With so much going on around us, it can be difficult to keep up with it all. Often times, we wake up and according to routine venture out into our days based upon ritual alone. In all honesty, how many of you reading this now aspire to shake yourself up and do something entirely different each day? As I talk a little about NFT’s I would like to think that they are a lot like shaking yourself up and allowing yourself to embrace growth and progression.

Much about the Web3 space is simply confusing to most and as much as I would like to admit it, I am still dipping my toes into the wild West of chain space as we know it. Do not be fooled with fancy talk though, as Web3 is much the same as Web2 with a new wrapper on it. Fundamental components have changed, absolutely! Just that it is important to distinguish something entirely new from reinventing the wheel. As little as a year ago, not more than a few thousand people ever knew NFT’s even existed and questioned the entire notion of what a “smart contract” was. Now with many people learning about cryptocurrencies and block chain, NFT’s are beginning to take a foothold within normal everyday conversations for those in the know. While adoption is still very low and the use cases are still being vetted out, the smart contracts tied to NFT’s are undeniably attractive in more ways than buying a simple jpeg as many would suggest. Many people simply love the idea of the utility behind NFT’s, their irrevocable and permanent recording upon the very fabric of the block chain, creating a “chain of title” so to speak that cannot be altered or changed. For others it is kind of a blind investment, a see what happens type of a strategy, furthermore there are those early adopters reaping the rewards of “aping in” as it is called for those that see beyond the right click save mentality to venturing into an AI world where everything we do is virtual. In this scenario, NFT’s have bridged the gap from a simple investment on chain to such utilities as belonging to special clubs or a part of a large, extremely limited club allowing access to special events, information and white lists otherwise unattainable to outsiders.

Where this gets interesting for many of us is that Landscape Photography has really shown a tremendous amount of traction early on in this space. For many of us as creatives and collectors alike, the future is bright! Where many people still need to turn the corner is the basic ideology of a “right click save” mentality. Simply put, not many people truly have taken the time to understand block chain, smart contracts and thereby cannot fathom what buying the intangibility of a jpeg in Web3 space even means. For that to happen, native, organic interest must occur and as the money is attracted into the space, this will naturally happen over time and in some instances, very quickly!

Early on you may or may not have heard of truly remarkable artists such as Michael Joseph Winkelmann also known to most as Beeple, through a first-of-its-kind auction at Christie’s sold one of his NFT’s titled Everydays: The first 5000 days for a staggering sixty-nine million dollars! Now this may sound wild to many of us, however it is one of many artists who are seeing spectacular successes in this new chain based art. Another artist who I have long seen as a leader and innovator within the NFT space is Cath Simard! She is a wanderlust filled landscape photographer who has truly captured some of the worlds most far-reaching places and done an incredible job at capturing the essence of these places through the eye of her camera lens! I truly love the way by which we can draw closer to the earth through the eyes of other creators, it makes our own adventures and journeys only that much more special!

As we dive further into Web3 and all of its different spaces, I too have ventured into these many different channels, a form of discovery is occurring. Much of the time, I feel tentative, vulnerable and even a bit turned off at times. Yet, I continue to tread into new territories as my curiosity has beckoned me to venture out and see what the landscape here holds. The first thing many of us look at is the investment vehicle that cryptocurrencies offer. Highly volatile and extremely liquid, these investments feel much more like a rollercoaster ride than an investment and much of the time it feels very much so like being thrown into a fight cage to see if you can handle it! However, the longer you surround yourself in the ethos of what it is, these peaks and valleys seem to become a normal event and you must either develop a long-term strategy or a short-term game. Whether you focus long or short, it is important to develop sound rules for yourself and stick to them. Being emotional about your decisions will get you in a bad spot eventually and disobeying your own rules will also get you burnt. I must state that nothing in here is meant to be as financial advice in any way. I am simply sharing my views on this topic and a little about my personal experiences thus far. With all of this said, spending some time getting to know what NFT’s are will not be a waste of your time. This space is a wave of the future to come and as we near closer to things like quantum computing, it’s only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. What I have learned myself thus far is that you shouldn’t even invest any more than you can afford to lose and plan of living through a few lessons before there is any reward.

The idea behind NFT’s themselves is exciting to me! I have personally been tied to the traditional Fine Art marketplace for well over thirty years! Seeing people adopt these changes and artists furthering into AI adding animation to their artworks along with sound and placing these creations onto live screens is just wild to think about and only our imaginations allow for the ideas to come from this… I for one can literally see holograms and VR experiences being created from this humble beginning. I think in some ways this may even scare me a little because it furthers our necessity in being closer to the earth where we come from. I may be old fashioned; however, I want to still wake up early and see the sun rise with my own eyes and smell the crisp air in my lungs. So long as we do not see this as a means to replace, but to further connect and to remember what is important, I feel like these two worlds can thrive and benefit one another without catastrophic failures.

All of this said, I too am happily a part of this wild new landscape as I am also onboarded as an official artist with SuperRare! This is extremely exciting news to me since I have intentionally held off on minting until a time that came that I was in a position to create something special! It just so happens that now seems to be the right timing for it all as I’m certain if you’re looking at the date of this article, many of you are most likely laughing at what took me so long, and I see your point. I am simply slow to move on many things that I do. Not necessarily tortoise speed but not much faster in many cases. However, I have been waiting and working, learning and growing, building community and assisting new entrepreneurs along the way. I feel like with anything timing is everything. Now that doesn’t mean that we or I will ever be ready, however, being ready is something that I think none of us will ever be prepared for. In many cases we must jump in and adapt on the fly, since nothing is better than trial by fire. However, I wanted to create a base foundation for my “why” and move within the space with a little bit of an understanding of the ethos and a community of people of whom I’ve gotten to know that are the real reason why I desire to be a part of this space to begin with! Community is so much greater than money grabs which takes me to my last thought here.

Over the last year, I have connected authentically with so many good hearted and genuine human beings. All here in this visceral experience of newness and excitement. A place where everyone is learning and forging their own paths! It is encouraging and most of all heartwarming to see so many people having hope for something in their lives to occur that has not yet occurred in this generation! There is no doubt that Chain, Crypto, NFT’s and Web3 has become a fixture to the future of who we become! I for one am excited to be a part of this future together, as our community is strong, and our spirits are high! After all, people are what makes this world such a special place to live and having hope together is what creates the very magic I like to believe makes it so special to be alive! Alas, I am so excited to be in this space with so many wonderful people! I am ready to join in and take part in a new era of art, progression and diversity and grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of the great community that exists here in Web3 and in real life!

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