3 years ago, I accidentally bumped into the SteemIt platform. When I signed up, I didn't realize I bought a ticket for a ride that would change my life. What a rollercoaster it has been so far...
I had spent more than 15 years of my life online. What initially started as a way to earn some extra money after I got fired from my first job, had turned into a more than full-time job in the world of internet marketing. During those years, there was always something new to learn, a new path to discover. But those last couple of years, I got stuck in the b2b affiliate marketing niche, and I got so tired of promoting the same, old, refurbished products to people, convincing them that they really nééded this software or that video course if they ever wanted to become successful online. I had turned into a liar and a fraud, and at one point I simply couldn't fake it anymore, so I quit. Just like that. I simply left everything behind, without looking back.
It's funny how life has its ways...
About two weeks later, I was asking a friend for investment advice. I had inherited some money and just sold my house, and since I don't trust banks, I was seriously considering buying gold or silver. However, my friend was pretty passionate about Bitcoin, and convinced me it was the right time to buy in. It took me a while before I could grasp the concept of blockchain technology, but in the end I followed his advice. In September or October 2016, I bought my first Bitcoins at about $850 a piece.
14 months later, Bitcoin reached its ATH. A couple of weeks before, I had already started to diversify my portfolio. Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash... It became a bit of an obsession. Once I had about every coin in the top 10 of CMC, I started to look for low-cost, but promising cryptocurrencies. That's how I bumped into Steem. I had already bought some when I discovered there was more to Steem than just the currency.
A Warm Welcome... NOT!
I created my account in June 2017, but didn't have time to really check out the platform. Old habits die hard, you know. I was so busy building crypto-related websites and promoting crypto-related products that the account remained dormant for about 6 months.
In November 2017 I had the bright idea to start using SteemIt to reach a broader audience to promote my affiliate links to.
Oh boy...
If you take a look around now, it is hard to imagine, but affiliate links were simply not done back then. My account was flagged down to a rep score of 11 in no time. Oops!
More than a year later, both @abh12345 and @paulag told me they remembered this. I can only imagine what a big deal it must have been for the 'originals', lol.
There I was... a reputation score of 11 and 15 years of experience in writing nothing else but sales pitches. I wasn't the talented writer I used to be as a kid and teenager anymore. And even if I would have been, they scared the hell out of me with their flags. I was so afraid to upset even more people, and the more I read, the more I felt this place was way out of my league.
I knew I would never be able to come even close to the quality content that was posted here each day. So I played it safe, and started rewriting news articles about crypto, which was actually pretty boring.
Like every newcomer, I struggled every day with the million things you need to learn when you first start out. Being a teacher, I did know how to write tutorials, so I started to document everything I learned, hoping it could help the people who would arrive after me. Those tutorials got more than only a few upvotes, which made me feel a little more secure. I just checked, and even today, with the price of Steem hitting rock bottom, those tutorials are still worth something between $11 and $20. I was over the moon!
And suddenly, I managed to publish some spontaneous and sometimes very personal posts.
One of them was 'The Negative Effect Of SteemIt On My Self-Esteem' , in which opened up and made my feelings public. It's kinda funny, because even though it has been written 2 years ago, it's still pretty accurate.
When I scroll through posts here on SteemIt, I see so many people write high-quality, in-depth articles that I often wonder what I’m doing here.
I’m such a person who knows a little of many things, but there is nothing I’m really good at. Here on SteemIt, lots of people are real experts. Cryptocurrencies, food, nature, programming, making videos ... just to name a few.
Reading those top notch articles often makes me feel dumb and completely out-of-place. When I read my own articles it hurts to see how they lack the quality I want them to have. And how little love for writing they show.
(..)
But for now, I’ll be sticking around. Mainly because this very article gave me a little taste of how I enjoy writing an article just for fun. As I’m writing it, I know I’ll be posting it. And you know what? I know its not high-quality, and I don’t care. If no one reads it or if it gets no upvotes at all, I could perfectly live with it. Why? Because I finally wrote an article without overthinking it. After all those years, I’m having fun writing something. I forgot how good it feels to turn words into sentences, and to turn sentences into a story...
Who knows, maybe I will be able to find my ‘mojo’ again.. :-)
Two years have passed, and i'm still fighting the same struggle, every day again.
I think that post was one of my first encounters with @lynncoyle1, who was a newcomer too and struggled with the same things. It was the start of a great friendship.
(Hahaha, @anouk.nox, I just noticed you commented on that one too. I completely forgot we already knew each other before SteemIt ever existed.)
From Minnow To Plankton Again... By Choice
Not so very long after that post, I became a minnow. I was so proud.
