Although it might be hard for someone on the outside to understand how much steemit has changed my life, it's not hard for me to see at all. I'm sure if you asked my husband @serapium/Patrick, he'd tell you that it has been nothing short of miraculous for me as well.
Before I found steemit, I had been floundering for years. YEARS. My kids were growing up and my years as a desperately needed, stay at home mom/homeschool mom were coming to an end.
I couldn't seem to find my mojo again. I wanted to write or act or create SOMETHING, but I couldn't seem to find that passion that I knew was still inside of me somewhere. I tried blogging, writing, doing facebook pages. I tried acting, taking classes, but nothing seemed to be quite right. Everything always felt like it was somehow lacking.
I, of course, assumed it was just me. There was surely something wrong with me that I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do.
Patrick was getting more and more into investing in crypto when he came across steemit. He knew that it was right up my alley and when I saw it, the first thing I was reminded of was Live Journal. A platform that I blogged and made friends on regularly for 13 years. When that went downhill, so did my daily writing/journaling and soon my writing inspiration of any kind fell away as well.
I soon discovered 
The community was just what I'd been wanting for so long. The encouragement, the ability to sit and write and let my creativity flow seemed to recharge me almost from the get go. I was finally looking forward to something again. I felt a tiny spark of hope rekindling my love of writing and for the first time in years (and I mean LONG YEARS), I honestly felt like I had something that I really wanted to do again.
Soon thereafter I found the #steemitbloggers community and between that and the freewrite family I had grown to love, I was hooked.
Now at this point, steemit is down and I can't afford to treat steemit alone like a full-time job. However, it is definitely solely responsible for inspiring me to write again. Through that, I have started working on a website and writing/finalizing full out books to publish and sell. This is something I've wanted to do forever, but now I feel like I can. It's actually POSSIBLE with ebooks and print on demand. I can write and publish and sell without a big investment like it used to require years ago.
I'm excited and honestly feel hopeful about doing something that I LOVE to do and something that I feel truly passionate about as a CAREER... and without steemit (and Patrick's constant, total and complete support!) I wouldn't even be considering it. I would be back working at a dead end job stocking shelves at a grocery store again. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but this? Having a dream that I can fulfill (or at least TRY!) is so much more hopeful.
I have made friendships here and have found a way to make my dreams come true. So, long story short, I suppose it might sound ridiculous, but steemit and the community here has seriously given me a new passion for life. I'm excited again. I'm CREATING again. From writing stories, creating characters and new worlds to getting back into graphic design. I feel like this has been a wonderful, desperately needed turning point for me. I wouldn't be in this spot if not for Steemit.
This is my entry into the Contest by 
A weekend freewrite that I'm actually really proud of. I don't generally have favorites, but the story flowed really well this week:
A fun series: Letters froma Boat Cat!
A fun tale, told from the perspective of man's best friend!
Click the graphic to join the fun
Join us 
Animation By 
art and flair courtesy of @PegasusPhysics
Photos are mine except where they are credited to their source under the photos (Or in the case of linked thumbnail cover photos in the sig, they are sourced at the original post).
