<center>[![beard.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/derangedvisions/4w3cOvto-beard.jpg)](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/derangedvisions/4w3cOvto-beard.jpg)</center>
<center><sup>Photo taken by a friend</sup></center>

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# <center>It's been a wild ride</center>

<center>![pageBreak.png](https://img.whaleshares.io/wls-img/derangedvisions/6be999e5186e6b2fb4ea41fd6aac09da4bdade6f.png)</center>

I came across @snook's recent post about her [A Snookmademedoit Challenge](https://steempeak.com/dtube/@snook/kmug58quf73) where she is asking a couple simple questions:

## <center> How did I get here?</center>

## <center>Why am I still here?</center><br>

It seams like simple task, so I will give it a try. That first shot of me was taken years ago when I first moved here to Utah when I was holding my niece and we all went to visit the zoo. That image is where I got my avatar that I have been using the whole time I have been here on the platform. It was also the very first image I ever posted here on Steemit.

So anyways... How did I get here to the Steem Blockchain? Well, Back in around October 2017, I started to get more and more interested in the whole cryptocurrency thing, so I started to try and learn as much as I could. I started listening to different YouTubers and trying to find some that weren't just spewing propaganda about how they were making a ton of money, but ones that were actually trying to educate their audience about different projects. 

I found a youtube channel called [Altcoin Buzz](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGyqEtcGQQtXyUwvcy7Gmyg) that was doing a decent job explaining things and was also pretty entertaining at the same time. 

I began signing up for different exchanges and purchasing some different cryptos over the next month or so and became an official "crypto trader" and watched my portfolio begin to explode as the markets went crazy. That was about the time that Altcoin Buzz had mentioned that there was a social media type platform called Steemit that you can share your content and earn a bit of crypto in rewards, so I figured that would be the perfect place for me to share more of my photography with the world and maybe make a bit of money in the process as well.

So I signed up for an account and waited forever for my account to get approved. When I got approved, I started going around and voting on different photography posts that I liked and commenting on them and made my [Intro Post](https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@derangedvisions/hello-steemit-community-this-is-me) that got 11 votes and made a whopping 25 cents. Bear in mind that this was when Steem was at near all time highs as well, so votes were worth quite a bit, lol. 

<center>[![wwest170816_7213.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/derangedvisions/AvKSQd8u-wwest170816_7213.jpg)](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/derangedvisions/AvKSQd8u-wwest170816_7213.jpg)</center>
<center><sup>Photo taken by me @derangedvisions</sup></center>

I made a total of 15 posts during my first month and other than my intro post, only 3 of them actually had any sort of a post payout to them. This post [Macro Photography](https://steemit.com/macrophotography/@derangedvisions/macro-photography) was my highest paying of the month with a payout of 4 cents. The photo above was taken from that post.

The reason I am explaining how my first month went is to give some insight to the new people coming in to the platform now that this place is not a get rich quick place and that it does take a lot of work. When you get to the platform, no one owes you anything and they never do. Too many people come here thinking that votes are owed to them just because they showed up. It takes time and a lot of work to be successful.

One thing I also learned early on is that if you invest in yourself, you will have a much easier time getting success here. If you buy some Steem and power up your account, you are empowering yourself and just making everything you do here more valuable to the whole economy, instead of just powering down and taking from it. 

## <center>Why am I still here?</center>

<center>[![steemfest.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/derangedvisions/j5xTjFFd-steemfest.png)](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/derangedvisions/j5xTjFFd-steemfest.png)</center>
<center><sup>Photo taken by someone awesome at Steemfest</sup></center>

I am still here because I have made some amazing friends. The community here on the blockchain is awesome. Like I said before, this isn't a place to get rich for me. The rewards aren't paying any of my bills. This is all fun for me and I am just here to have some fun and see if I can make a difference in someone's life along the way. 

We have something amazing here with Steem and it is just going to get better in 2020 and I feel blessed to be able to be here with all of you. 

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