My name is Barbara Strong.
I have no home, I own 60 kilos of stuff. I am debt free. I don't work which means i have the freedom to use my time in a way that benfits me my family and which ever community i live in. I am always busy helping and creating and I feel that i am free.
I am now an artist and writer, and i maybe more that i havent discovered yet having given up an wonderful career of 20 years truly empowering 1000's of long term unemployed and disadvantaged people to find their way out of benefit dependancy to employment with p
I have over the last 6 years entirely changed my life, and hope to share the journey, the lessons ive learnt because if i can do it, anyone can!!
one of the first changes I made on this road to a second life, was to change my surname name legally to Strong, to reflect the person I am and have always been and I expect always will be. I was never the child my parents raised, or the wife my ex-husband married, I was me and I looked for myself and I found Me and I found that I was Strong and before I discovered that I thought I was scared, frightened, small, poor and a victim, and in many ways my life reflected those beliefs until I changed.
For as long as I can remember, I always felt I was not the person I was meant to be; that the influences all around me, especially my parents but also the influences around me, my “class”, my education, my ex-husband, my culture, society, the media, were all telling me who I was and how to be and yet deep inside none of it felt right and so for a long as I can remember I have been on a quest to change and to find myself, who I really am.
And I have. I am Barbara Strong, by name and by nature, always a work in progress, I continually seek to learn, grow and change. My journey of change was not easy, it took a lot of personal courage. I was prepared to go to the deepest fears of my past, to face them, go through and come out the other side.most people just aren’t ready to face that kind of fear and accept the consequences of that, loosing people, loosing your sense of yourself, of everything that you know. Believe me, it was not easy. But now I reap the benefits from having that courage.
The universe has rewarded me. I now consider myself to be free. It may not be every ones idea of freedom but I am free. I am not rich but then I never wanted to be rich. I am debt free and no longer need to work but choose to help people on my journey. I have the time now to be able investigate my creativity, my dreams and my desires and to continue to work on myself for the benefit of me, my children and family, my friends, my community and I hope to leave a positive dent on this planet.
(image above -providing books and basics to kids in Nepal after earthquake)
I am now 53 years old and since I was 26 I have been trying to change myself whilst raising two kids as a single mum with limited resources both financial and emotional, and a huge poverty and victim mentality. I begun my journey with books from the library which were free and took absolute opportunity of any free online resources and cheap or free live training. Through most of my 20s and 30s I made changes but they were small and very slow.
At 40 I had a massive epiphany, one of those amazing life changing moments and I realised I had spent my entire life in fear and terror and that pretty much every decision or non-decision I had made, big and small, came from that place, fear and terror. I decided at that moment I would tolerate this in myself no more. I was half way through my life. I refused to live the second half of my life in fear and terror. And so I spent the next six and half years actively pursuing and applying all manner of personal development courses, training,reading, listening and learning, largely NLP based. I worked my arse off, refusing to hide from myself, facing my bullshit, pushing myself into frightening and scary situations, building my bravery muscle until I knew the truth, the big truth, that my greatest fear and terror was to be honest with my family and let go of the fear and terror they, through no real fault of their own, had instilled in me.
This was by far the most frightening thing I have ever done, bringing to the surface memories of fear, night terrors, muscle spasms and agoraphobia as I finally took the lid off the can of worms I had been keeping sealed for so many years. I knew there were powerful and long reaching consequences to me doing this but I also knew that to be free in the present I had to be free from the past and so I did it. I faced my greatest fear, I released myself from my fear and terror from my past and quickly after that the universe just kept giving to me as more and more pieces of who I am came together.
I was 47 years old and I had changed. I had the greatest sense of myself and I felt free. But I looked around at the world I still lived in, London, my career of 20 years, my home of 28 years, my grown sons living their lives independently of me (as it should be) and all of it was about who I was and this life situation no longer fitted the person I had become. I needed a new life.
So at 48 years old, having never travelled before I went to India planning to travel for 1 year, which became 2 and half years. I returned to UK after living in India, Thailand, Nepal, Cambodia and Laos and decided to sell my home and everything I own.
I now live a nomadic life travelling between Thailand, Nepal and the UK to see my family. I own about 60 kilos of stuff in small boxes in each country and I live a simple happy life. I am by no means perfect, no, no, not at all, I work hard to rectify mistakes I made as a young scared broken mum, I have many habits that still relate to my past, there are many experiences I have not had and many I don’t even know that I want. My first life was so small and impoverished that I am now experiencing many firsts in my 50’s. Every day is an opportunity to try something new and step outside of my sense of what I think is possible and as always, change still it isn’t always easy but I remain determined and as always will push myself if I have to. Its worked so far.
(image- blessing by entire family i lived with up in the mountians in Northern Laos)
(image -my first mushroom shake)
My interests (these are main things)
I am big into personal development, my own and others especially women and those who are at disadvantage in any given society or culture. I’m into quantum theory, NLP, self-hypnosis.
