursue a rigorous workload of college level classes but not too seriously as I also wanted to live the socially outgoing and experimental life that the thrill-seeking population of this age group presented.

Weekends of partying coupled with calculus, rhetorical analysis, etc. on the weekday provided a taste of different lifestyles and I did enough to get accepted to a top 10 engineering school. I was identified as that guy on the right path and had everything seemingly going as planned until it all got derailed and thus I was left with what I had thought was a bleak forecast for the future. Little did I know how much more would pile up such as relationship disappointments, death of friends and financial crisis which all just about decimated any sense of hope towards tomorrow, shattered all my notions towards the realities of life and dismantled my life-long creation of personal constructs and identity.

This forced me to go back to square one and sincerely question the validity of my motivations and perceived purpose. I thought my early life and western experience was enough in that I was able to see the spectrum of life and greet it in all walks of life with a grounded ideology and approachable psyche that is exactly the chosen flavor of this generation. Yet, here I was utterly humbled and ideologically rebooted which would really break open my perspective not just of who I am but also what opportunities exist.

From this was born my most recent experiences of meeting self-made entrepreneurs from widely different fields (technology, networking, traditional small-business, cryptocurrency, etc.) who I am fortunate to have learned from and falling into the rabbit hole of an unlimited variety of different worldviews and immesnse depth concerning the knowledge of self in all aspects (Dzogchen/Zen/Pureland Buddhism, Tony Robbins, Greek Philosophy, Integral Theory, etc.).

I never would have foreseen the sequence of events and magnitude of impact that this wild ride was to bring and even though this has put me to extremes of adversity and uncertainty, there's no question that I would not have it any other way.

Ahem...
Sorry for that long, drawn out melodramatic account... (I promise I just typed that out spontaneously!)
Back to more Steem-related matters:

STEEM CONTENT GOALS

All that brings us to right now, currently I am in a phase of life where there is a transition from a secure but defined and cyclical period towards one where there is uncertainty but also flexibility and the freedom to explore whatever opportunities or interests that I may have. As of right now I am aiming to expand my horizons in these areas of life (parentheses marks what I have dabbled and found interesting):

• Financial (all things cryptocurrency related:mining, trading, investing, research/ self-entrepreneurship)
• Creative (producing music and blogging/creative writing/coding)
• Personal (learning to be an adult and other life-skills/ building deep and long-term relationships/continue to pass on and gain wisdom about mindfulness, awareness, self-liberation, etc./fine tuning day to day approach to whatever life brings)

There's not a concrete plan yet as to how this will be but what is certain is that these will all be directly influenced by my day to day journey including my growth, what I have learned and any insights that life brings on the way. I am hoping that I can use Steem as the means to be able to share a part of myself in a way generates even just the tiniest bit of positive momentum in our collective growth and progressive evolution along with connecting to everyone that carry similar visions and paradigms in life! I know how much others have been integral in where I am standing today and I hope to learn just as much from you guys as well!