Hello Steem, I'm back .. and I have lovely guests with me!
I'm doing good!.. finally :) Took me long to get there - same as getting back to Steem. But the most important thing is that I did it. I still haven't told y'all why I haven't been around for about a year now. And again I have to put you off guys - since today's post is not about me and my (Off-)Steem journey, but about Stacie D (@freedomtowrite) & The Yeti (@freedompoint) from "The Inner Blocks", which I've met on my way back.
(Thanks to @tibfox from the @ddaily crew for the creative link-up at that point! That's what makes Steem the liveliest community in social media spheres.)
All of you who wanna hear about my last year's rollercoaster have to stay tuned. Go, grab some Popcorn! Tease me, tease me ;)
(no animals were harmed writing this post; the dog gave his consent to answer the call ;)
(please forgive me for my text formatting skills - I'm cross-testing the "The Inner Blocks" text editor vs. the Steempeak's markdown editor fork to find out which one is better [spoiler: both have pro & cons])
In today's post I'm speaking with the founders of the "The Inner Blocks" - aka "the best self reliant DApp on the [Steem] Blockchain" - about the project and their ambitions, but also a bit about themselves.
Maybe that's where we're starting off as a warm-up for all those who don't know you yet..
Tell us a bit about you!
Who are you and what makes you you? What gives you strength?
-(Yeti) Wow, that is a great first questions. What makes me...me....hhmm. I have been a born again faithful believe in Jesus Christ since I was 15. Over the past 21 years my spiritual life has grown and evolved, and set me free from what we would know as the normal. My faith in the idea that there is way more than what we current experience. That is what give me strength..God...and the fact that we don't actually know everything so things don't have to be just how they are. Our realities can and are constantly changing.
-(Stacie D) What a deep question to kick things off! I think I would start with what gives me strength. I've been a follower of Christ since I was sixteen, and over the years my faith has grown and grown. I know that whatever situation we are in, that I can call on Him to bring peace, strength and perspective. Now, what makes me...me. I love laughing and feeling at peace. So I engage in a lot of things that feel like warm hugs. Movie date nights with the hubs, afternoon yoga, creative writing and engaging conversations with my kids. Also hot beverages...I love a good hot beverage!
(original image source * graphic edit by @roger.remix of @imagenius)
@freedompoint / The Yeti: what directly jumps into everyone's eye by reading through your posts is your drive to "do & build". Would you call it a passion, a hobby or is it even more than that?
-(Yeti) I think that it is more than that. I would say that yes, I have a drive to do and build, but I see it as a need to create. I know that everyday that I wake up I have an opportunity to make something happen. Meaning, I know we create out reality everyday, good or not good. I have a longing to create the most amazing experience for anyone that I ever meet. I believe it is more than just a passion. Over that past few years I have come to the understanding that God is the creator of all things, even us, and that the same energy flows through us. We are creators of this world. We can either stand back and live in the world that others have created for us, or we can create a new one that we and others can enjoy.
@freedomtowrite / Stacie D: in your "The Inner Blocks" podcast - Episode 1 you've mentioned that writing became some sort of therapy for you. What does it mean to you personally? Could you also give us a little insight in the process?
-(Stacie D) When I started writing, about 10 years ago, I found that I had a lot of stories inside of me. There's something in feeling the emotions of others that makes me want to tell their story. The problem I faced was the part of my brain that needed everything to be perfect...the grammar...the sentence structure...the boring stuff, ha! When I started writing on Steem, and found the Freewrite House or at the time it was just @mariannewest hosting a 5 minute prompt daily. I was instantly drawn to it, and from the first time I participated I found what writing freely meant. I turned off the part of my brain that said it wasn't good enough, and just let it flow. I was surprised and excited to find that people genuinely enjoyed my writing, and by letting it flow out of me it was like taking a long deep exhale. A lot like how yoga feels. A nice release.
You are homeschooling your kids. What was the reason for that? Do you regret to have made that decision? What are the challenges and how do you achieve to overcome them?
