I must say I hesitated on writing this very post quite a bit. For one, it's not my intention to create FUD and incite despair in the community, but I also think that it might be prudent for people to think about this and prepare for the possibilities. As the old saying goes "It's wise to prepare for the worse, but hope for the best" and that's where I currently stand on this matter.
Why did I join Steem?
Not that anyone owes me answers, and truthfully it might be best that the introspection stays private for some people. To me however, this whole thing started out as curiosity mixed in with the hope that I could become financially independent too. That is to say that as cliche as the quote may sound "come for the money, stay for the friends" it's at least in my case, very accurate.
This whole blockchain thing, I remember thinking, was so confusing, unexplainable with my own mental tooling, that I simply had to explore more, and find out if it was not a scam after all. More than a year later I realize that I was wrong in more ways than one, but ironically enough I was wrong in the best of ways.
I first learned that the reasons why I joined were unrealistic and that the idea that I was going to become rich by sharing music and philosophy was unicornian at best. However, as time progressed and I got more involved with the community, learned more about cryptocurrencies, the philosophy behind them, the ill they intend to cure, I could not help but to fall in love with the ideology, and that is why I stayed.
Why did I become a full-time Steemian?
When Steem was soaring I made the decision to do this fulltime and got involved in just about everything that I could. I became an admin for some discord servers, became a judge for the #openmic competition and even sponsored a giveaway for songwriters. The plan seemed simple enough in my head. If I could find a way to give enough value back to the platform, back to its users, then surely everything was going to be ok and everything would be taken care of.
It didn't take long before I began to see that my choice was premature to say the least. But don't misinterpret me, this is not me expressing regret or anything, what's done is done and for what it's worth, I would not change anything even if I could. I found my "glide" back to earth to be revealing, to provide some of that needed humility we can all use every now and then.
Believe it or not, despite of it all, I'm still feeling very grateful for everything. When my income started to shrink and considerably so, when even if I worked as hard as I could, I couldn't make enough to cover the basic bills, instead of allowing myself to stay depressed, I started to adapt and make the tough calls I've been avoiding to make for years.
All of the sudden the question: "Do I really need this?" was present in my mind almost daily, and slowly but surely I've been getting rid of all the baggage and noise, so to speak. Today, I can say that all I need to live my life fits in a suitcase, a backpack and a guitar case, and that is something I would have never considered not that long ago.
So, I could say that I became a full-time Steemian because I wanted to experience Abundance, only to realize I always had it around me and I had just become desensitized to it over the years, consumerism was my game too.
If this ends tomorrow, what would I do?
To put it simply: "continue my journey" What are the specifics of that, I don't know and I'm sure that nobody truly does. What's important to me however is everything I've learned while being part of this place, while being part of the communities, because truthfully that is something that can't be taken away from me.
I realize there are plenty of people out there wondering if they should pack up and leave now, while the blockchain still operates, while Ned has not dropped "the bomb" on us.
Don't get me wrong, I'm human too, I've considered leaving myself, but at the same time I'm trying to not be that old version of me, that one that got too scared to continue and would give up.
But... real talk as it's commonly said these days. If Ned was to leave, to appoint a new CEO or to announce the sale of Steemit Inc or something of the sort, that, at least on it's own, would not change a damn thing for me. It does not remove the value of my experiences, it does not reduce the value of our community and it certainly does not delete this new knowledge that inhabits my head these days.
But, again as they say: Real talk... if the thought of Ned leaving, if the thought of Steemit Inc being sold or disappearing scares the living lights out of you, if it makes you feel like maybe you should power down and leave now, while you can, then I would have to agree with you there because... This is not for everyone, and those who are too afraid to lose will always give away their wins.... that's just not me.
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