3,000 FOLLOWERS! Perspective as I reach another Steemit milestone!

Let me begin with a humbling “THANK YOU!”, to everyone as I reached a big Steemit milestone. Today I reached 3,000 followers. This has been the best ride of my life. I was swept up in to Steemit when @mada casually mentioned the premise of the site to me at @caffetto. Zero knowledge of Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or blockchain technology. Just another starving artist with big dreams, wide eyed and hopeful that my sacrifices would eventually mean something; that my work would matter. If you haven’t read my recent blog “I stepped off the path!”, much of the sentiments I’m expressing are addressed in that post.

Everything has exponentially changed for the better since finding Steemit. I’ve been able to live a fuller, more rewarding life. Like millions of other artists, musicians and creators dedicating years or our lives to posting on other social networks, I ignored the nagging voice saying “…you should be getting something for this!”. After all, I was the one sleeping on floors, tearing muscles in my back, getting sick and shuffling in to budget airline seats. Steemit has given me a platform to share my work with an audiences that appreciates, and deserves the personal cost in creating the art itself, and doing so without lining Zuckerberg’s pockets.

The foundation I’m building here on Steemit is the most important thing I’ve done in my career as an artist. I remember @lovejoy once saying to me as he pointed to the followers on my account, “…this is the most important number on the site! More than the reputation, and more than the money.” […sorry to say, pal, I beat you to 3,000]. I knew what he was saying, but actually marking this milestone I’m starting to believe @lovejoy has drunk enough fancy tea that he’s absorbing the wisdom of the ancient Chinese. Community and followership supersedes all on Steemit!

What do I have to show for my dedication to Steemit? Tools of my trade. Granted, yes, shiny and all adorning Apple logos, but I’ve furthered my art with the rewards I’ve made here. I’ve paid bills, even mortgage payments when things were tight. Prior to Steemit, when I was up against a wall by the end of the month, there were times I only had faith that “something” would come through. For the first time in my life, I have a savings […of sorts]. The unbelievable weight that’s been lifted from my shoulders as a father cannot be quantified.

This “should” be a big positive moment, and it is. I’m elated. I will say, though, as the vail of living in poverty is slowly pulled back from my eyes, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs reveals another step for me to climb. A bigger picture is coming in to focus. As an investor in STEEM and EOS, I’ve been watching interviews with @dan. The technical shit is great as I have an insatiable desire to learn more about blockchain technology, but it’s @dan’s philosophy on “freedom” and a decentralized society that’s consuming me lately.

Part of the “bigger picture” is my peers. Of my friends @tarotbyfergus has long been the most modest of annual incomes [poor]. What I respect is that he is gifted, and will work within those gifts, rather than swallowing down a 40/hr week job for Wells Fargo salary and benefits, knowing full well that is contrary to everything he stands for […I have a lot of friends doing just that]. I started on Steemit about a year before @tarotbyfergus, but given the timeline since his introduction post, he is almost exactly at pace with where I was then, respectively. 

It’s such a dichotomy, because the world I’ve always known seems to be in a tailspin. As a young anti-authority punk, I thought “anarchy” looked like broken windows and flipped cop cars. I’m seeing now, that’s not the case. “Freedom” is just opting out of the gaslighting that is chasing something you’ll never reach. Surprise! This system hasn’t worked for me. I’m not looking to destroy it, or change it. Honestly, I just feel like I’m leaving it. Like that moment you turn your back on an abusive relationship…because that’s exactly what it is.

These are late night excerpts of a late night, after a long day. I’m endlessly grateful there are over 3,000 of you willing to stay up and read it. My freedom is pursuing a comic book/graphic novel that involves this new enlightenment. Stay with me. 2018 is going to be a homecoming of sorts for me. 

Thanks for reading and following! For more thoughts on life, stories, photography and art, follow me here @kommienezuspadt!