I've lost my spouse to the cryptocurrency world. I used to find him glued to his computer screen, engaged in the rapid chaos of a World of Warcraft raid. Now he studies the orderly columns of the Poloniex exchange. While others spend their downtime scanning social media or binge watching Netflix, he listens to podcasts on mining.
But this is how he rolls -- all in, with intensity. Case in point, when he first started working with a personal trainer two years ago, he became borderline obsessed with exercise -- so much so that he insisted on providing me with detailed play-by-plays of every workout.
It was a whole new language -- BCAAs and dumbbell complexes, thrashes and squat racks. I'd nod my head and smile encouragingly, and toss in a question here and there, until I had absorbed just enough of his burgeoning knowledge to carry on a conversation.
Because this is how we communicate our differing interests. He talks to me about things like MMORPG raids and I talk to him about story arcs, plot lines and character development. And somewhere along the line, we find a place to meet.
Then, a few months ago, a whole new interest took hold of him, complete with its own terminology. My mild curiosity was no match for his raging enthusiasm, and at first, I struggled to keep my eyes from glazing over, or rolling back in my head, when he regaled me with his daily updates.
"Blah blah blah blockchain. Blah blah blah cryptocurrency. Blah blah blah etherium. XRP! XRP! XRP!
He talked about his newfound love for cryptocurrency and excitedly showed me charts and graphs. I nodded and smiled. "That's nice, dear. Just don't invest more than you can afford to lose."
And so life carried on, until one day, in the midst of his rambling, he threw out a word that caught my interest.
"Blah blah blah writing."
"What did you say?"
"Oh there's this new blogging platform that runs off the blockchain. Its like Facebook, except you can earn cryptocurrency -- a.k.a money. I think you'd really like it."
And so, my friends, that is the story about how I found Steemit. And it turns out my husband was right. Although I still have much to learn, I am impressed. And I like it a lot.
So while my spouse rails on about Ripple and ponders whether XRP really is the next big thing, I believe that the next big thing -- at least to me -- is here, in this community, with all of you.