An image I snapped this morning on my frosty walk. Welcome to Bible Belt America. Happy birthday to YOU. Happy New Year. Is not a drop of ocean water the ocean itself?

As I sit here sipping my coffee in Elizabethton, Tennessee this New Year's Day, I can't help thinking that, in a way, I don't really give a shit that it is "New Year's Day."

I think this year is gonna be great, just because I am still here, waking up this morning to a walk in the bitter cold winter air down to the McDonald's for a piping hot coffee.

This year is the year of Steem. No resolutions necessary. Just keep on pushin', hustlin', grindin' and appreciating.

So rather than fill this post up with a bunch of bullshit about resolutions, etc, here are some things I appreciate and am really looking forward to this year!

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• The new life I have found here in the realm of crypto-blogging, creation, and anarchy, which is exactly what enabled me to take this vacation with my family this year. I have been a writer, creator, editor and anarchist (though I didn't always know it) all my life. Now I get paid for it. It's something that I always wanted. And now it's here.

• My family is my solid rock and the grounding force in my life, as well as my inspiration in so many ways. My son and my wife are my world and I would not be where I am today without them.

• My home in Japan waits for me now, and I can't wait to be back, if I am honest. This holiday in the US has been amazing, and is not over yet, but I am so appreciative already to have a home and a life in a place that I have come to be so fond of and call my home. Tokyo, I'll be seeing you soon!

• The readers, commenters, and curators of this blog make it all possible. Thank you! Electricity and transmissions of information require connection. One of the biggest joys of self-expression, second to self-discovery and connecting with oneself, is the discovery of humanity and connection with others. Thank you.

My brother-in-law got me and my sister laughing while trying to take a "nice" photo, and this was the result. May 2018 be filled with more laughs like this!

So why do I say 2018 is the year of Steem? Because, no matter where Steem and Steemit.com go, the idea is here, and now can never go away. A page has been turned, and we now know one more wonderful thing that is possible, in this reality. There may be a million more "Steemits" to come. Regardless, sound economics and blockchain tech are here, and folks are seeing their individual lives and experience, through a brand new set of revolutionary eyes.

We are living in a revolutionary time in "history" which is now.

GODSPEED, Steem-O's!

~KafkA

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Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)