My Third Steemit Anniversary
It's my Third Steemit Anniversary tomorrow.
Can it really be three years since my Steemit account was activated and I hit Post on my first article on this blockchain?
Holy shit, what an amazing, breath-taking, and fulfilling journey this has been.
As I’ve mentioned in previous two Steemit Anniversary posts (First Anniversary, Second Anniversary) July 5th will be forever celebrated as my own personal Independence Day. I’m not one to wear jewelry but every July 5th I will wear my Steemit ring all day. Inside it’s inscribed with my Steemit name and Alarm Clock Dawn to remind me of the gravity of it all.
As I re-read my first two anniversary posts I can’t help but reflect on how much Steemit has changed since 2016. I’ve changed as well. Change is to be expected, Steemit was (and still is) an experiment after all. Yes, there have been ups and downs, but the positives have far outweighed the negatives. To say I’m forever grateful is an understatement.
“Surround yourself with the dreamers, and the doers, the believers, and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.” Edmund Lee
What have been the positives for me?
We humans are a spectacularly dysfunctional bunch. We're hardwired to be tribal and thrive on social connection even as modern life tries to lure us ever deeper into the comfort and security of seclusion. It takes bravery to put ourselves at risk and dip our toes into the frigid pool of the unfamiliar, but we must. Each time we do take those kinds of risks we are rewarded, even if we don't immediately realize how.
Each and every one of us are the sum of the people we interact with the most. I love my tribe. It's comprised of nerds, out-casts, geniuses, and out-right revolutionary thinkers and I would want it no other way.
For me, the most valuable aspect of this platform has always been the opportunity to connect with some really incredible, hyper-intelligent visionaries. I look at my network now and among them I see some inspiring people and even a few pioneers in the blockchain / cryptocurrency sector. These connections have transformed my life in wonderful ways.
Most of you know my backstory.
Before Steemit I was a struggling author from the Midwest working in a cubicle for an insurance company with little more than a lot of hope and some big dreams. In three years’ time all of those dreams I had back then were realized.
Every. Single. One.
And I don't say that to brag but to remind you that it can be done, even by someone who was beginning to fear it was too late. If not here, somewhere else.
Thankfully the wellspring of dreams is only limited by our imaginations so reaching for them never has to end. As a matter of fact, the foreseeable future is filled with new goals, more dreams, and opportunities than I ever could have imagined. I’ve learned more here in three years than all of my years of formal education and I say that with no hesitation or exaggeration.
This community is infinitely more valuable than most people realize. If you’re not feeling that way you owe it to yourself to take a step back and ponder it for a moment. Even when the price of Steem is low and things seem dismal there is great treasure to be found here if you’re willing to put in the work to discover it. One of the main ingredients of success is making an effort to connect. I hope that connection happens for each and every one of you. It will transform your life beyond all measure.
People, never be afraid to try something new if your heart is telling you to go for it....even if you feel you’re too old....not talented enough....not smart enough...[insert any other excuse you can think of HERE].
Just do it. Leaps of faith sometimes have the uncanny ability to lead you to everything you ever wished for.
Thank you all so much for your support these past three years! I will never forget it.
Eric
*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.
Alarm Clock Dawn, one of the first full length novels published on the blockchain, and the book that started it all for me can be found HERE. Or Click Here to read it for free on the Steemit blockchain
My book on meditation, The Perfect Pause, is priced at $12.99 (paperback) and $4.99 (eBook). Buy the paperback and receive the eBook for free!
Let’s Keep In Touch
Talk about inspiration, man. Again, so glad to have met you and to see that you're still here after all this time. I think back to when I first joined and you're one of the few I remember from that time who are still posting.
Yes, Steemit does change people and it's incredible.to look back and see just who you were.before you came here...
Keep being you (aka awesome) ❤️🤩🎉
Oh, happy 4th of July and happy Steemversary, my friend!
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Thank you so much and I'm glad to have met you too!! Younger people like you give me hope for our future. I read your posts and they're filled with wit, spunk, and humor and I think to myself..."Yep, we're all going to be just fine." Keep up the writing, you have what it takes. Have a wonderful weekend @honeydue!
@ericvancewalton Hello dear friend. Happy third anniversary in this great platform.
I share many of your words, this is an experimental journey that has given us many satisfactions.
I really like this quote, it is very appropriate for you, "Surround yourself with dreamers and doers, believers and thinkers, but above all, surround yourself with those who see greatness within you, even when you do not see it yourself" . Those of us who know you long ago know the great people you are. I have always been an admirer of your work.
Congratulations for all your achievements dear friend. Salut.
Thank you very much and it's so good to hear from you @jlufer! It's been quite some time. I hope all is well in your world, my friend!
