Steemit Ultimate Challenge 8 Weeks - My way

Hello!

I saw a motivational contest from @dobartim and thought that this is what I need! On my example, I'll tell you how Steemit has changed (and continues to change) my life, where you can get inspiration and how to make new friends. But let's talk about everything in order.

Who am I?

My name is Alina. I'm married to a wonderful person whom I love. We have a little daughter (she is one and a half year old), we help her to get used to in our big world without imposing our own opinion and dictatorship. She will choose her own way, be it an actress or director of a factory, a politician or a blockchain specialist. But we try to give her the knowledge that will be needed. We take care of her, but we don’t give priority to her: she has equal rights and duties: she removes toys, throws rubbish into the trash can and helps sweep)))

In the field of work, I did not manage to take place as a professional. I am a master of engineering and technology in the direction of construction (this is exactly what is written in my diploma on education). I worked after the university only a few years on the profession of a design engineer and went on a maternity leave. Since the designer's work is responsible, there is no way to combine maternity and design calculations, because not only accuracy, but also responsibility is required. Mom will understand that the temperature of the water for bathing is much more important than some coefficient there that was accidentally missed (it's a joke, if suddenly it's not clear). And since maternity doesn’t take all of my time (thanks to the competent planning of the day I have a few hours for what I want to do myself), then I started my time planning: watching TV shows and reading books is nice, but we need growth over ourselves, self-improvement!

“Choose your destiny”

And then I saw Steemit. What is it - I didn’t know, the language is not my native and it was difficult to understand for the first time. So I decided to register immediately. I didn’t know what’s the Steemit for, who all these people are and how to behave correctly (Of course, I did not break the boundaries, but tagging was very difficult at the beginning). So, I registered in September 2017. I didn't know what could I tell: I didn’t know anything about crypto-currencies, I didn’t write scientific articles or research, I didn’t sing songs, but sometimes I draw in my spare time, just because I had to apply my inner energy somewhere, and watercolor sketches were akin to meditation. So I decided that my blog will be dedicated to my pictures.

And one day everything has changed. I started to participate in drawing competitions on the platform, a couple of times I even won a small cash prize (several SBD). I continued to participate. I watched a lot of webinars, experimented with techniques and watercolor. I painted portraits of completely different people in my blog.

I tried to draw with markers and watercolors, from photos and live. Something I did better, something more like the plot. The most important thing is that I did not stand at one point. Even now I sometimes open a new tab and look at photos of strangers with the purpose of finding a picture that will inspire me for a new drawing. Thus, I discover wonderful artists, photographers and interesting people.

Miracles happen

Once I took part in a drawing competition "Pleasure&Delicious". It was necessary to draw an association with these words (Pleasure & Delicious), and the prize was a trip to Lisbon for Steemfest. What is Steemit, what is Steemfest in general, I still don’t understand at this time (and now, to be honest, I have not yet learned everything and every day something new and interesting is happening). I just thought that to win a vacation in Lisbon - it's cool, well, and Steemfest - what's the difference, what is it)) How wrong I was!

I drew a picture, added a few accompanying words and sent to the contest, not even expecting to win. And how fortune surprised me when I won! Can you imagine? Won a ticket to Steemfest! I immediately “googled” in the Internet to see what it is. And, believe me, I wasn’t upset. A week in a nice company steemians, who talk about their blogs, program code (it was very difficult to understand what people are talking about), about crypto-currencies and new planned sites (for example, Flacoin). I made an urgent visa (until the trip was only a couple of days) for a few days, and these days in Lisbon flew as one.

This year, a lot more people came in than in 2016 (I judge by the general photo, since I wasn’t on the previous Steemfest). There was a lot of interesting and fascinating. If you look at the tag “Steemfest” on the steemit - there will be a lot of posts with photos, videos and emotions of all those people who came to the Steemfest this year.

New friends and a new life

Of course, I met people. From around the world! There were guys from Cyprus and America, Belarus and the Netherlands. There were several people from Russia, including us (I was not alone, because I am afraid to travel alone). Yes, I have some problems with English (I also can speak French and even practiced it during Steemfest) but these problems didn’t prevent me from communicating and being understood correctly. With someone, I even still keep in touch in the messengers or look at their posts.

It took several months for the Steemfest, the contest is over, but I continue to draw. I liked making small sketches in Lisbon, so now the main direction is sketching. These are quick sketches that I can do every day.

I draw every day

I don’t have any higher education in the art sphere, but I am constantly learning on master classes and webinars. And I give it all my free time. I live by the principle: draw every day. And let sometimes such pictures are obtained, which even show shame, but every day such pictures become less and less. So I'm growing above myself!

If it were not for the belief in our strength that came after the contest, I would never try to monetize my hobby. In addition to posts on Steemit (where monetization is possible, but can’t be a permanent income), I decided to open my online store of paintings. In Russia, there is already an opportunity to buy my paintings (and even you can make an order for special drawing), but I still don’t know how to deliver abroad. And how to interact with customers correctly so as not to violate the law and everything came quickly, cheaply and intact))) But I'm working on it, and may be my paintings will soon be available from anywhere in the world and you can pay for it with any cryptocurrency.

About how it was in real time, you can read in these posts:

How did I get to Steemfest 2017 in Lisbon
steemfest. day 1. walking around the city
Steemfest. Day 2. Organizing and walking
Steemfest. Day 3. Conference and excursion
steemfest. day 4. conferences and ducks
Steemfest. Day 5. Long road to home

I continue to draw, communicate and learn something new and interesting. Recently, I joined the Steemitbloggers community and continue to meet new people. I read stories in English, improve my language and spend time pleasantly. I am open to the world, and maybe it will open to me!

Thank you for watching!

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P.S. It is hard to write in English, because my native language is Russian. But I'm learning. If you notice serious errors in the text that interfere with the correct perception, please let me know about them.