Have you ever asked yourself the following questions?

Why are people able to open up about their most personal issues, dreams and struggles on Steemit without being ridiculed?

Why are people from different countries able to get along (for the most part) without being divided by national interests?

Why are we able to see stories from different parts of the world (Nigeria, Phillpines, Venezuela...) that shed real light on the state of life?

Why is Steemit not creating a divide between the 2 parties that are currently at war in the USA on platforms like Facebook?

I've been thinking about this a lot recently, as I never quite expected to see these results occur anywhere online. I think many of the above questions can be answered when we look at the fact that we all share something very important to our human survival: money.

Many of us have become full-time Steemians and we see Planet Steem not as a blogging platform but a digital tribe. Our loyalties come in different flavors and shades, based on our unique belief systems. Let's face it, the systems in place in many countries are not working very well. They are failing hard. I am seeing a lot of patterns while reading stories from various people and what I am seeing is that the human spirit has been weakened. I see a lot of people looking to find employment from others and looking towards their government to solve their nations' problems. Governments are just made up of people, afterall. When we complain about governments and how miserable it is, and if we let that despair consume us, it weakens us.

Many of the great peace movements of the past have been smashed to bits by either powerful elites or a mass media message of consumerism.

The great lie is this: if you get enough money to buy things, then your life will be full and happy.

Money does solve some problems, but not all. By keeping most of humanity enslaved by this idea, the rulers can continue to profit from the backs of the majority poor. Humans will continue to rely on outside forces instead of inside forces for their basic needs. Now there are basic infrastructure needs that are essential, but most happiness in life doesn't come in the form of material things.

People who are in despair and fear are much easier to control than people who are empowered. I think it's safe to say that everyone who is currently trying to survive as a human on the planet wants be more empowered.

The truth that your teachers never told you is this: real empowerment comes from within yourself.

This always sounds woo-woo to say, but I know it's true. I've experienced it. Now, there are many obstacles that can get in your way, as you try to become empowered by your own mind.

Here are some obstacles that affect many humans: fear, rage, jealousy, ego, unfair power structures, discrimination, greed, inability to set boundaries, self-esteem, mental illness, poverty (which turns into a mental disorder), physical health, inability to socialize, lack of creative thinking, indoctrination, brainwashing, shame, not having access to mentors, education, learning the wrong things, addictions, etc.....

In fact, there are so many things about being human that are challenging, that I would guess that less than 1% of the human population ever achieves self-actualization.

For me, self-actualization has always been my primary goal.

But I never followed any meditation guidelines, religions or rules. The main reason I don't follow any one religion is because I always thought it would be more interesting if I made one up myself. What I do follow, though, are my visions. Yes, I do have visions, both in picture form, and also in more descriptive form. I've always had them, and they come to me organically. Unlike others who believe in these visions coming from an outside source, I feel that they simply come from a deeper part of me. It's my belief that everyone possesses these visions, but that few humans pay attention to them because their minds are too distracted by the things that are destructive, like addictions, media, lust, greed, gambling, ego, etc.

Getting to the interior parts of one's mind is like cutting through the outer layers of one's identity with a big machete, and going straight toward the original self. It's scary, and it also brings up a lot of pain. I can see why people would not want to do it. It's my belief that people in the West take drugs to access this inner self which they feel cut off from.

I remember when people used to ask me if wanted to do LSD. I would always answer, "No thanks, I have plenty of visions on my own, naturally, but thanks." This is the truth. I was scared of doing LSD because I thought I might truly go over the edge of insanity, as I see myself already teetering on the edges of imagination, so much so that I could get devoured by my own mind......

For some people, they want to become a millionaire, or build a business, or become a CEO.

The reason self-actualization has been my goal for my entire life is because once I attain that, I can do or be whatever I want. I will no longer be limited in my thinking, and normal fears will no longer hold me hostage.

But it's much harder to attain self-actualization than anything of the above things. Self-actualization is perhaps the hardest thing one could set out to master, because it involves doing away with most of the things that have shaped oneself. This is not easy since we believe that our thoughts and experiences are the things that shape our identities. Experiences have shaped our outer personalities, but not our essential self. Things have happened to us that shaped our responses, but we have an essential self that exists separate from our experiences in life.

I had no idea I was going to talk about this deep stuff.....what I was trying to say is that we all are coworkers in a decentralized organization, that has no physical boundaries. If you think about Planet Steem in these terms, it might release your mind from only thinking about blogging as a means to earn. You might be tempted to start any number of projects that go well beyond the scope of blogging......You might even start a new religion....

That was the design.

I have some big news of a new project coming soon. I hope it's going to be epic and absurd!

Cheers,
Stellabelle