Seriously Saturday: Slowly Preparing Myself
I was recently asked why I'm not pulling a wage out of the benefits of my blogging efforts.
All that money... I haven't spent a dime of it. Some was moved and reinvested. A wise move. All of that work... I haven't rewarded myself monetarily for being my own boss and calling my own shots.
Mind Blown
Right now,
things are the last thing I need. Things don't make me feel better. I don't need things. I've had things before. I could buy a whole bunch of things and place pictures of those things here for you to look at; I don't want to. Those things are not important right now. I am not ready for those things.
I was nearly homeless before I moved away from Edmonton.
Right now,
I have a roof over my head. It's not a home.
Many years ago, I quit school. I should have spent at least another four years of my life going to university to set up my future. I didn't. I screwed that up but I refused to let that ruin my life.
I hit the reset button a few years ago, at the height of my career, prior to nearly becoming homeless. I only did it because I wasn't happy.
Hitting that button is something many people fear doing and trust me, it was frightening.
Hitting that button made me hit rock-bottom. Once you're there, the only way you can go is up, unless you give up. I was not willing to give my UP away! Get it?
Now,
I put myself back to the age of eighteen. The day I screwed up.
I looked for suitable opportunities; failed and failed then found one. Hello! It's nice to meet you.
I'm now spending those four years in school, setting up my future. This is year two. This is my own schoolhouse. I cannot follow the herd and do things the way I see everyone else do them because I also see how miserable so many of them are! I see how miserable I was when I tried to be everyone else.
I learn from my mistakes, my friends. I want to be successful and I can do it my way! That's not acting spoiled. I didn't ask for anything. I want something and I'm getting it myself. Not pouting!
There's a snack sitting on the table over there. See it? You're hungry.
You can yell at your snack from across the room as loud as you want.
Move! Move! Move!
Your snack will not budge no matter how much you scream so just go get your snack and stop making so much noise!
If I were to cash out my time investment now, that would be like me quitting school, again. I already know what happens if I do that and I refuse to spend another seventeen years living and feeling like a nobody when I am the biggest fucking somebody I know!
You,
are allowed to believe in yourself too. Go outside and yell something good about yourself as loud as you can! It'll change your life.
Louder!
Also, there are two very important people out there who are growing up fast. They know that I have magic inside of me because they saw it with their own eyes. I lit up the room with that magic, literally. They only deserve the best life I can possibly offer and holy shit girls we are going for a ride!
Now,
I choke back a tear of joy like a real man and get on with my day.
Is that a good enough answer?
Have a nice day.
This is a very "HODL"-esque statement, which made me think.
"HODL" is a very big philosophy you come across in crypto. "Never sell, only buy." This is due to most coins having a deflationary model. Assuming that at least some quantity of Bitcoin is permanently lost every year, for example.... the total supply of Bitcoin approaches zero, even though currently supply is still rising.
This is naturally a Big Deal for long-term investors. It means that over time, the pie shrinks, and that means that compared to others just getting in, their piece will be bigger. "HODL," then, as a philosophy, is effectively betting on the centralisation of wealth-- into your own pocket. It's arguably advocating for a large-scale decentralised pyramid scheme. It's a very selfish angle to take.... and regardless of anyone's political views, I think the "peer pressure" to HODL Bitcoin hurts the movement. People aren't stupid. They don't want to be bagholders. As time goes on, the same type of people who wanted Bitcoin to succeed in the beginning are going to want it to fail.
Steem is different, though. When you "HODL" STEEM you get nothing. You aren't rewarded for holding it. In fact, over time, your relative piece of the pie will shrink if you don't do anything due to the new STEEM being created.
This means that you have to participate, for better or for worse, in the community in order to see any benefits. You are incentivised to help make your investment a success. By forcing users to lock away their STEEM in order to use it to that end, the Steem blockchain has already accomplished something no other cryptocurrency has (that I know of) from a technical perspective: it has programmatically created a check against the "pure speculation" argument. I think this can be summed up in a single sentence: STEEM is the only blockchain I know of on which you can "HODL" and participate in the economy at the same time.
Sure, there's the "buy and replace" strategy for the other cryptos. But you don't have to buy anything; simply by holding a lot of SP and upvoting posts, you are contributing to building the economy, as well as (hopefully) making the place more attractive to outsiders.
STEEM is one of the most fascinating social experiments I have ever seen, and I find myself feeling sorry that I didn't start participating sooner. I'm not yet sure whether it will succeed economically long-term. I'm not sure if it can overcome the "toxicity wars" we are seeing now. One of my friends who has been watching Steemit complains that every time he checks the main page, it is filled with some kind of drama post about reward pool allocation or vote buying. I think we need to fix that before we will ever go mainstream. Nobody wants to read about that stuff.
