Who is John Galt?

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Who am I?

Hello there Steemers, Steemvillians….um, Steem-muffians? I’m not sure what the standard title is for members of this community. Heck, I’m still not quite sure what this community really even is. My name is Jon, and I have been addicted to technology for some time, and when I say technology, I mean Facebook. :) I have loved to share content of goings on in the world, both big and small, and in the past year and a half, have been sharing a lot more about my personal journey. I like to think that I am somewhat tech savvy, but I have never really strayed far from Zuckerberg’s fiefdom to explore the freedom of other venues. 

Several hours ago, as I learned the term "steemit" for the first time and began perusing around all these very interesting posts, I couldn't help but feel like Dagny Taggart as she finally found the hidden titans of industry up in the Colorado mountains. As all the masses go about their daily drudgery online, you lot seem to be hidden away here in the valley, sharing ideas and building community. At least that's the best I could surmise from trying to understand how it all works. What do I know though? Who is John Galt?

So first....a little bit about myself. I am a Marine Corps veteran, a hospice nurse, husband to a vegetarian/granola/attachment-parenting/homeschooling mom, father to two amazing rugrats, and a Christian (although I am hesitant to use that title as it can be so misleading and mean so many different things). I was diagnosed with an annoying little abnormal growth of tissue in my skull in November of 2014 that kind of turned my life upside down. It was thankfully benign, but I learned how misleading that term can be.  

Me and my family

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I flew from Indiana to Los Angeles to have surgery in March 2015, and was off work for 3 months as I fought like hell to gain what is referred to as my "new normal". Removing that little 1.5 cm abnormality resulted in my being completely deaf in my right ear, my right balance nerve being severed, chronic headaches, and a perpetual state of feeling severely hung over. Since that time however I have gained that new normal, have returned to the work I love caring for the terminally ill, and have thrived as I push myself in my recovery. 

Some pics from my surgery

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I now have a bionic "ear" implanted in my skull to help with the deafness called a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid) that gets me a lot of stares and questions about my "latest Bluetooth", and I have lost 40 pounds since my surgery as I've had a newfound motivation for taking my health and fitness seriously. I have been getting into lifting weights, but am currently turning my attention towards running as I start training for a half-marathon which will be the second one I've done since my surgery (and sixth total). I also have returned back to school recently for my bachelors in nursing (all online) with plans to then go straight into an MBA program for healthcare management. 

My BAHA

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Why am I here?

I have spent the past year+ writing about my journey through brain surgery and adjusting to its challenges. I have shared my writings on a couple of Facebook support groups in hopes that it helps prepare them for their own sucky journey, and several of those peeps have told me how well I write. One in particular reached out to me today and told me about this site and encouraged me to use my propensity for writing and trying to inspire others to possibly make some money on the side. I will say that after reading up on what steemit is, I still do not know how it works or understand how this can generate real money. What I am really interested in however is validation from people who are not related to be by blood, Facebook "friendship", or tumor association who can read some of what I write and offer brutal honesty into whether or not what I have written regarding my story is worth sharing. I know that no matter what, it is important to me and I have to ensure that it is written down for my children to understand what their daddy went through one day.

For anyone that would be interested in reading my journey, I will post chapters at a time and would welcome any input you could offer. In addition to my personal tumor story, I also like to delve into political topics from time to time and may see if that is popular here. I DETEST the hateful ugliness that is so ubiquitous in social media when it comes to anything politically related and wish we could discuss and debate issues with intellect, logic, and civility. I used to run a FB page that was focused on advocating for the 2nd Amendment and although my page was fairly small with only about 7,000 likes, it became a full-time job moderating all the hate and vitriol that popped up. When I'm not working, studying, or trying to be a good husband and father, I think I will be transitioning my addiction from the vapidity of Facebook to this more substantive outlet.

I really look forward to meeting new people from all walks of life on here and learning from all of you, both personally and technologically (as I still don't know what the heck I'm doing here)! I can't wait to see where this leads!

Thanks,

Jon