A year of being a full time Steemian. A year of doing things I like, instead of doing what I have to do. A year of swimming instead of floating with the current. A year of living, and not just surviving. The year of ME.
It was Thursday before Christmas when I left from the professional kitchen to have my Christmas holiday. I was exhausted and my hands were done with the cooking job. I went to the doctor and for the first time in my life, I was given a sick leave, three weeks. I went back in to my workplace and my boss’ office to hand in the paper and say that my Christmas holiday just got extended.
I was relieved to have some extra time off work and to be spending a longer holiday with my family. At this point, I wasn’t yet 100 percent sure that I wouldn’t go back, but I viewed my sick leave as a trial period for being a full time blogger. I had been on Steemit for half a year, attended Steemfest in Lisbon and my little crypto portfolio was growing every day and the all time highs were near.
I knew that it wouldn’t be like this all the time, the bubble would burst, but could I survive it? I started to build myself a good foundation and cushion to land on if I decided to quit my job. I payed my bills, I payed my rent in advance, I stocked up on household items, slowly getting ready for something I had dreamt of for a long time.
Christmas came and went, I was happy being at home with my family, relaxing, healing but stirring inside. The closer the end date of my sick leave got, the more anxious I got. I was doing really well on Steemit, and financially I knew I would be well off for months at least. But was it a smart move? What if crypto dies? What if nobody likes me in Steemit anymore. Why if what if what if...
By the end of my sick leave, early January 2018, I had a check up with my doctor to see if I can go back to work. She saw my hands and immediately wrote another three weeks and said I need to change careers. I said I would, thanked her and left. That was the final push the universe gave my to take the leap. I went to meet my boss and gave him the bad news of extending my sick leave, and at the same time, I handed in my notice. I’m done, I wouldn’t be coming back.
That was it, I was free. The feeling was ecstatic and surreal. I hopped away smiling, breathing easier. After I would get my final pay, I would be on my own, living on crypto. Scary, exhilarating, amazing, uncertain, but boy was I excited. I had a new life.
It took me long time to settle into the realisation that this was it, I didn’t have to wake up to an alarm at 4.30am, or any time for that matter. I didn’t have to work on hours I didn’t want to, I didn’t have to do anything I didn’t want to. I could live my hedonistic ways, but I also knew that I would have to be strict with myself in order to survive. I started posting more because I now had the time, and it was my job also, my only means of making money. Gotta hustle.
I started to sleep at night and eat healthier. I invested in new camera gear and really got serious about taking better pictures. I took time to do what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it. A shoot in the middle of the night when inspiration struct, or waking up without an alarm and starting a productive day with coffee and answering comments.
Slowly I realised that I can actually do this for real and the dread of going back to the kitchen disappeared. While cryptos have plummeted all through the year, I’m still here, doing what I love.
With my new found freedom and money from the all time highs of crypto, I started to travel. During this year I have been to Thailand, Hungary, Estonia, Sweden, England and Poland. And just last night I came home from spending almost three weeks in Mexico. I spend the summer enjoying weather wise the best summer in Finland since forever, and the best summer for me because I didn’t have to be in the kitchen.
I don’t have a solid routine, and sometimes I slip to the dark side of hedonism, but I always come back. I don’t have the answers to life, I’m not always happy, I’m not financially free, but I am so much better than in my previous life.
The markets are showing some green finally and I hope they will recover so that the next year will not force me back to the kitchen and back to the life I hated.