Overall, however, STEEM is rapidly becoming my favourite crypto... and that's saying something, because I like Monero a lot.
I'm trying my hardest. :)
You're succeeding! Every day now, I look forward to seeing your art and your writings. But more need to try, and succeed. I'm slowly finding other quality people to follow. It gets hard to sift through the
botsdefinitely humans andclickfarm workersDaily Active Users when sorting by "new". Even some of the most upvoted posts seem devoid of real content.I realise I'm being a bit of a hypocrite here. I just can't really think of anything to post about. My best conversations start as tangents I break off from others' points.
This works well on Steemit, where multiple threads of conversation can spawn from the same root. It works less well in meatspace, where I am known as "that person who won't shut up." :)
Just a friendly heads up. Where you quoted me as saying:
It now reads "If I were to cash out my time investment now, that would be like me quitting school, again."
That word time is important and should have been there in the first place. I didn't invest a dime here. I just put in my time.
As for what's good and what isn't... If people want to choose to put this message of mine at the top of the trending page, that's their call, not mine. I'll never demand anything I do be more rewarded than anyone else. I won't even so much as buy every vote I can possibly find just to get this message out there, even though I could easily do that. It's not up to me. Maybe tomorrow I'll do something that more people will notice. Then again, maybe not. I can't predict these things and I'm not going to attempt to manipulate my future when I can already see so much good down the road. That thought process got me this far. No looking back now.
Hitting rock bottom necessitates a change and motivation to do different. As we all know insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. It does not work. We all learn from life. some faster than others. Wisdom comes too. Also the 'gift' of a second or third chance comes too. The school of life teaches you. crypto and the Steemit world is a good place to learn and earn, to invest and be around the best. In a way it is a second chance for some. I understand the not quitting thing. I am proud of you for what you shared. Indeed you offer both a serious side and an funny one too. Thanks my friend for sharing.
Comedy is fun. It's powerful and brings out one of the only true human emotions that cannot be faked. Even if I'm having a bad day, I can still come out here and put on a little show for everyone. It helps to take away from their bad day, as well as mine. When I'm being serious, I still want people to feel good. Comedy can take a lot out of me. If you saw yesterday's little show and then what took place after, just know, something like that drains me. It's not a bad drain though. Today I bounce back with this to help recharge myself and hopefully a few others. It's my pleasure to share this here with everyone today. There was another conversation that took place recently in my life. That talk inspired this whole thing. Though I'd much rather maintain a private life and keep to myself, sometimes it's best to open the bottle and pour some on the ground as a tribute to all who've had my back here. This message today is why I spend most of my days trying to put smiles on faces or at least creeping you folks out somehow. I have nothing to be pissed off about(though I do enjoy a little rant from time to time!).
Thanks for stopping in again.
I was wondering where the cultist goddess of a goat I worship went. Turns out someone been painting pictures.
I’ve been screaming for months of its return. Sadly the bears that has been attracted to the sound did not know anything at all.
Is this a proof of life? Omg, this is some kind of demand for a ransom and it’s encoded into the painting. Shoot, I failed that class in college that was about paintings.
Sadly you stole the wrong goat it’s not worth much. I mean it is.I’ve burned most of my possessions in rituals over the years. I don’t think some used gum is going cut it in the negotiates; and this pocket lint is not pocket lint at all!
I'm trying really hard to figure out what you're talking about today. :)
I see, playing hard to get.
Beware that goat is an omen of riches or was that gold bricks. I can’t recall been up since sun rise.
There might be something good in that dumpster. Don't be too proud to look. As for what you think you see... you watch too much tv. That piece is more about keeping the darkness away. Maybe you see a monster. Who's guiding the way to a bright future when you look him in the eyes?
I once in a while look into the dumpster fire of my soul. Still not found anything yet! I’ll go check again thought thanks for the insight!
I don't usually enjoy explaining my work but this time I felt cornered. I am not offended, there's no hard feelings here. I hide an important message in many of my posts. Never judge a book by it's cover. Something like that. Have a nice day!
You got fish eating bunny people that are holding onto ducks bent backwards that look like a fancy I and a heart. Then you have two lizards that are intertwined into themselves for eye eyebrows. That whole top have has a wonderful fluffy and playful texture.
You got some kind of protoplasm for eyes of some kind. The ears remind me of Dementor’s for some reason. With praying mantis like features around the opening for the nose and mouth. With a more darker grindstone texture.
I really like how pronounced the collar bone is almost like it’s a ribbon or perhaps a fancy pedestal the head is sitting on. It’s like the bottom pegs are slugs kissing it with angle wings between their long tongue.
