Hello steemit world!

Hi guys,

First blog post here. Don't have much to say other than to tell you all how happy I am to be a part of what looks to be a wonderful community here on steemit. I also wanted to let you know where my interest areas lie and what I plan to use this blog space to post about.

I do love life. I especially like being outdoors and will do anything from hiking to boating to just hanging out on the patio, grilling and drinking beers with friends. As long as I am outside, somewhere in nature, I am happy. The funny thing is, I also love technology. I'm into anything that is run by 1's and 0's (binary base) and can be utilized to make our human lives and experiences enhanced, such as the blockchain and cryptocurrency. I guess by definition this would put me in the trans-humanist category, though I don't much adhere to labels.

But above all, I find myself always coming back to philosophy in almost everything I do. I believe philosophy transcends almost all else because everything seems to start with philosophy. At one point in my life, I was a pretty devout religious person. I upheld long-standing religious doctrine and dogmas through the literal interpretation of scripture. Until one day, I realized that this was all it was, "interpretation", meaning that it all started with me. Authority could not be derived from elsewhere, it always only ever began with me. I was the one who gave my authority away, trusting in others for their interpretation of scripture, or science, or medicine, or political perspective, etc., etc. And although, that might not be bad to do at times because we humans simply cannot know all there is to know, we must be honest with ourselves and realize that it is us that is determining the boundaries and truth for our own lives. Not someone else. Us.

And so began my journey into other worldviews and perspectives. I've come to learn to appreciate ALL of life and ALL perspectives (even those I am diametrically opposed to), because I know now that it is what makes us who we are. It is what makes me who I am. It gives me my identity. And therefore, I love it all. I love my haters. I love my enemies. And most of all I love life.

At one time I used to grit my teeth when I saw the bumper sticker that said, "Tolerance". I thought to myself, "Tolerance. How can I be tolerant of wrong. Of evil." Of course, at that time, I had such a narrow and rigid worldview that I was forced into believing most of the world was wrong and evil. I've since come to see that much of what I saw as "wrong" was simply another perspective on life. And so I migrated through a short phase of life where I actually appreciated that bumper sticker thoroughly. And now, once again, I find myself at odds with it. It seems to me that to tolerate something implies a bit of annoyance with an opposite. I am not annoyed with my opposite. I find them interesting, entertaining even, and yes, even enjoyable to observe. I do more than tolerate my enemy. I love them and enjoy their company. I think that bumper sticker should say, "Thrive". We should learn to do more than tolerate. We must learn to thrive with each other.

This, in my opinion, is a more holistic (or "holy" as word etymology would lead) view of life and I think it is what the original Jesus arrived at and why he could love his enemies and do good to those who did evil to him, etc. But, there I go philosophizing again. You can see how I love to do that.

And, I guess, that is a good introduction of me.

Love you all and look forward to meeting more of you in the comment section and on.