Hi, Steemit! This...this is scary. I have no idea why, since I've been blithely prolific on who knows how many websites, but I only know one person on Steemit, and so this seems scary. But I'm pushing through and making the first post, and hopefully that'll break the ice for me.
My name is Rachel. Here's my favorite picture of myself for reference:
That lion hat is for fashion AND function, by the way. I get earaches in the wind and the desert is windy. It serves a most noble purpose.
Anyway. Life is long, and I'm not sure which personal facts about me are going to be relevant for this audience. Here are 10 of the most salient:
I am mentally ill, with bipolar disorder. Misdiagnosed as depression at 17, and my first psychotic break was at 22. It has been hell. But it makes you very grateful for the good days, and that's nothing to sniff at. I also have markers for PTSD due to sexual abuse in adolescence. I will likely blog on coping with that, because even after 10 years, I'm still learning things, and I would have loved to have more support and counsel back when I was really in the darkest bit of it.
I love art. LOVE IT. It lends life meaning. I play music, write poetry, and paint, in that order, and hopefully I'll just be spamming all my art on here, since it's the one thing I never mind sharing with the world.
Musically speaking, I play mostly acoustic jazz and folk for myself, although I play bass in a classic rock cover band. Laura Marling, Counting Crows, Billie Holiday, Julie London, and The Killers are probably my top five favorite artists.
I write mostly free verse, although I love working with form and have done haikus, sonnets, terza rima, you name it. Walt Whitman, Pablo Neruda, and certain poems of Billy Collins can always punch me in the gut.
I took up painting about two years ago, so I'm not really honed on anything stylistically. I do mostly abstracts, I love working with color and texture more than shape. I love Klimt, Francis Bacon, and I'm lucky to have a lot of acquaintances that do really amazing work, so that's inspiring.
Here's a smattering of art I've done.
I'll be honest, I'm not really sure in what direction this blog will go. I've done comedy blogs with moderate success, and I love comedy blogging, and doing absurdist rants, but I also have enough specific interests that I could take it in a more content-specific direction, like finally putting my Comparative Literature degree to use. I honestly don't know. But in any case, I'll try to make it worth your while. Thanks for reading!
Welcome to Steemit! Hope you have fun!
I wish you the best! and hope to see you soon.
Hey @rachelkelly
welcome to Steemit hope you gonna have a lot of fun over here :-)
nice to meet you, looking forward to see you around
keep going and steem on
pls have my welcome upvote
@chrisx aka MelonMan ^^
Welcome to Steemit! I get earache in the wind too. The lion hat looks awesome. Like others have said, feel free to blog about all sorts of different things. I specially liked your paintings.
You're an artist too! Hehhe :) Geez Laura knows the coolest people :) Welcome To Steemit! I'm following you! Post more art! I love your work :)
You're one of those people! :D
AWW so sweet heheh :)
Aww the positivity on here is the best ^_^ Thank you! And yeah whatever happens #therewillbeart
Welcome! Interesting people can for sure succeed here. Just share your strangeness and rake in the rewards!
Welcome to Steemit @rachelkelly :)
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Welcome @rachelkelly.
You need not worry. You are going to enjoy it here at steemit.
I had that fear initially but i've overcome it.
Please feel free to ask for support when you need one. This is a wonderful community.
Didn't I see you in a Star Wars episode? LOL
Yeah I'm suing LucasFilms, they stole my likeness for the Tauntaun
Funny, I love it. You have a sense of humor!!!
Hi Rachel,
It's great to have you on Steemit!
Nice to meet you!
Thanks for the welcome! Nice to meet you too
Welcome to steemit, happy to have you here
I am @alienposts , my real name is achraf :)
Checkout my blog posts, Enjoy your time here and let's get this party started :)
So glad you joined. :) I use this site a lot more than facebook these days so I will be happy to see more of you. ^_^
Welcome to Steemit @rachelkelly! I love abstract painting.. Please post more art ..Followed and upvoted
I love your paintings! Especially the tree. I've always wanted to make split canvas art, its very beautiful. These days my art has been mostly digital, as it is a lot cheaper and I've found specialization in it, but painting will always be my first love <3
You seem really cool and creative :)
Good luck with your blog! I'm still figuring out what direction I wanna take mine in too!
Thanks! I have a love/hate relationship with digital art...I love the flexibility and how exact you can be but hate learning new interfaces. But it's still really fun.
Welcome to the community Rachel @rachelkelly! You'll do great :)
Welcome to Steemit! No reason to fear us we don’t bite, I promise. You will find Steemit is a very happy and cheerful place. It is always nice to have a place where you can express yourself and everyone is so supporting.
I have written a short guide to help answer basic questions newcomers have. It can be found here.
Stunning intro post, I followed you on the basis of it. The fantastic thing about Steemit is you can post whatever you feel like at the time. Art? Post! Music? Post! Poetry?.... you get the idea. I know you will do well here.
I definitely post anything that I feel like from day to day and it can vary widely. I agree. :) There's a crowd for every subject 'round here.
Doesn't have to go in any certain direction! I love Collins too! Keep steemin' can't wait to see more from ya. Photography is my current fav form of art if you want to check some out! I also write a bit of poetry from time to time, would love to talk words with ya! stick around and don't be scared!
Welcome to steemit @rachelkelly. You will do great here
great art
Good musical tastes! I'm looking forward to hearing you play.
I have a couple of friends who are bipolar, it's not an easy trip. I'm just dealing with clinical depression, so I don't know quite how bipolar feels, but I've seen some of the effects of it on my friends who have it.
Welcome to steemit! I'll be following you.
Bipolar is just a roller coaster you can't see and have to learn how to prepare for. The only upside is hypomania (low mania), where you have a lot of energy, high mood, rapid thought process, but you're still rational. I've gotten crazy amounts of work and personal projects done in that phase, and you can use it as a productivity buffer against the depression that usually follows it. Clinical depression is a heavy thing. I hope you're in a good place with managing it. Thank you for your welcome ^_^
Wow your photo is very good. I really like it. I try to immortalize in my file. I want to share with you please visit my wall and upvote and follow me @sunbahri
Welcome to Steemit! You are going to love it here :)
Nice works @rachelkelly Welcome and Upvote🙂
Hello and welcome to Steemit!
I wish you all the inspiration in the world and tons of fun here.
Please, check out my blog :)
@velimir
It's steemers like you that make steem beautiful.
"Steem is beautiful" ... Stop by and take a look.
https://steemit.com/minnowsunite/@steemisbeautiful/what-makes-steem-beautiful-025
I am following, upvoting and featuring you.
https://www.steemithelp.net/
Stay Original >Stay Creative >
Minnows united will succeed