Survival, Self Sufficiency, & Steemit

I was a fresh faced wannabe writer with dreams of jet-setting to exotic locales, living on room service brought to me as I typed on my laptop on a tropical beach, and those author royalties being deposited in my bank.

My instructors told me I was a really good writer and should do it professionally. I didn't believe them. I wanted to, I had my fair share of fantasies! But it wasn't my major and frankly, I found great fault with my work and was never satisfied enough to submit as I feared embarrassment. I read a lot and there is no way I am anywhere near the quality of any of the greats that adorn the bestseller shelves!

But a few years ago something clicked and I decided to try. I mean, why would they have told me this if it wasn't at least partly true? So I began the tedious process of becoming a professional writer, with those Champagne wishes and Caviar dreams in my head.

I took the uber cliche path and started submitting anywhere and everywhere I could. I was rejected due to not having past published work. So I perused the freelance job boards and took any assignment I could to build my resume. Most were for little to no pay.

I did this for 6 months. In all I made less than $100.

One day I came across an ad searching for a staff writer for a popular survival website with a humorous tone. I wrote two sample articles and was hired immediately. I would write two articles per week for $20 a week. I was ecstatic. This was the most money I had earned in my writing career and I was not freelance- I was an actual syndicated regular with my own column!

I fell into my work and immersed myself into the survival and homesteading community. I joined forums and met helpful individuals and researched and learned all I could. I soon realized this niche embodied my mindset and way of life.

I had always been self sufficient, and taught survival techniques to my boys which my Grandpa had taught me. I never felt it was right or smart to depend on anyone, minus my close friends and family of course. But my way of living life finally had a name, and I had a community.

Six months after being hired, the owner emailed me and offered ownership of the website to me. He and his wife had just had twins and he did not have time for it anymore, and my passion for the subjects compelled him to see me as the best person for the job.

I said sure, of course! Thinking how hard can operating a website be?

Boy was I wrong! Any of you who started a website with no coding knowledge will understand! Remember, I am just a writer! My training and experience is only in writing and creating and putting letters in a row to make a compelling sentence ;)

So now I had my work cut out for me. I was working full time already to support my babies, alone, as we had lost their father a few years prior. Cooking, school meetings, daycare, work, cooking, cleaning, and now a website! That was not monetized so making a whopping $0.00.

I threw myself into researching how to grow a website. I learned keywords, SEO, formatting for the web, ads, social media, backlinks, marketing, page ranks, and so much more that you will grow bored if I keep listing! I varied and tried techniques as everyone I learned from said different things worked.

When I made my first $100 from the website, I was beside myself with pride. It had taken 6 months.

I continued to learn website marketing but also became more involved in the survival and homesteading community.

During this time there were a lot of unsteady things happening in the world, and the preparedness community was growing by leaps and bounds- it was as if a large subsection of the population woke up and decided they needed to learn, and learn fast.

There was an underlying feeling of fear during this time as well. Everyone was quietly preparing for... well, for the worst.

I met a few people in Venezuela and had firsthand information about all that was going down there, and it was pretty scary. What the media allows us to know is nowhere near the chaos and helplessness these people are fighting through every day. I watched the bank fiasco in Greece and the outrageous carnage in Louisiana when the food stamps stopped working.

I lost all faith in the system.

When you are not looking at something, it can be hard to see. Even though I had a self-sufficient mindset, I still relied on "the system." But when my eyes were opened to how fragile and uncaring the system truly is, cryptocurrency came into my awareness in the form of Bitcoin and it made absolute sense.

Granted, it would be a few years before I would actually have cryptos of my own as I believed they were far too difficult for someone with my complete lack of tech savvy to understand. But I did begin to dabble in gold and silver.

One of my first jobs was a journalist for a large news outlet. I left after two years because my morals did not agree with how the media operates and for my mental health, as well as a bit of rebellion, I went on a news fast- barely watching except to scan the headlines. But when you become involved with the survival community the things that are happening in the world are a large topic for discussion so I was made aware of much more dangerous practices, which further reinforced my need to become more self-sufficient in real life- not just in mindset and teachings.

One of the most important things I learned is to not leave all your eggs in one basket. Never hold all your cash in one bank- for instance, or never invest in only one thing. Spread it around. That way if one thing failed you have not lost everything.

I began gardening more than just a few pots on my porch, and also learned about gmo's and the importance of heirloom veggies and saving seeds. I taught my boys more survival techniques and held classes for ladies as they are a very small portion of the community and it amazed me how little interest they held, which leads to a greater lean on the system. Plus, what the woman insists on is pretty much how the family lives.

I kept learning about cryptos, however, it still seemed so far out of reach for me.

Right before I discovered Steemit we lost everything. Steemit came at a perfect time because now I knew from first hand experience how shaky the system is and how easy it is to fall if you have any reliance.

Steemit introduced me to cryptos with a firm yet friendly handshake. In the past 6 months I have learned far more than all of my research. It is really not hard, it's the lingo used on many crypto sites that is intimidating ;) Because of Steemit I could now learn hands-on without risk.

I have now led a dozen friends and colleagues to Steemit, as well as convinced my boys to learn about crypto and Steemit. And it all started with opening my eyes and a need to be more self-sufficient.

Steemit is changing lives. Steemit is changing the world. Steemit is freedom.

Cryptocurrencies are the future!

What led you to Cryptocurrencies and Steemit?

Images via Unsplash and Pixabay

I appreciate your support :)