But I also started to realize that my very first move on SteemIt - choosing my username - would affect my entire SteemIt 'career'. You see, my original username was 'mike314-0005'. I guess I don't have to explain that that was a very wrong choice. It was not only hard to remember, but also easy to misspell. After misspelling it myself for the hundredth time, I decided I needed a new username. One that was catchy, easy to remember, and - especially - easy to spell.
So after going back and forth about it for like a month, I decided to create a new account. It was not easy. I had built my reputation score back up from 11 to 51, and starting at 25 again was hard to accept. Fortunately, I had gathered 800SP, which I delegated to the new account, so my rep score went up again pretty quick.
Up until today, I never had any regrets. It was a smart move, if I may say so myself.
NewbieResteemDay
It must have been just before or just after I created the new account that @davemccoy invited me to join the @newbieresteemday initiative he and @mudcat36 had just started.
I was flattered, of course, but most of all, I finally found my 'tribe', my 'home'. My days of flying solo were over. It was exactly what I needed at the time, because I was feeling completely lost. It was the @newbieresteemday initiative that kept me from quitting, over and over again.
I met a whole lot of amazing people. I just visited those old posts, and I'm smiling and crying at the same time. People like @bashadow, @themanwithnoname (AKA Blondie), @beeyou, @lynncoyle1 , @mudcat36 and @davemccoy, who are still part of my life today. (@tryskele, I just found out we've known each other longer than I thought, lol)
What a happy bunch we were. I often miss the @newbieresteemday-days. Even though they ended in a not so beautiful way, it was, and still is, the only community I ever considered as 'home'. If I could go back in time to relive those days, I wouldn't doubt for a second.
I still miss it, just like I miss all the people that have left since. But life had different things in store for us.
SteemIt Disaster Strikes
April 2018. The Grumpy Cat messages were all around. I got a comment, and I was stupid enough to click the link.
I was locked out of my account instantly.
I was one of the first victims of the huge phishing scam that went on for weeks.
My account was emptied, a powerdown intiated, my reputation score was nuked to -1.
I freaked out. I didn't know what to do. Fortunately, my fellow @newbieresteemday members @penderis, @bashadow, @deliberator and @wilfredn took the lead and told me where to go and what to do to get back in control of my account.
Those were by far the worst 3 days in my SteemIt 'career'.
But I got my account back, and no real harm was done. Also, I did learn some very important lessons about account security.
On top of that, it was an amazing experience when it comes to the community-feeling. All these people I didn't know before jumped in to reduce the damage.
I know I only just reposted them last week, but I'm going to do it again. Too many people are not aware of what can happen if you're not careful with your keys.
Please read these posts and make sure you stay safe. I can assure you, you don't want this to happen to you.
I was able to save my account, but a lot of people weren't, and had to start over again. They lost everything, had to create a new account to start from scratch again.
Solo Again... Or Not?
Not long after that, @newbieresteemday blew up in our faces. We tried to keep it going for a while, but it wasn't like before. We all went our separate ways.
I have been recovering from 2 surgeries since February 2018, and every now and then it becomes too much for me, but even though we didn't talk to each other every day anymore, it was the NRD crew that kept me going.
Ever since last summer, I've been battling depression, and there haven't been that many highs anymore.
Of course there's the monthly Garden journal Challenge, which always makes me smile. There have been the rants about Steemmonsters and Drugwars, which I enjoy re-reading every time again.
Every day, I meet new, amazing people, and although there's a lot going on on the blockchain - good things as well as bad things - the community spirit keeps amazing me.
And more... I was able to grow my account, which allowed me to help newcomers get started. Sometimes it brings me down to see how many disappear again after 1 post, but the few who push through and find their place here make it all worth it.
But if i'm honest, the most important thing that happened during these last 8 months, is that I found a a place I feel at home again. It's not so different from my previous 'home' with NRD, because in our Team Possible Steemmonsters guild, I found a lot of those NRD faces again. And not just that. I met even more amazing people. TP is the new home. They've been helping me to get through everything that has happened these last 18 months. OMG, fooling around with @johndoer123, @cicisaja, @anouk.nox and the others... it's too crazy for words.
It's obvious... I'm dead tired. I've gone through so many emotions writing this post.. I'm really exhausted.
I'm not going to bore you any longer and call it a day.
But do know that my time here on SteemIt has been amazing so far. I've learned so much, about a lot of different things, but especially about myself. And you are all amazing. Every day again, I'm impressed by the 'Pay It Foward'-mentality of the community. By the positive vibes people are sharing, no matter what.
I hope you realize we have something unique going on here. Something special.
Enjoy it, treasure it, because the Steem experience is a once in a lifetime thing.
@davemccoy invited me to join the 
@newbieresteemday initiative he and 
@mudcat36 had just started.