Happy third Steemit anniversary Eric, my second one is also in July and am I glad that I bumped into you via my friend @sultnpapper ;)
How refreshing to interact with someone who sees the amazing possibilities around us, sharing your wisdom here on the blockchain, encouraging those who cross paths with you! All I can say is a huge thank you!
Bravo for making your dreams a reality, keep reaching for the stars and steem on!
Thank you @lizelle! I'm so glad we made the connection through @sultnpapper as well. I really enjoy your posts and our interactions. One day I'd like to visit your part of the world, maybe we can share a meal sometime and swap stories face-to-face! Take care, my friend.
Oh that would be such a treat! We have our problems but our country has many amazing places!
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I agree, it would be wonderful to meet you! I've never been to that continent but would love to experience it.
Happy steemit anniversary, Eric. I hope you will never leave Steemit. Steemit that makes me know you. Let's build the world together with steemit. Have a nice day, my friend.
Thank you @elianaelisma! I have no intention of leaving any time soon. I may taper off the frequency of my writing based on how busy I am but I plan to stick around for the foreseeable future. Have a wonderful weekend!
Happy anniversary to you buddy wow, look at you and how far you've definitely come. To me you still remain one of the best writers on the platform and my goodness it's really been a pleasure knowing you really. All I can say is a belated congratulations to you and I'm happy for you.
Thank you so much, man. That is quite a compliment. I'm glad you're enjoying my page and thriving here yourself. It's so great to watch others succeed here! I'm happy for you as well.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
I'm 6 days behind you.
Out of curiosity, what brought you to Steem? Back in those days, the reason I joined was that I had recently started mining cryptocurrencies (ETH mainly) and was looking for more information about tuning the mining rigs.
That searching brought me to steem. From there, I learned how to build a steem miner - which then led to the short lived EZ-Steem. Which was fun and surprisingly easy to develop.
I originally thought that Steemit was going to be much closer to Reddit than anything else, but then it started taking on a life of it's own.
The rest ... is history.
And I'm about 2 weeks behind you! ;-) Time flies when you are posting every day.
Thank you @gikitiki! Only six days behind me, awesome!
I had built a pretty good audience for my writing on Facebook from 2010-2015 but then they started limiting post outreach so something like 2% of my audience were seeing my posts. I started spending more time in a Facebook group that author James Altucher created because his writing was motivational and he'd share great marketing tips for authors. One of the other members of that Facebook group, @stellabelle, started posting about Steemit and that prompted me to give it a try. I created my account in early June but, for some reason, couldn't register. I came SO close to blowing it off and forgetting about it but I decided one Saturday morning to email Steemit's customer support and try to get some help. They unlocked my account and here we are three years later. It scares me sometimes to think of how different things would be if I wouldn't have reached out to customer support.
Wow, you were very early in the crypto-space! I hadn't even heard of Bitcoin until I joined Steemit. I got a crash course in blockchain after that just from having to trade Steem for Bitcoin.
If I recall, the first post I read when I found steemit was one from @stellabelle. She was one heck of an ambassador for the platform.
The other posts that I really enjoyed in the beginning were the Adventures of BigFoot and Rock by @papa-pepper
She was one of the first Steemit OG's and dominated "trending" for a long time. I'll always be thankful to her for introducing me to the platform.
Somehow I missed Papa Pepper for my first few months. I think I discovered him around the time of the first SteemFest.
So many of the good original writers are gone now. Us first wavers are a rare breed around here now.
What a journey it has been, sir. I am super excited that I met you on that journey and I have learned a lot from you; in acts and words.
Happy 3rd Steemit anniversary and also, Happy July 4th; which was yesterday.
Thank you, my friend. It's been great connecting with you as well! Here's to many, many more years!
Cheers to many more years, sir. :)
@ericvancewalton, I can imagine how you've travelled through this Steem Journey and in my opinion definitely it's a Roller-coaster Journey but now vital part of your life.
My best wishes are with you and have a wonderful and more amazing times ahead.
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Thanks! Oh yeah, roller coaster is right. It'll be interesting to see how our Steemit experiment will unfold this year.
Welcome and let's see. But one thing is for sure and that is, we will not going to miss the path of excitement. Have a great time ahead.
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Mine was June 16 and oh gee! What an exciting journey it was so far .....more to come 🤪
Happy belated anniversary @mammasitta! You bring a lot to this place and it wouldn't be the same without you!
Oh woahhh! That’s so so beautiful to say! Thank you very much Eric! We developed such unique friendship and I can’t wait to welcome you in Vienna 💜🌷
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Congrats dear and keep posting positive posts .
Thank you!