Thread by @camibus_

1/ My year in #NFTs. What I've learned. 🤓
A thread 🧵
I want to share with you my journey, the good, the bad and the incredible. Hope it will inspire you and convince you to keep going even when times are rough.

2/ I first heard about #NFTs in January and sold my first piece in March. I went from being a nobody to feeling that I matter and it's all because of this amazing community.

3/ It's sad to see that outsiders think #NFTs are sexist, empty, hateful or a scam. I've met the kindest, most generous people here - people that have supported and believed in me even though they had just met me and had no interest to do so.

4/ I've always wanted to be an artist. I was drawn by the desire to create beautiful things. I was drawn by the quest to find beauty in my life, in the world around me, in the trivial.

5/ But I was a girl from a poor family, from a poverty stricken country, and what I needed more was a secure job. I was born a few days after the fall of communism and things were very difficult in my childhood.

6/ My parents, both engineers, were out of jobs because communism fell and capitalism wasn't a thing yet. They struggled to make ends meet and I knew from an early age a secure job is a must. I did not want to live like them.

7/ My biggest fear and challenge was to be employable. I became an artist because of my calling but I didn't have the concept of being an artist like Dali was - one that creates art for art's sake. I thought the only artist I could be was an employed one.

8/ But I didn't feel like an artist. I had no style of my own, I had no fans, people told me digital art is not even art because it's not painted on a canvas.

9/ I didn't feel I master all subjects and styles and I felt like a failure because of it. How can I be employable if I'm not good at everything? Am I good enough at portraits? Concept art? Animations? Character design? Environments?

10/ Of course it's more about my personality than my skills but I was so critical of myself and had no external validation, of course I felt like I'm not good enough.

11/ I had been growing my Instagram account for 5 yrs and barely got to 1.6k followers. I had a few likes per piece and no one seemed to care about my art. Of course I was disappointed - in myself, in my journey, in everything.

12/ Then everything changed. #NFTs have oppened up a whole new world.
👉 A world in which digital art has value. I'm no longer less of an artist just because I paint in pixels on a screen and not with paint on a canvas.

13/ A world in which it doesn't matter how famous or popular you are. Collectors invested in me because they liked my art and that's it. It didn't matter how many followers I had.

14/ A world in which it doesn't matter where you're from. It didn't matter that I was from the middle of nowhere. What other chance would a girl like me have to 'make it' unless I moved to some big city and make the right connections?

15/ A world in which you can be an artist like Dali - creating art for art's sake and not as an employee.
This is so mind-blowing to me I can't even find the words to describe it! 🤯

16/ A world in which artists get payed well and don't have to struggle just because they chose a profession they're passionate about.
People expect artists to be starving - I'm not even joking. It's so incredible we get paid fairly for our work!!

17/ A world in which you don't have to master EVERYTHING. It's enough to be good at ONE thing and do that amazingly. Your uniqueness is more important than your skill.

18/ And for me, a world in which I finally feel like a true artist and I finally feel appreciated. I feel I am good enough.

19/ So yeah, I'm angry af when I see people complaining about how evil NFTs are. If you don't see how mind-blowing and awesome all this is, you're blind!

20/ Of course not all artists will have the same success I did, but the point is they CAN.
We're all equal here and starting from the same place. This is the biggest opportunity of our lives and the slightest chance of success is worth all the effort.

21/ Never give up!
Everything can change in a moment.
The only thing to remember is to enjoy the journey and not put too much pressure on yourself. Go steady but keep going. Take breaks if you need, but never stop.
I won't. 💜