-(Yeti) The reason we chose to homeschool our kids is two fold. I had a personal experience at a job I was working that showed me just how unsafe public schools were. It led me to begin praying through what would be the best fit and direction for my new family. I do not regret anything. Each day that I have to spend with my kids is a blessing. I have the ability to give myself to them, and share with them everything I know and new experiences. The challenges that I see is individual learning styles. Since we are all different people, we have had to learn how to convey information differently depending how the kid receives it. We are constantly learning as adults. So we had to learn how to teach, so the kids could learn how to learn.
-(Stacie D) One day my husband came home from work, and said he would love if we could homeschool our kids. That's what really kicked it off. Over the years I have found that it is so much more to us than making sure they can do their math assignments. It means that we get to share everything with them. We definitely don't regret it. It fits inside our family so well, I can't imagine doing anything else. Our biggest challenge is just what my hubs said, the different learning styles and how they constantly evolve. Something that worked yesterday might not work today. The kids don't always show up with their best self, but we have to work through that. The beautiful part is that I've learned that you never stop learning, and the best thing I can do for my kids is to teach them how to learn.
I think it might be interesting to catch up on this another time and eventually make an own topic or feed out of it.
- What do you guys think? - let us know in the comments below!
If you want to find out more about Stacie D & The Yeti, what they've lived through, how they became Steemians and what it means to them check out their "The Inner Blocks" Radio Show - Episode 1!
In the past you have been quite active on the Steem Blockchain and were also involved in other Steemian communities..
Why you decided to move forward and built "The Inner Blocks", instead of following the already known and established path? Were you missing something? What was your motivation behind it?
-(Yeti) We are still very involved with many communities throughout the Steem Blockchain. We have been a part of other projects as well. We decided to step out and create The Inner Blocks because we didn't see another community that filled the need. What we actually have seen over the years is that many communities will start, and grow, and then it will begin to split into smaller niches. It will create its own discord server, images, post footers etc. So you end up with many different communities that all share a larger vision, and share all of the same people, except they want to be set apart and recognized as individual. I believe that The Inner Blocks is a way to bring the many pieces back together. With a focus on Self Reliance and Wellness it umbrellas many different communities. As we continue to fine tune the dApp that we have developed, we would love to offer these other communities the ability to utilize the dApp and bring all of the various and amazing content into one place. The motivation is that I HATE things that divide people. I build with love, and want to bring people together.
-(Stacie D) I don't think I could say it better than my love. We are very passionate about seeing people come together in a real way.
On your homepage you describe in your intro video & also in the about us section what it has to do with the blocks..
could you break it down for us?
-(Yeti) Amazing. Yes. We put alot of thought into how to describe what makes us...us. We believe that we are all responsible for our own well being. That is why The Inner Blocks has expanded on the idea of Self Reliance and Wellness. Whether it is homesteading, cutting your own firewood and gardening, or meditation, yoga and writing music. We are all responsible for our physical, mental and spiritual well being. Like a recipe we are all made of many parts. Since we are all different, the recipe must be different. Instead of the word ingredients, let us use the word blocks. All of the different (ingredients) blocks inside of us is what makes us who we are. Most content on social media will be geared toward which ever of our blocks have gotten the most attention. We want to recognize that we all have many blocks. We want to support the person behind the content. We want to host content that is first hand, and experiential.
-(Stacie D) Again, he nailed it. Something we have constantly fought against was the idea that you have to shut yourself in a box to make it on social media. If someone only wants to show one side, than that's great, but if you wished there was more space to let yourself shine than the Inner Blocks is really for you.
If I'm completely new to the Steem universe, what would you advice me? Where shall I start? Where shall I stop?
-(Yeti) I would strongly recommend that anyone start by supporting others. Explore the tags and find content that you enjoy. Comment, upvote, interact with others and begin relationships. Everything beyond that will be natural. The posting will come. The communities will come. The crypto will come. Don't stop. There is no end to the possibilities on the blockchain. I started by supporting, then writing, then video, then a daily vlog for a year while joining communities, then building communities, now building a business on the blockchain.
-(Stacie D) Be genuine to others and yourself. Go out there and make friends, not for gain but to help support. When the time is right, your content will be created and bloom and all of the friends you have made along with way will be there for you!
.. and another tough one: how would you introduce the project to an "asocial non-techie"? Would you give it a try or is it a waste of time?