It is insanely amazing how well it all comes together. Sorry if any offence was caused.
As far as the words sure they are wonderful in the picture they paint. However I am here for the wonderful masterpieces of art themselves. Words are a far gone afterthought.
Actions speak louder than words.
Today, an artist revealed his latest offering to the world, free of charge. A patron of the arts was given a token of appreciation for the appreciation. The artist has done the exact opposite of selling out.
A busker sits on the street and strums his guitar while throwing change in everyone's hat. He goes home with a full stomach.
This changes everything. We've revolutionized the arts and entertainment industry.
Awesome post with great inspiration within.
Hey, I've been powering down to diversify my crypto portfolio and while I consider myself pretty low maintenance, my Steemit earnings have allowed us to move from a shit hole into a decent house and buy some furniture.
Now that I'm crawling out of my own personal dark place, I feel like I can start moving, and shouting, and creating again. Here's to making the most of this life! Woot!
Everyone is free to do what they want. I don't look down on those who utilize this place, as intended, to help themselves. That's all I'm doing too!
If this little bit of my life inspires you to stop crawling and start walking, it was for you. Enjoy. Nice seeing you again!
Man, that was beautiful. Holy shit girls, we're going for a ride, hell yes, we say the same to ours, though it's boy and girl.
Good for you. And I mean that from the bottom of my fucking heart.
You are an inspiration, always have been.
Much love and nothing but the best on your journey my friend.
Thank you my friend. Thanks for being there on my blog when things were really quiet. I'd get down in the dumps because no one can see my art and you'd be right there to help pick me up out of the gutter. You're a class act. Now, go outside and yell something good!
That's a perfectly good answer, and I hear you. You're a character, @nonamesleftouse and are living at an intensity not all experience (having died, in a sense, returning to life with heightened awareness).
The power and frailty of a second chance is not wasted upon you...
This made me smile: "I was not willing to give my UP away! Get it?"
Good for you and us :) As far as not needing things, here's an echo:
Chuck Palahniuk — 'The things you own end up owning you. It's only after you lose everything that you're free to do anything.'
Okay, back from sunset jog and getting ready for dinner - just wanted to pop in and say Hello :)
Thanks for that random drive-by wisdoming! Chuck sounds like a smart guy.
"random drive-by wisdoming!" :) Yea, as the Sufis say, he who tastes knows...
A very motivational and deep story you got My Friend. There is very famous quote of Jack Ma
your story is all about this quote. You faced the frailties and miseries of life, you faced the failure you faced the hardships but you Never Give Up!
This is your will power which made you a very successful Person. It is your trust which developed your path towards success. It is the rule of nature one can not be successful until he does hard work in his life. You did lot of hard work and let me tell you you inspired me a lot. You did not inspire me but many others here on steemit with your worth reading Life Story.
I have a massive Respect and Salute for you & your will power @nonameslefttouse
Stay Blessed, Steem On!
Sunshine is good. I once told a weatherman I could clearly see the clouds and asked how that was possible. To him it could only be one or the other. Cloudy or clear. That is why I don't listen to them. They are wrong half of the time.
One of my favorite racecar drivers is named Will Power.
Oh My God I admire your level of intellect! You're logical in fact very logical
Your race driver is my favorite character onward my Friend @nonameslefttouse
"I screwed that up but I refused to let that ruin my life" STOP BEING SO DAMN INSPIRATIONAL!
Your writing is like short exerts of a kooky novel. The imagery you put into our minds reminds me of when I dream at night. You're like the Batman of writing on steemit
"Kooky." That was the first time that word has appeared on my blog. I like that kind of word and I'm surprised I haven't used it. Words like that and a combination of keeping it simple all contribute to allowing my words to speak when I write. Reading between the lines is where you'll find all of the snazzy looking words wearing their suits and dressed only to impress. I think I get what you meant by Batman.
I really enjoyed this. Voting power drained today but.. a comment! I'm glad you are doing well, and have had the guts to put it away. I haven't been in a position to invest it all, but am still investing a really good chunk and am grateful for that!
I'd be using more of my voting power today but everything seems to be taking awhile to load. Might just have to go to sleep early for once. Yeah... I know. It's 1 am.
There are many people here enjoying a new life in some way, shape or form. We all have to do what's best for us and our own situations. Money isn't the only reward being passed around this place though. Look around. That's a lot of life out there. I see a lot of smiles. I could look in the other direction too and see quite the opposite. My focus does not go there anymore and if I do glance, I'll find a way to make it funny.
Moral of the story... It's all good!
Thank you for believing in that magic, sharing it with them (why do they grow so fast?), and sharing it with us!
P.S. I believe in heaven. 😊
One my heroes.
P.S. I see what you did there.