I actually don’t enjoy travelling that much. I tend to be a settler. I get to a place and settle into the neighbourhood until I have to go, often coming back to the same place when I return. I love being in new cultures and getting down and dirty with the local people. And that’s why I always learn the local language.
I love Languages (as I love communicating in any language) I am learning Thia, can speak Nepali, French and can write Hindi.
I am very spiritual and really interested in Buddhism especially Hinayana path. I’ve attended to Vipassanas and meditate often and read a lot about dhamma.
(image - 1day meditation course-Wat Suan Dok,chiang mai)
I am an artist and I paint on canvas with acrylics. I have had 2 exhibitions and all sales went towards rebuilding lives and homes in nepal.
(image above - one of my paintings - 3 generations of nepali women)
I am now beginning to write.
I still like a bit of adventure, and recently spent a month in Ladhakh at 5700 km in minus 30 degree temperatures. needless to say there weren't many other foreigners there. I like doing things with other people so don’t always do everything I want. I totally dig white water rafting, ready to have a go at wall climbing, abseiling and ziplining. Done 2 skydives already.
I love cooking and trying new foods and am considering offering food tours around all the local food outlets in Thailand.
(image above - yummy thia food)
I love dancing especially to music of black origin, soul, r n b, hip-hop, urban but not too grimy, house, the funkier the better, don’t mind a bit of psytrance, EDM, and just adore deep roots dub reggae. I am a disco diva, a snake hipped ghetto grannie.
So why am I here.
Firstly, to share my story and inspire others. I’ve been told many, many, many times, I inspire people and that’s a huge compliment and has in the past made me feel uncomfortable, but it has been said so many times I now accept it. If through my honestly sharing my journey, my ups and downs, if I encourage someone else to have the courage to step outside of their comfort zone and do something differently, then I have made that little dent on the planet. I hope to share techniques and ideas that I have applied thus far to bring me to my change with others.
I am also creative and have been actively encouraged to write both about how I changed and also about my travels, which have definitely been on the road less travelled and about my experiences living largely with local people in every country I have lived in. In the longer term I would like to write a book(s) I am a strong communicator both spoken and written and being here on Steemit as a place to begin investigating this for my future. I already post a lot on facebook and I may as well be here and maybe earn a few dollars along the way.
I am here to be part of the revolution, I fundamentally and fully believe in blockchain technology, crypto currency and decentralisation. I may not fully understand it all but I deeply get it. I want to part of something that has the potential to empower those utterly disenfranchised, especially as I have lived in some of the poorest countries in the world. Steemit and crypto-currency is just another layer of my personal development journey and I hope to inspire others to dip their foot in too. I am also here for my kids, to take the risk first and show them the way forward. My eldest son had bitcoin years ago but spent it all on weed on silk road, not having any real idea at the time what its real value and potential was.
I here to continue to grow. Just because I am not familiar with this technology yet doesn’t mean it is not of use and I am an open minded free-thinking human and for me to ignore this would be contradictory to everything I have achieved thus far in my life. Me and crypto was inevitable.
So that's my introduction!!
Thankyou to @connecteconomy for encouraging me to use steemit
and thanks to steemit community for all the advice here. it was at times overwhelming.
It has taken the best part of a day to write this introduction post.
I'm not yet sure how to credit people for help, I went back and forwards sooooo many times for guidance on absolutely everything but I will come back to your pages and comment on your guidance in appreciation.
I've definitely got some stuff to learn about images but its done
I do hope you found my introduction interesting
Please feel free to ask me any questions-I've not got much to hide
Anyone more experienced on steemit, please I am happy to have feedback on improvements
Looking forward to getting to know more of you and sharing and supporting you on your journeys
my regards
@beestrong
First of all, thnx for joining this growing social media network built on Steem Blockchain. I'm not here to give you tough advice as I feel I'm still a noob after having spent almost 7 months on Steemit.
Frankly speaking, loved your detailed #introduceyourself post. You know what we're privileged to have you here. Your journey so far is so inspiring that people can take serious life lessons. I wish you the immense success of the journey of Steemit. All the very best.
By the way, I'm Krishnendu from India. It's nice meeting you Ma'am..
@knowkrish
thanks so much for support and encouragement.
i don't actually think i am inspiring, but others do. I think i just have the courage to talk openly about what i have done, to share it and not be afraid. I have many friends who are blind and disabled and they are much more inspiring than me, but they don't have the ability or desire or communication skills to tell others about what they overcome everyday. I believe all people are incredible and capable of great things, I hope my posts help people to try new things and step towards the lives they want. all of us here are seeds of inspiration. i will take some time tomorrow to read your profile and good luck with your ongoing journey and success here thankyou again
Welcome to Steemit @beestrong!
I wish you much success and hope you find Steemit to be as rewarding and informative as I have.
Here are some links you might find useful.
