What is: #RealOnesOnly (Re posted Article)

Author’s Note/Update: Mid 2023 blog for Idea Factory.

Authenticity has never had more leverage.

Some changes since then, but the #RealOnesOnly are still there. Grinding Daily.

What do you seek?

Let’s talk about real for a moment. Open Kimono, no holds barred, in your face reality that is dedicated to my friend. My bruv, across the pond; Micky T. He does weekly spaces with Scooter called “#TheRealOnesOnly. Monday, this mfer and his entire community answered a few questions that have been absolutely nagging at me for a while.

What does “real” mean to me? What it may mean to others and most importantly, wtf is anybody doing about it? Authenticity, that’s what we’re covering.

We find ourselves in a unique point in time, I truly believe that. Fear is global. The term World War III is on the thoughts of many. Global economic uncertainty runs rampant. Big banks crashing hard, energy costs rising and don’t get me started on the SBF’s and “influencers” of our corner of web3 either. Speaking of Web3, without a doubt undoubtedly, there is… yup, you guessed it, doubt..

Between questioning the legitimacy of NFT’s (either by project or utility), plummeting floor prices, or longevity in general, NFT world has met reality. Add an explosion of meme coins and royalty woes and “will NFT’s survive” is a valid question, in my opinion. (and before we continue, NFA, DYOR etc.. you do you)..

See what I did there? FUD.. called out, rick-rolled as it were, in a post about being real. And now, I’ll try to talk about the status of Web3 and ways to find our own niche, our own passions and authenticity. I put myself in a damn deep hole right out of the gate. But, I’m going to fight my way out of this mess, because I know no other way. Nobody said I was smart, but sometimes that’s the way these things go. Unfiltered, real-time thoughts.

My Start in Web3

My Start in Web3

A little over a year ago, I found W3. Fascinating place full of so many different individuals. (side note) I’ve spent my whole life as a jaded, f-you gen X. I didn’t need you, because I didn’t trust you and more than likely didn’t like you. We just deal with our own shit, it’s the GenX way. It is/was a lonely existence, but hey… Whatever. Right?

I gotta tell ya, Web3 was just like Web2 from that viewpoint. Scammers, people that like to hear themselves talk, influencers who are really good and I mean really really good at convincing you their way is the only way. My individualized bubble wasn’t penetrable, and that was by design, and I’ve come to realize, the design was less than optimal. Flawed in the sense, that I found some real people in that process, but only saw them as individuals. Genuine. Willing to be brutally honest and real, but there was more to it.

One of them you might have guessed is Micky. Him and I were retweeting, entering give-a-ways, even joined a few of the same projects. I’d listen to him on spaces and knew, instantly, that this mfer was not only a great presence in these spaces, but just a solid cat…start to finish. Probably was that accent, I don’t know. That grew into a friendship and we’ve been in touch ever since. We’ve had long conversations about projects we’ve been in, founders and life in general.

I was finding my way. Realized I could be me. Real me. Authentic self and it’s something I never tried.

You see, boring ass corporate Kelly with the business degree and 20 years experience managing hoards of nerds through the world of Servers and Storage was rarely authentic. Passionate about the work, sometimes. Fond of working with peers? What do you think. The one thing though, I always found the most authentic about that old life were the folks on my teams. Hard working, technology dorks. My kind of people. Some of them have turned into life long friends.

So, I started being me. Sometimes I write poetry (will haiku for eth, fyi) and I’ve been known to ramble out a tweet thread, or blog from time to time. Sometimes I’m an idiot, and sometimes I’m downright profane, but the inner me, is now the outer me. I was chugging along, and still isolated, but exploring the actualities of what digital identity means.

And then one day.. I was listening to a space.. this one..

Minding my own business, I didn’t really do spaces. Not my thing. Just listening to Micky and Scooter talk about projects etc. Micky was talking about monetizing time, finding ways to capitalize/monetize the work already being done. Great convo.. That’s why I was LISTENING!

And then, before you knew it, I was on stage. Thought I hit the wrong button and said fck that, moved down to listener. Bam, right back up on stage. I was confused, but accepted my fate.

You see, that dirty bastard plucked me up to talk.. about me. Caught me off guard and I blathered about something, but then Micky took the time to talk about what I was doing. The work I had been putting in. The very first person in Web3 to tell me.. hey mfr, you are doing good work. Keep going. It meant more than any interaction I’d had in Web3 to that point. It was REAL, it felt real.

That night, I did what any good W3 degen would do. I got absolutely baked a.f and contemplated what in the hell do I do with this information? The same confirmation I’ve heard from professors, bosses, family and friends my whole life. “Hey, this is good, you should write for a living”.

And you know what? I went full send. With another real one. His name: Crystal King. He started a group of #CryptoScouts. A group of folks using twitter to boost specific hashtags, and create content. We were brand boosters. That quickly developed into Weed.Army. A cannabis focused market that connects cannabis friendly markets and users. I started writing blog posts with CK about cannabis. Passionate, hell yes. Fun with co-workers, hell yes squared.

Looking for Cannabis info?

https://weedarmy.world/blogs/weed-army (archived)

From there, a new project emerged. The Idea Factory. Same core group of people in cryptoscouts, led by CK. Now, I work with him daily and if there is one thing he’s got in common with Micky, it’s being real. Unfiltered and raw.

Idea Factory answers the questions What (#iF). What if we had a group of passionate, like minded folks that wanted to create content, engage and solve problems for both Web2 and Web3? What #iF? Idea Factory

Image by Carmen

Over the last couple of months, I have revamped my presence in Web3, working daily with people that have the same mindset. Collaboration, positivity and creativity and I gotta be honest, it’d been the best, most productive time I’ve spent in the last year. And I do it with community. In that time I’ve learned how to create art to supplement my primary task of writing and it is opening doors I had no idea existed. I am an a.i artist and writer now, dare say: A.I Prompt Engineer. It’s official. My heart and soul is pouring out of me and I’ve never been more content.

My life is changing daily and I am thankful to have run into two of the realest people I have encountered in my life. Period. Full Send.

Micky T and Crystal King.

Fantastic people, family oriented and dead set on doing what’s right, not easy. They create/demand the exact right approach, vibe and mindset that accompanies growth, relevance and community, and that community is as authentic as they are. It is rare in this space and I appreciate every single person in each community.

I can’t express the gratitude I have for both of these two without droning on for pages and pages and I doubt anyone has time for that shit, so I’ll close it out here.

Micky… Thank you my brother. I appreciate you in ways I’ll never be able to articulate. So, this is a thank you for being real and about community and finding our way. We need to chat. I have a key to the Idea Factory with your name on it. Much love fam..

We will take that “journey” we’ve talked about. I have not forgotten.💚

CK, I’ll see you at the factory.

For anyone that’s made it this far, check out Micky and Scooter’s spaces on Mondays. If you have a problem that needs solved, check out the Idea Factory.

What if content creation, engagement and authenticity were the way out of this crypto winter and into real results for Web2, created through Web3.

What (#iF) mfers.. What if..