Coming Home in a Thousand Different Ways

I just spent two days watching history being made. Nashville will forever be etched in my mind as the place where tomorrow started.

@daltono said it best:

Whether you know it yet or not, all of our lives changed in at least one way.

Last week in a small suburb of Nashville called Thompson’s Station, @jonny-clearwater ‘s crew landed in a lovely Airbnb home to film a few episodes of #hotsorshots. Also happening in this home was an Alliance meetup, organized by @enginewitty , and incidentally, a Writers’ Block meetup, along with a strong @Steemcreators presence. (There’s quite a bit of overlap! Read the full guest list here.) To say the event was successful is a strong understatement. It not only achieved its fundamental goals, but affected many who attended on a deep personal level, and potentially will change the face of Steemit.

I was able to take a few truly remarkable photos, including the cover photo of this post. That is me sandwiched between @lukestokes and @sircork after one of the most riveting debates I have ever witnessed, bar none. And I do mean "debate," too. Not "argument." These two men faced each other across the front porch table and got real. I adore them both. For me, Stokes is legend. Hero status. A celebrity-not-celebrity. Cork is family. He seems like flesh and blood kin to me. I understand so much of where he comes from. And there they were, punching distance apart. They could have scalded each other. They didn't. They talked about the future of Steemit and the roles we all play in it. How to make things better. How to go the distance. What changes we all need to make. And I will never forget this day as long as I live.

Another aspect of this meetup that will be with me forever is my chance to meet @anarcho-andrei face to face. There's just something about this guy that has tugged on my heartstrings from the very first time we met in the old Fiction Workshop at MSP. He is family, too. Yep, I got tons of pics of him. That's because I spent a lot of time in his proximity, not only from the perspective that both of us are witnesses, but both of us are top-level leadership in @thewritersblock. He's been there from the beginning. He'll be there until he retires as far as I'm concerned.

He also filmed an episode of #hotsorshots with @jonny-clearwater on Friday night when we first arrived, and was there most of the day on Saturday. Check out the "Not Sober" video of him below. Even trashed, he's full of love and positivity. . .and a few F-bombs. Then again, Jonny Clearwater (heard loudly in the background) is enough to make a preacher cuss, so we get it, Andrei. We get it. LOLOL! (Be warned: language alert and Jonny being Jonny. If you offend easily, do not watch.)

Below is a pic of Andrei on the set of "Hots or Shots"

Midway through Saturday, @enginewitty arrived with Sircork. Power had been out at the house that morning, and the Witness Chat hosted by @shadowspub was in full swing. We scrambled to get audio set up. I managed to use my phone a bit, and we did manage to participate as a group. This was a tremendous opportunity for all involved, and I was honored to be part of it.

)

As the afternoon rolled on, people began to break off into small groups of conversation. I watched all this talk with keen interest. These folks had something to say. And everybody was listening. Especially when it came to the exchange between Luke Stokes and Sircork. Look at the concentration on the faces of Luke Stokes and Andrei as people were explaining user concerns!

Below is a great shot of Jonny Clearwater and @instructor2121.

@daltono , enginewitty, and @liberty-minded .

Daltono shows off his very impressive ink!

@ancapbarbie drove all the way from New Jersey with Adam, her gorgeous canine sidekick. You bet I spent a big part of my day with Adam! He loved the open air and the countryside to roam, and I'm glad he got a chance to enjoy the meetup, too.

@katrina-ariel was a constant ray of sunshine for everyone throughout the day.

It was my first time meeting @steemcafe either online or in person. We had much to talk about, ourselves! Love this guy. Such a visionary.

As co-admin of The Writers' Block and CEO of Steemhouse Publishing, I found some of the dialogue that happened in this meetup to be of particular interest. It's premature to disclose some of the connections we made or the plans now in motion, but let's just say it has the potential to be big. Really big. Game-changing. And I'm awed and humbled to have been there in person when the seeds of this new idea took root.

And oh yes. The socks. Can't forget the socks. Andrei gets the prize for the most colorful feet of the weekend.

Even my husband had a great time in Nashville. He enjoyed the meetup, laughed his head off during the filming of Hots or Shots, and then got to tour the famous Antique Archaeology Nashville location on our way home. I wouldn't trade the camaraderie we had at this meetup for anything. Getting to see all these people face to face was one of the most intensely personal experiences of my life. It was like coming home in a thousand different ways.

OTHER POSTS about this epic event are collected HERE, on Steemshelves!