I’ve been in a strange place these past few months. It’s felt like I’m in limbo between my old life of working a corporate day job (perceived security, a set schedule, and structure) and a completely different new life of writing full time (freedom, excitement, and travel but lots of uncertainty.) It's been a long journey to get to this point and, boy, those last few steps are so damned difficult.

I keep getting these amazing flashes of freedom, brief moments in time where I feel like the transition into this new life might be easy. Each time I’m about to fully commit to taking the leap into this exciting abyss of uncertainty something happens, like the crypto markets crashing, that pushes my timeline back further. Sometimes my brain vomits up a myriad of perfectly logical excuses as to why I should wait just for THE PERFECT TIME.

A little backstory for those who aren’t aware, my life really has been in limbo since the day I published my first book over twenty years ago. I’ve had one foot in two different worlds for over two decades...a corporate job by day and pursuing my writing career in my spare time. I’m a Gen X’er, so I when I was entering the writing profession self-publishing wasn’t yet a viable option to make writing a full time gig. Literary agents and the publishers still held all the keys and decided who passed through the door and who didn’t. Through the first twenty years of my writing career I felt like I tried 10,000 ways that didn’t work. One day in July of 2016 I found the key that unlocked the door.

Since joining Steemit fourteen months ago my life has taken some very exciting and unpredictable turns. With the help of @fairytalelife my posts began to get noticed, I started publishing my first novel, Alarm Clock Dawn, in installments here on the Steemit blockchain along with a twenty year backlog of original poetry in the Summer of 2016. This led to the opportunity to present at SteemFest in Amsterdam last November.

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“There are many talented people who haven't fulfilled their dreams because they over thought it, or they were too cautious, and were unwilling to make the leap of faith." - James Cameron

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During SteemFest last year I remember thinking to myself that I needed to savor each and every moment of the experience as though it would be my last. I was still dwelling in that old, fear-based, mentality. I remember the day I presented being a very emotional one because, it felt like an apex. In a way, I felt like I just got extremely lucky and didn’t really deserve to be there. I knew how fickle good fortune and success as a writer can be and there were no guarantees that this amazing journey would ever continue beyond that point.

Then there was the winter of 2016, it was dark and cold in more ways than one. The price of Steem plummeted and many people left the platform in droves. This time period was a kind of cleansing. Those of us who stayed, realized that the Steemit community and our craft was more important to us than the money. I also used this time to take a deep dive into cryptocurrency and learning more about it. Those of us who stayed on Steemit trudged on, collaborated in new ways, and supported one another. Eventually, Steem and the platform fully recovered.

This past July 4th my wife and I were in downtown St. Paul watching the fireworks. I checked my phone and there was a message from @dougkarr letting me know about a film project he was working on and inquiring if I’d be interested in collaborating. Thankfully, I said yes, and this YES has blossomed into an amazing new friendship, project, and a transitional moment in my life.

Today, I experienced what most people would call an “a-ha moment” but I refer to as “mental hard fork”. I’m a firm believer that one of the main reasons we’re here in this physical world is to learn lessons and the universe presents these lessons to us as we’re ready for them. This time, I’ve been presented with a team of sherpas to guide me my last few steps.

This HardFork Film Series not only has allowed me to venture into new territories in my writing career but it's forced me to push beyond perceived boundaries in my own life. It’s as though every cell of my being is charged with excitement and I know this is where I’m supposed to be, this is what I’m supposed to do. This project has provided me with a team of unwitting guides that will, through their examples, help me to take the final few steps to the top of the mountain so I can see what it’s like on the other side. The air is rarefied here and, at times, it can make you feel a little dizzy but each day I'm getting a little more used to it.

I’ve come to terms with the fact that we can't plan for every conceivable outcome. Sometimes life doesn’t make sense, sometimes we feel scared, and there are times when we have no clue how we’ll get from Point A to Point B and this is okay. Maybe if we don’t feel scared sometimes we aren’t taking enough risks. Maybe we should learn to become more comfortable confidently leaping into the cool void of the abyss.

These past few months of working closely with @dougkarr, @andrarchy, and @the-alien (who are all Millennials) on the HardFork Film Series have taught this Gen X’er a hell of a lot about life. Finally, I feel like I have the strength to take these final few steps with confidence, take that leap of faith, and, hopefully, find my wings in the process.

(Gifs compliments of Giphy.com.)

Please follow our official Steemit account for the film series @hardfork-series. We are thrilled to announce we'll be debuting the HardFork Film Series Teaser Trailer at SteemFest2 in Lisbon! Hope to see you there!

*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.

My new book on meditation, The Perfect Pause, has been discounted to $12.99 (paperback) and $4.99 (eBook) for a limited time. Buy the paperback and receive the eBook for free!

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