Steemit, a lifeline to Advocacy Journalism, while Steem is Steeming up to a Happier New Year!

My journey with Steemit has been a very intriguing one, it still fills me with renewed inspiration to review my time here, as there really are some great writers here and the community is growing. I have been part of Steemit for over a year and along the way I've learned the immense value of this incredible Steemit platform and community.

I am deeply grateful to Daniel Larimer and Ned Scott, and everyone else involved for birthing this platform and to my friends and fellow advocacy journalists who recommended Steemit to me when it was very new.

When I use the word ''value'', I'm not just talking in terms of how much Steem or Steem Dollars are worth now. The Steemit platform doesn't just reward writers with cryptocurrency, it has created a much needed platform to empower voices that have been undervalued in the world of writing, people such as long-time homesteaders, alternative therapists, sailors, mountain climbers, teachers, retired people imparting their wisdom and incredible stories, valuable activists, adventurers, entrepreneurs, photographers, project developers, investigative journalists, artists, environmental campaigners, advocacy journalists and humanitarian workers. People who are now, thanks to Steemit, able to start earning cryptocurrency for their otherwise ignored voices, important work, creativity and general blood, sweat, tears and courage.

Steemit has created an opportunity niche for these people, something that is rare for such folks, who are often struggling financially, they are the unsung heroes and heroines doing good work on the quiet, who have for years gone unnoticed and unpaid, because they are dedicated to causes or are passionate about certain issues and topics that society conveniently undervalues.

They have, over the years not only been expected to work for free because there is no money in these sectors to pay advocacy workers, but also many environmental conservationists and humanitarian campaigners who often are reporting from the field, will also have controversial subjects to report and write about; the kind that most news sites and even compromised non governmental organizations would be afraid to publish, so as not to jeopardize their support revenues, if there were counter opinions and agendas. Steemit provides a non-censored platform for these voices. Not many consider that such people are often living in vulnerable and basic conditions, mostly in third world countries, living on tortillas and beans, possibly while dodging kidnapping, torture and persecution of some sorts by the cabals of powerful companies, or military, the kind of people who don't want them sharing the truth of what goes on in such countries. Steemit has been a real life boat for people who write about such things, especially in my case, it has helped me pay for flights and travel that I wouldn't otherwise be able to afford, it has helped me raise awareness and much needed funding to move to a safer location when things started to get volatile.

It has helped my writing reach a wider audience. More importantly, it has provided a community of support and a foothold in the door of the otherwise obscure unobtainable world of cryptocurrency. And thanks to other Steemit bloggers who have over the years written and continue to write helpful articles on tips and tutorials on learning the ropes to navigating the ocean of cryptocurrency websites and trading tools, and also thanks to the whales, dolphins and minnows who have been imparting advice and tips here, I've learned a great deal about cryptocurrency thanks to the Steemit community.

I've also learned that Steem and Steem dollars are worth a great deal more this month due to large spike in increasing value over Christmas, whether its because more people are hopping on the Steemit boat or buying crytocurrency gifts for their friends and family, I don't claim to have any answers to the mysteries of the cryptocurrency market, but I am learning to trade with more confidently and on that note, to have more confidence in some trading sites than I have in the past, Poloniex has been in the past, glitchy for me and they could do with improving their customer support, but it has also been a great learning tool and friendly to newcomers to cryptocurrency and is more reliable than some other sites I have tried. From some angles, this is also in part a learning curve with the ups and downs and mistakes of those providing the services to trade and transfer cryptocurrencies, which is also why Steemit is a valuable source of insight into the evolution of Steem and the ebbs and flows of the cryptocurrency market. I am now starting to invest my Steem dollars and exchange them for Bitcoins and Ripple, as it is spiking today and will learn to dabble in other more obscure cryptocurrencies along this adventure of navigation on the oceans of evolving cryptocurrency. I would have never known about if it wasn't for Steemit.

It is with deep gratitude to the community @Steemit that has helped with my learning curve into cryptocurrency and although I am still a small fry in a sea of much bigger and far wiser fish, dolphins and whales, I've still made a tiny profit this year that I am able to invest wisely. Therefore, It has been a great Christmas for Steemit and its vast community of readers and content contributors which I am proud to be part of. I would recommend everyone and anyone to hop onto the Steemit boat as it grows and evolves and inspires everyone involved. Thank you and full Steem ahead as we steem along into 2018!