Your stats on SteemNow
Your stats on SteemWorld
Your stats on SteemD
How to use Minnow Booster
How does Steemit actually work?
Introbot is hosted and managed with donations from @byColeman to help make your journey on Steemit be truly rewarding. Your feedback is always welcome so that we may improve this welcome message.
Oh yea, I have upvoted you and followed you. Many blessings from @introbot & @bycoleman
@introbot & @bycoleman
Thankyou for the support. this really does feel like a big adventure and so very much to learn. Its nearly midnight here, haven't looked at a clock for hours so i will be continuing my learning and reading....
You just planted 0.10 tree(s)!
Thanks to @thedarkhorse
We have planted already 3325.34 trees
out of 1,000,000
Let's save and restore Abongphen Highland Forest
in Cameroonian village Kedjom-Keku!
Plant trees with @treeplanter and get paid for it!
My Steem Power = 20757.31
Thanks a lot!
@martin.mikes coordinator of @kedjom-keku
Hi@treeplanter
...what did i do?
How did i do it?
I can see its a good thing...
Newbie...learning curve lol
@treeplanter is a paid voting bot which uses part of each payment to plant trees. I like to use them to give extra upvotes to posts of new members as my voting power isn't large enough to have a big impact sometimes.
Think they require all votes be for someone else, that is you can't buy your own vote from them. Or at least that is how it was at one time, but I've not paid close enough attention to know if that is still true.
Basically I donated 0.10 SBD to get you a vote and help plant a tree. It's a Win-Win to me.
Welcome to steemit Barbara! I loved reading your introduction post. I feel a deep respect how you started your new live - feeling free - being you :) ..and i believe that you are very inspiring to others. Your new last name seems to fit perfectly. It really makes me happy to see humans understanding that their life can be more than the boring every day life.
Stepping out of the comfort zone is not easy but it makes you free...you know that now :) ... i for sure will follow your blog to see more of your story ....i wish you success here on steemit and a lot of inspiring communication! ..Happy steeming!
thank you @psionic-tremors
for appreciating my introduction. I've had a quick look at your profile and we seem to be a kindred spirits. 100% following you and keen to find out more about you and support each other towards our goals. its midnight here and my eyeballs are computered out but tomorrow i will take some quality time out to read more about you. Again thankyou so much
Have a good night and thank you for looking also at my profile! I have a feeling that we will communicate more in the future :)
Welcome to steemit Barbara, I made an article to help new Steemians earn an income here. If you're interested just click on this link https://steemit.com/money/@dynamicrypto/steemit-earning-101
it goes to my latest steemit earning 101 post. Please donot downvote me for trying to help just comment delete & I will remove my post, here on steemit so many quit early before finding these kind of resources. Thanks for Your time and good luck on steemit,
Troy Green (dynamicryptominer)
USN Veteran & father of 5
I do top 10 articles, memes, growing, mining, investing, travel and photography are a few of my hobbies I post about. (I upvote 90% of comments on my posts)
hi @dynamicrypto
thanks for link.
The money will come I am sure, right now the most important thing is to learn the basics, get familiar with the community,build a rep,support others and i trust that rewards will come and its great to know ill have access to resources such as you have provided to me.
Anytime, seems you will do just fine! If you do need any help we are here.
I have resteemed your post and sent you a small paid vote that will hopefully get your rewards a little closer to what this post deserves. You did a great intro post and it's always so hard when that first post fails to get properly rewarded.
Will only say that you need to keep plugging away and not get frustrated by lack of rewards at the beginning. Have read posts from people that have been here way longer then myself and that are now fairly powerful accounts. The how did I get here posts they do tend to show almost no rewards for the first couple months of posting and then it starts to snowball.
It's really not about the posts as much as building relationships. Once you find some good people keep rewarding them with your time and votes. They in turn will reward you back. It's not about vote for vote, but rather we all like to know our content is being valued and then tend to reward those that like what we are doing. It's just human nature.
@thedarkhorse
Thankyou
As before I know what you did both kind and generous, although incompletely understand what you did and i am grateful for the support in these early days.
(I think resteeming is "reposting" and it may have a cost to you..im not sure...ill do some reading...some more reading lol)
Roll on when i am in a position to boost a newbies confidence, profile and value.
Yes a resteem is reposting. It will show up in the feed of anyone that follows me and then hopefully it leads to more votes.
Once you get a good handle on things and some voting weight just remember that someone was willing to help you a little and pay it forward. That is what a lot of steemit is about.
100% all over the pay it forward. Love supporting others and steemit would just be another way of doing it..
Hey there Lovely Travel Woman, I'm Oatmeal Joey Arnold, and love to travel too and love your photos and I was in Canada and ate snail and then was in Hawaii and Vietnam and had so much rice and rice is so delicious and addictive. Welcome to Steemit.
Hi joey sorry for slow reply. Snail..wow...any plans for travel in the future?