I have one child. He chose to live in Colombia, South America. He met his soul mate there. As his Mother, I could not ask anymore for my only son. The problem was I missed him. A lot. When I came to Steem, the blockchain, it was wonderful to be able to reconnect with him again.

@Ecoinstant had already been on Steem a while. One of the groups he was in was called the @ecotrain. They had a Slack Chat. I had asked to join. Any chance I had to help or just say 'Hi' to my son was much needed in my life. The Slack was filled with a few other people I really had nothing in common with them. I didn't know enough about the blockchain, Steem to talk intelligently about anything. I wasn't into homesteading or gardening so I didn't go in there much.

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'They' say there is a reason for everything.

'They' say you just have to be open to see the signs.

I happen to agree with 'them' in this case.

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I was a month on Steem, the blockchain. I was in a private Slack chat channel trying not to 'stalk' my son, much. I had nothing in common with the other very nice people there. They all tried to make me feel welcome. I was finding out I could not live stream everyday. Having no, and I mean no, training in writing, I had pretty much written or said about all I could think to say.

I went for three days without writing anything. Knowing myself as I do, that pretty much meant I was done. I was still reading and voting on my son and @Simgirl's posts. Lucky for me @Mariannewest was in The Ecotrain private chat room too. One day she had dropped a link to an interesting post.

I still remember that day like it happened this morning. Mariannewest had linked a post called 'Writers or wanna be Writers Wanted!!!! Be Free! Freewrite!' I read the post and one rule stuck out.

Rules:

Freewriting is to set a timer for a certain amount of time and write. Without stopping. Without correcting anything. Without worrying if what we write is good or bad. Nobody cares.

To write for five minutes:

I could do that surely. It's five minutes, right? Who cannot write something for five minutes? When nothing is in your head, believe me, five minutes is a long time. In my head, I checked off that rule as 'okay'.

Without stopping. Without correcting anything:

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. I am a horrible typer and speller. If I would not go back and fix my typing and or spelling, no one would be able to decipher if there was a story. Good or bad would be a non-issue. It was a rule I was willing to break.

Without worrying if what we write is good or bad:

This, this was the rule that hit home. This was the rule that gave me the guts in a world of 'This is a place for only quality content' to be willing to try.

Nobody cares:

I already had that down. Other than my son and Simgirl, who both knew I was trying as best I could, no one else came to my blog. The nobody cares I could handle even if someone complained. The writing prompt for that day was already forming a jiggle in my head.

I took a deep breath, set my phone alarm for five minutes, opened up a page to type on. On October 27, 2017, I wrote my first @Mariannewest's Freewrite Challenge. My world tilted and changed that day for the best gift ever. Freedom to be me.

Did I write a masterpiece that day? Did I win a noble peace prize for my piggy story? Nope. Reading the story today I have to fill in a lot of gaps. The general concept of what I was trying to express is there but that is about it. I had even gone back to a website I use to use called Olioboard. I made a special thumbnail for my new story. I was so excited. I had written something that made me smile that day.

I dropped my link in the comment section of the Day 7 Freewrite post. Off I went to read what other people had written. I was amazed at all the different takes on the same writing prompt. I had so much fun reading and leaving comments. When I was done I was so excited for the next day and the new prompt.

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I had found a place after one month on Steem where I felt comfortable and was having fun being me. You can not ask for more than that.

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In the end, My son and Simgirl brought me here. I stayed on Steem because of @Mariannewest and her Freewrite Challenge. It's really all her fault I am still here. Thank You so much Mariannewest for always encouraging me every step of the way. I learned to have faith in myself. I learned I could write the more I practiced. I learned not to be ashamed if I made a few errors. The Freewrite Challenge freed me from so many things.

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