-(Yeti) I absolutely would try. I would start with a common thread. If the person has a common thread with some of the content that I have seen, I would start by recommending they check it out. I would even share a link and say..“hey, just click the link and read this“ If they do, and enjoyed it, through conversation I would recommend that they make a comment. That would open the door for further information to flow. Even if it doesn't go far, I would always try.
-(Stacie D) I would definitely try! I wouldn't consider myself very techy. It has been a skill I have learned and am continuing to learn. So I would encourage them to take it slow, and start with reading something that interests them. If they're inspired then I would help walk them through the basics, just like a lot of Steemit users did with me.
How do I qualify to become part of "The Inner Blocks"? How can I get involved? Is there an entry barrier?
-(Yeti) There are no real barriers per se. What would qualify someone to become part of The Inner Blocks varies. Not everyone does the same. Some are content creators. Some are developers. Some are communities leaders. Getting involved is a matter of jumping it. We would ask that creators with relevant first hand experiential content us the tag 'innerblocks' and begin to post via our dApp. There is always a place for supporters. We would love for people to use our media and images, which you can find on discord. We also love when people get involved and supporting the content on the tag. We enjoy the conversations on discord. We also always appreciate delegations to the account @theinnerblocks. All of these things help us to further support creators.
-(Stacie D) Yup, just like above, there are a lot of different ways you can be involved. For the average user, it would posting their first hand, self-reliant and wellness experiences using the tag #innerblocks.
What's your targeting group?
-(Yeti) That's easy, everyone! There is a place for anyone that wants it. The content we are looking for, like I said before, is about first hand experiential content. There are many things that would not fit in the tag or on the dApp, but that doesn't mean that those creators don't have another interest they would like to share.
-(Stacie D) This is my favorite part! When people hear the words self-reliant they automatically think homesteading or off grid living or something else that's hard to obtain in this modern world. But we feel that anytime you take your life into your own hands and create an experience, that this is self-reliance. Do you cook for yourself or your family? Do you garden, even if it's some herbs in an apartment? Do you write or create music? Do you take care of your health through physical fitness or healthy eating habits? All of these, and more, are you being self-reliant...not relying on someone else to make it happen for you. So when you look at your life and see all the blocks that make you, and then you see how those experiences translate into first-hand experiences, that is the content that fits.
What makes it different from my Steemit user experience for example?
-(Yeti) We like that we are beginning to funnel amazing content into the same place. We are beginning to bring amazing creators from all over the world, and from many different genres into the same place. We are creating a place that you will be able to find all of this Self Reliant and Wellness based content in one place, without having to sift through random content to find it.
-(Stacie) Yes, just like the hubs said, we wanted to make it easier to find the Self-reliant and wellness content in the same place.
Is there anything else you'd like to address here and now? What are plans for 2019 (and beyond)?
-(Yeti) First, thank you for this interview and the opportunity to share our creation with the world. As far as 2019, we are going to polish the dApp. We are working to create the most user friendly dApp on the blockchain. We want to create a portal for mass adoption. When the many users come, which they will, we will be in a position to welcome them in. Beyond, we would love to grow the brand The Inner Blocks. We would love to continue to supporting great content for years to come, and even begin marketing products with our logo.
-(Stacie D) Thank you so much for this opportunity! We are working hard right now in making the dApp as easy to use as possible. We are also working on supporting other communities and letting them know that they are not in this Steemit world alone. We are excited to do our part in making the onboarding easier in the future as that develops. We would also love to do big things in the world outside of the internet, giving to charities, hosting events and having Inner Blocks merchandise! Yeti Bobble Head?? Hahaha I'm kidding, but a nice hoodie with the emblem would be pretty cool. One day at a time though!
Many thanks for taking the time to let us know how you drive this community forward and make it a fruitful and vital place!
I'm sure it won't be the last time that we hear from you.
By the way, do you already have a time & date for your next radio show?
-(Yeti) Our next radio show will be Tuesday May 28, 2019 on The Ramble's rambling radio.
-(Stacie D) ...at 4:00 pm EDT...
For all of you tough readers who made it until the end, you truly deserve to become a "TIB"-member!!
You should join their Discord server: https://discord.gg/n8vnHH
Blessings.
Peace out, #Roger