Wren and I both decided to take the plunge to move onto a raw piece of land and try our hand at homesteading without knowing what adventures awaited us. Little did we know of the treasure, struggles, triumphs and surprises that were in store for us.

New Dawn roses blooming on the homestead this morning.

We've been on the land 2 1/2 years and as I took a hot shower and later lounged in the screened and shady gazebo with a ceiling fan, I am reminded of how far we've come on our journey (on a "raw" piece of land with no running water, no well, no electricity and no buildings!).

We joined Steemit a little over 5 months ago on the recommendation of a dear friend @lauralee who thought we could benefit from the platform after sharing on Instagram for many years and gaining a small followership, but little else. Little did we know what was in store for us...

Running down the left of this post, check out Paul Wheaton's Eco Scale- you can zoom in to see it better. We discovered this in early December, shortly after we got on Steemit and it has inspired us to new heights.

Steemit at first seemed novel and intriguing, but later the magnitude of the Steem blockchain became more evident.

I will say that Wren has been doing most of the Steeming and has explained much of the platform to me. She is really the backbone behind most of our involvement here. As an avid researcher, she quickly understood the potential of Steemit and what it could mean for us and other users. She has held much of the commitment to the platform and has really impressed me with her diligence and amazed me as she hones her skills. It took me a while to get warmed up to the idea, but I am here to stay.

Cryptos are totally new to me and I have been focused on plants for the past decade or so of my life. Homesteading has taught me the value and necessity of building a widely diversified skillset, and the learning curve of understanding cryptos and Steemit are no exception.

Steemit is supporting this process and has helped me grow and evolve. By partaking in a network and movement a little outside of my familiar territory (the digital world), I am not only stretching my capacities but am fed, stimulated and inspired.

Entering into the Steem-o-spere has helped me better understand the true potential of leveraging technology to better people's lives.

The magnitude of blockchain technology is boggling to me.

At this point, I know that it has phenomenal capabilities, but to what extent I'm not clear. I do particularly appreciate the transparency of transactions and the decentralized nature. Seeing posts from folks from around the world writing about their lives, their successes and their struggles helped me to realize just how wide reaching this platform is. I was touched by stories I read of folks in need using Steemit as a vocation and earning an income to support their family. Inspired by the various initiatives to support others, I still wondered how could Steemit change our lives.

In many ways it already has.

What Steemit has done for us so far.

• Spurred Creativity

Being on the platform has already boosted our creativity. It gives us a space to share our thoughts, feeling and experiences. This is a splendid thing as it is not only important for us as creative beings, but also connects us to others and helps get our message out there. We've committed to posting at least once a day while also ensuring the quality of our posts must remain high. This for sure has lit many a fire under my butt to get into creative mode and craft something of quality that will also be of use to another Steemian.

• Created Bonds

Living in a rural setting there isn't always the diversity or human connection that is deeply nourishing to us. The feeling of resonance and sense of understanding isn't always there, and we have really appreciated getting to know fellow Steemians, you know who you are ;). I love Steemit for the diversity of content, and always appreciate making a connection with someone with a slightly different focus. Our hope is that we will continue to foster these bonds and connections and continue to grow this budding online community.

• Offered a platform for us to share, learn, teach and inspire

We care passionately for the Earth and want to share, empower and inspire others to live a life that centers the Earth and Steemit is helping us find our voice and venue. This platform is great for all the diversified layers of content, and am always happy when we get a comment on one of our posts that tells us we shared something of value because we've touched, inspired, taught or supported another human. In Brainstorming session late last year, we were wondering about the trajectory for the year, and grounding our desire to share more kept coming up. Steemit has helped us reach out and touch other people while honing our content. It has abundantly met our goal to expand our sphere of influence, to teach and connect with more people.

• Opened up possibilities for income from home

While we are powering up over 90% of our earnings on average as we are bullish on the future of the Steem blockchain...

...We have taken out little bits here and there, and it's also comforting to know that, in a pinch, we could Power Down and take out a little money. At the New Year, Wren was about to start a website to share our herbal offerings and blog about our homestead and we are both glad that we found Steemit (and DTube) first as this has abundantly exceeded our expectations about what is possible on the internet. We truly believe this is the future. Not only of social media, but also of online businesses and creating an abundance economy for humanity. The fact that some are making a living wage on Steemit is so encouraging and a signpost for the rest of us to Keep Steeming!

Futhermore! Since being invited to be a part of @tribesteemup, which is a community abundance generator, we've been so blessed to have a daily upvote that really blows our socks off! What @tribesteemup is doing is truly inspiring. If you're interested in supporting it, you can join the new curation trail where you can earn big and support authors writing about freedom, consciousness, permaculture, and more!

Also, thank you to everyone who has upvoted us, commented, shared, inspired us and generally made this an amazing experience that we love to talk about and share with others (to get them to join the Steem Revolution!). To everyone who has us on autovote and who upvotes us regularly- thank you!!!

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To close,

Steem has obviously become a daily part of our life on the homestead. Wren often walks around with her digital camera snapping photos and now we have more of a purpose to share creatively from our life on the homestead. It has shifted our dreams, to dream bigger and incorporate more people into our vision. I look forward to looking forward even a few months from now to see how Steem has further changed our lives!

How has Steem changed your life?