THIS is why I fell in love with Bitcoin and asked him to marry me.
In 2008, I visited Kenya on a missions trip (it's ironic that later that same year, Bitcoin made its debut). The experiences I had in Africa defy words. Suffice it to say that many of the things I encountered there were things I had NEVER seen up until then, nor even knew existed; things I couldn't comprehend in my tiny little American mind, like...
Seeing people walk 8 miles to and from work to make $3/day...
Seeing women stand on line to each receive a pack of underwear our missions trip had bought over...
Seeing people in the Kibera 'slum' (said to be the biggest slum in Africa outside of Soweto) stand on line to get their cell phone charged at the only electrical outlet around...
There was something incredibly humbling, and shocking, about all this. Something in me realized that part of me had been a spoiled American brat sorely lacking gratitude for the lap of luxury I had been sitting in, and had taken for granted for most of my life. Not that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth (I wasn't, by any stretch of the imagination). Yet I realized (after squatting over holes in the ground in Africa) that a toilet can be considered a luxury depending on your paradigm.
My sensitivity to the world's plight heightened like never before.
Now that you know my motivation for marrying crypto (for its power and potential to cause women and girls all over the world to prosper) I'll let you in on the first time I really GOT Bitcoin.
And If you're anything like me, or like almost ANYONE in the crypto world, you remember the month, day, year and day of the week (maybe even the HOUR) you first GOT Bitcoin too.
It came to me in meditation... 'Bali' and 'Bitcoin'
That was the moment I first GOT Bitcoin. And yes, I'd seen this 'fake' internet money floating around with a big yellow 'B' on it. I dismissed it more times than I care to count. It's a scam. It'll never last.
But that day after my meditation I was compelled by the Higher Order to run to the computer and ask Google 2 important questions:
1. WTF is Bitcoin?!? and...
2. Where in the world is Bali?!?!?
I received speedy answers. The last question first: Bali is in Indonesia, north of Australia. You'll go there soon Valerie, I heard the Inner Voice whisper (which was more than ok by me, I travel the globe so much it would not be entirely out of the realm of sanity to leave a packed suitcase near the front door). Sure enough, 8 months later I spent 33 days in Bali, Indonesia (more on THAT delicious experience coming up in future posts...)
The Google results sucked me down the proverbial Bitcoin Rabbit Hole...
By the time I came up for air (after hours upon hours upon hours of YouTube vids, I remember having to stand up in the middle of the night so I wouldn't fall asleep before watching one more Andreas Antonopoulos vid) I was in love.
That's when it happened... I proposed to Bitcoin
He said YES.
But then again, he says YES to everyone who asks (therein lies the beauty of Bitcoin, it's for everyone who wants it).
Not only did I emerge from the rabbit hole with a new love, I came to the surface with a new language to match. Unbeknownst to them, my family and EVERYONE I came across and cared about (including my beautiful LuvTubers, my subscribers on YouTube) were about to be subjected to a full-on Bitcoin ONSLAUGHT, hearing me shout things at them like...
OMG!!! YOU HAVE TO GET BITCOIN!!! It's DECENTRALIZED!!!
Let's get you a wallet RIGHT NOW
This changes EVERYTHING!!! We're all gonna exit Fiat!!!
Most of my peeps looked at me like what the hell is she talking about?
Some said well, she knows this money thing, so I'm just gonna do what she says.
Some said "I'm gonna do it!" (they still haven't done it, despite Bitcoin being at about $178 when I first started talking about it to topping $3,000 in 2016)
I was a madwoman for a bit, just like with any new love.
The good news: the honeymoon is nowhere near over. I'm more in love with crypto than I was that cool day in November 2014, when I was about to meet the next love of my life.
So there you have it my fellow Steemians, my romance with Bitcoin, why I asked him to marry me, and why the romance that quickly expanded to all crypto just keeps getting better better.
Live long & prosper,
Crypto Diva