Now and then, the best inspiration comes from a children’s book or movie. In this case, I turn to the 2003 movie, Finding Nemo, when Dory famously tells Nemo to “just keep swimming.”
How appropriate for us plankton, minnows and dolphins who are wondering what we are doing here on Steemit when the value has tanked.
In this post I will share a little bit about why I just keep swimming, and why you should too.
(Hello?? Is this thing on?? You’re a fabulous crowd. I’ll be here all night. Ha ha.)
Why I Keep Swimming
The answer is easy! It never occurred to me to stop. Not once.
I joined Steemit for a variety of reasons, one of which was the fact that it’s a place where I can blog regularly and build community. I could have just built a WordPress blog and tried to build a following, but I have done that in the past, and it is really hard to do. You just feel like you’re writing in an echo chamber.
(Side note: I did actually build a WordPress blog after joining Steemit, because of the really cool steempress plugin from the @steempress guys. So I blog on WordPress, where I can organize all of my content the way I want, and it automatically posts to my Steemit blog. I love it!)
Joining Steemit was like walking into a party in a gigantic mansion. Every room in the mansion has a different flavor of party going on. In the garage you’ve got a grunge band, and you can hang out there for a while. In the kitchen there are people talking about beer making, and in the dining room, there are people discussing food and wine pairing.
Then you’ve got rooms you can sashay into where there the people are focused on art, creative writing, poetry, travel, technology, Dapps, science, and so many other things. There is something for everyone.
So, right now it’s 4:00 in the morning in this giant party. Some of the party-goers have gotten burned out, drunk, and tired, and have dwindled out. But those of us who are here to enjoy the place and the people aren’t going anywhere. In fact, we can get to know those who are here much better. It feels like a much more relaxed and intimate party. The fact is, today will turn into tomorrow, and the party will start up again in full force. That is my belief.
Another reason I joined Steemit was for long-term investing. I have built my account almost 100% from blogging. I have college kids and I don’t have much to invest, so I invest my time. It’s practically painless.
If you subscribe to the belief that it’s the daily habits that get you where you want to go in life, then you just keep swimming.
But at the end of the day, if it was just about money I wouldn’t have joined in the first place. Money is a nice motivator, but if you chase it all your life, I believe you will feel hollow and unfulfilled.
As @techslut said in her Utopian talk at SteemFest, it’s not about the money. It’s about the community.
What If the Value Never Comes Back?
I’m sure we can all agree that money is nice. Who doesn’t like money? It’s discouraging to see something that was worth something lose all of its value. What if the value never comes back? I say the more important question is, “what if it does?”
When that happens, you want to have been swimming. All along.
I could tell you heartbreaking stories of stocks I’ve pulled out of that then skyrocketed in value. I’ve made so many mistakes. I’m not doing that again. I arrived as a long-term HOLD’er and I remain a long-term HOLD’er.
But don’t take it from me. Here are some excellent articles by much more clever Steemians saying the same thing:
- @cryptoctopus: Steem on Black Friday Sale: Power Up Diary
- @coruscate: Just Powered up 1000 Steem! Take Advantage of Low Steem Prices to Increase Your Stake!
- @therealwolf: Choose Your Path
SteemFest3 Iced the Cake
Attending SteemFest was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I’ve actually been a little blue since I got home because I had to get back into the grind of daily life, and my job (which I actually really love) and all of my commitments.
Don’t get me wrong. I have a great life. It’s just that the creative energy SteemFest and all the cool things that are under development, and the great stuff like @cleanplanet that are for the greater good really fueled me. I was talking and running around the city and bowling and eating and singing karaoke with really awesome people from 47 different countries who are all united under one thing: building stuff on this decentralized platform.
All I can say is, just keep swimming. And plan for SteemFest4. None of us can predict what will happen. There are no crystal balls. (Although, if you are a psychic please DM me on Discord. Ha ha.)
Watch the videos from the presentations, which are up on Youtube thanks to @roelandp. Maybe you can’t feel the energy the way you would have if you were having coffee and lunch and beer with all of these people, but you can see the breadth and depth of what is really going on across the platform. It’s not about any one thing. It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It’s about the whole gigantic multi-winged house and the big ongoing party, and what’s going to happen when the world wakes up and sees how powerful all this is, collectively.
If you still have more doubt than conviction, well off with you then. That just leaves more reward pool for the rest of us, thank you very much! (Kidding/not kidding!) But seriously, I’d rather be surrounded by people who are here to give and share and post and curate than by a bunch of fair-weather friends who need to be coaxed and rewarded to stay active, or are only here for financial gain.
Thanks for reading! Stay strong. Keep swimming.
