I want to ask you all a question and while this is specifically aimed at those who have been around long enough to remember double-figure SBD prices, I also want this post to be of use to the newer members of steemit.

HOW DOES BEING A STEEMIAN MAKE YOU FEEL?

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Now there will be prizes for the best answer and this will be explained at the end, but first I would like to explain how steemit makes me feel and why...

It wasn't too long ago that I re-inserted myself into the steem blockchain, under the new name Hive account@article61. I would have used my original profile(Hive account@dogtanian), but after a fruitless search for my passwords I had to give up and start again. My efforts have since been rewarded and this has been down to perseverance and learning from mistake, after mistake, after mistake.

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I am the proverbial bull and I have blundered around all parts of steemit. Even my introduction post is lacking the vital tag, #introduceyourself... Not the greatest of starts I could have made.

I've always learned things in my own way and have always retained a rebellious streak against any form of authority. Maybe my journey would have been easier if I would have read the instructions, but it just isn't me. I am impatient and impulsive, in equal measures, but I am honest and have good intentions.

I am also very stubborn and I believe it is the latter that is the reason I have managed to find success on this fledgling platform. I have always concentrated most of my posts to be about exposing injustices around the world and especially in the UK. I initially came here to alert people to my own cause, but since spending an incredible amount of time here I now see that others have valid points to make and I might just have to earn my place at the table.

So that is what I did and I just kept on writing. It didn't matter if the content was personal or just a throw-away article, made to invoke a cheap-laugh, I just new that I had to keep my profile active and stay in touch with those around me.

I enjoy writing and it helps to clear my mind of all the negativity that I am forced to absorb, while being held captive in this "civilised society". Because of this passion to expose the truth I have had plenty to write about and in the early days steem and SBD was trading at around $1. This meant that my early payouts were worth anything from 0 cent, all the way to 35cents. I always remember when I received that 35c vote and the feeling is still the same today.

Recognition, finally!

Or is it...? Soon after this magnificent payout, my posts regained their original covert status, picking up random votes here and there. But then, after a few more weeks of persistent blogging, everything changed and I earned the respect of a very influential and generous friend.

Fortunately for me, this all happened when SBD climbed to $15!!!

$15 dollars!!!! And this was at the point when I had been invited to write for a community that had the support of what I knew to be known as a "whale"...

For the next few months I was being paid hundreds of dollars for each post I wrote and in my defense I have always put the work in. I take much pride in all the posts I write and most of the articles I write for this generous community take me several days to complete. Times were good and this stroke of luck had allowed me to dig myself out of the financial mess I was in. Because of this, I will always have a place in my heart for this special community and will do my best to support their cause.

As I was saying, things were going very well, but, unfortunately, this is the moment when many of us got a little too carried away with the way things were going and a little too accustomed to the high price of SBD.

To cut a long story short, I quit my job and went full-time on the steam-train and for the next 2 months this is how I felt...

For those of you lucky enough to have been around at this time, I want to take a moment to remember those incredibly exciting times. I can only speak from my-own perspective and at this point I had not even worked out how to trade. Once I had realised that SBD was at a high-point I began looking for exchanges. Unfortunately, this was around the time that most sites went into meltdown and all I seemed to come across was...

..."Sorry but we are not taking on new registrations at the moment"

In the end I had to use the original crypto exchange that I already had, named 'Cryptopia'. At this point I was able to release the epic value of my SBD and finally enter the world of crypto-trading. BTC was sitting pretty and 1 SBD was still bringing in $12 to $10 dollars. With a large helping of beginners luck, I managed to make some pretty good investments and it seemed like every coin I invested in just turned to gold...

But then it all changed in what seemed to feel like the blink of an eye and I was left feeling a bit like this...

It was the beginning of 2018 and was a year that had somehow earned the title " The year of the crypto". Ha! Well that is one one way of putting it I suppose and nobody ever made the point to clarify whether this "year of the crypto" was referencing a positive or a negative.

As we all now know, 2018 has been the mother of all fuck-ups and I am glad that I am not putting my own money into this game. While the going was good I managed to dig myself out of a financial hole, but my optimism led me to lose a large portion of the crypto I had amassed.

Back to square one

So with nothing but the smell of a few thousand pounds still wafting in the air, like a ruined prawn every time you open the fridge, I expected to feel the steem begin to cool within me...but that feeling never came and I found myself enjoying steemit in the same way as I had at the beginning. I mean I had started with nothing and found the site to be fascinating, so why should I care that I now came back to the same point? The truth is that I didn't care and I carried on doing what I have always done.

I post, therefore I am

I'm glad I came to steemit when I did. My $1 starting point has given me a well-rounded perspective and tempered my expectations to a safe level. I now consider myself a die-hard steemian and I am certain that I have now earned my stripes. I owe much of my success to a few select people and if they read this post they will know who they are. Some of them have great voting-power and others not so much, but you don't get along here if all you want is money...

Steemit is a community and the sooner you come to this realisation, the happier your time will be. Earning SBD is great, but it is a bonus and to think otherwise can lead you down a very steep path. I wish everybody every success while here, but take note that no matter what the price of steem and SBD there will always be people who will remain faithful. To me this means that steemit has a heart and it is us faithful steemians who keep it beating. Here we share experiences and differences, all without the drama. A few flags get waved but generally we keep ourselves in order and all with no one titled as "our leader".

I think they call that Anarchy incarnate ;)

So to keep this love-train rolling along the tracks I want to ask you...

..."How does being a steemian make you feel?"

Please post a comment or a gif in the comments section and I will give 2 SBD to 3 winners!!

This will then be paid in the form of entry to the @familyprotection silver raffle.

It would be great if you would re-steem and/or up-vote this post, but it is not a requirement to enter the contest.

Thanks very much for reading and I wish you all well. PTYAY

Written by Rebel Dan

All gifs sourced from giphy.com