First and foremost I am a citizen of the world, and at the same time I am a Canadian, an immigrant, a person with a disability, a writer, the list goes on. But like for most people there are things about me that change over time, at least to a certain extent.
I was born and spent my childhood in Poland. Life during communism wasn’t easy (the line-ups, the product shortages).
In the mid-seventies I was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, a condition in which a person gradually loses muscle strength and eventually requires a ventilator to live. I try not to concern my self with this and live and enjoy my life.
By age six I could no longer walk, and It was not possible to get a proper wheelchair for me. This and other reasons (many to do with my health) prompted my parents to seriously consider emigrating, which was not easy in a communist country.
Finally, in the summer of 1981 and several months before martial law was imposed, we pretty much escaped from Poland (by claiming to be going on vacation) and drove continuously (other than sleep breaks) to Belgium. We ended up in the small town of Stavelot, where we had arranged a place to live. This was incidentally very close to the formula 1 racing circuit. The significance of this was that I was always obsessed with automobiles and here I was. The irony is that I was probably too young at the time to enjoy watching racing and I couldn’t afford to go to one. I did manage to attend the 1982 Brussels International Auto Show, which for me was like being in heaven.
In the summer of that year we emigrated to Canada, which my parents decided was the best place for us (I agree).
My family and I in a 1982 Vancouver Sun newspaper soon after our arrival in Canada
In 2005 I went to the hospital to get a tracheotomy done to help with my breathing. Right after returning home I hired a new care attendant. I was quite weak and vulnerable for a few weeks and she took very good care of me. This probably explains why I was soon in love with her.
The first time I gave her a gift I included a love poem I wrote for her. This became a habit and soon I was writing all kinds of poetry. A few years and several poems later I began reciting them at various local venues. In 2017 I self-published a book of poetry (see here for more info).
Here I am reciting poetry at the Vancouver Poetry Slam in 2013. Doing spoken word in public had a very positive effect on my confidence levels. This is one poem of mine that was short-listed in a contest.
I wrote my last poem in 2014, the same year I got into the day trading of stocks. That didn’t work out too well for me (except that it taught me to be more decisive and less apt to give up) so in 2017 I switched to investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies. See here for a more detailed story of how I got into stocks, and here for cryptocurrencies. Recently I also got interested in derivatives.
Writing is something I’ve been doing on and off for most of my life (I even attempted to write a novel), I hope to post a lot more on Steemit.
Thank you for reading this.
This post was resteemed by @steemvote and received a 100% Upvote. Send 0.5 SBD or STEEM to @steemvote
Welcome! I didn't know you could make holiday beyond the iron curtain. What was your route out of Poland?
Hi,
This is a lovely introductory post, Thank you for taking the time to write the post and say hello to the community!
I am here to help!
I would encourage you to keep posting and comment on others users content to help make a name for yourself and to get the most out of the platform!
Feel free to comment on my content and I'll up vote your comments! Drop me a follow so you can comment a lot and get a lot of my upvotes!
I have upvoted your post!
Luppers :)
Greetings friend welcome aboard!
Grab yourself a free tip page 🍻
Hey bolko, welcome to Steemit, I really wish you a good start here 🙂
Posted using Partiko Android
Welcome to Steem! Glad to see you're persevering and continuously learning. How has your experience with crypto been?
Welcome to Steem bolko! Partiko is officially the fastest and most popular mobile app for Steem. Unlike other Steem apps, we take 0% cut of your earnings! You can also be rewarded with Partiko Points while using Partiko and exchange Partiko Points for upvotes!
Partiko for Android can be downloaded here on Google Play and the iOS version is available here on the App Store.
If you have more questions, feel free to join our Discord channel and ask @crypto.talk, we're always here to help!
Thank you so much for your interest!
Congratulations @bolko! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click here to view your Board
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPDo not miss the last post from @steemitboard:
I am a writer too. And Poland is very unique in Europe.
Congratulations @bolko!
Your post was mentioned in the Steem Hit Parade for newcomers in the following category:
I also upvoted your post to increase its reward
If you like my work to promote newcomers and give them more visibility on the Steem blockchain, consider to vote for my witness!
Are some paths that cannot be contained by any kind of walls... Keep going :)
This post has received a $100.00 % upvote from @siditech thanks to: @bolko.
Here's a banana!
Welcome Bolko to the great community of Steemit, YESS You are a new Steemian now! I saw your #introduceyourself and its nice to meet you.
Blogging, building and uplifting eachother is what steemit needs and what its all about on this blockchain. The best part is that you could earn money too.💴💸💰
I never blogged before I started but I just do. But always be carefull with all your passwords, Never give those up !!
For safety tips visit https://steemit.com/steem/@verhp11/safety-first-first-aid-kit-for-steemians-who-are-just-beginning-this-great-journey from Our fellow steemy @verhp11. The Steemify App I use is great, it is available in the Appstore and free, go cheque it out. Or read this blog
https://steemit.com/busy/@exyle/using-steemify-to-stay-up-to-date-about-the-blockchain-like-project-destiny-please-consider-blockbrothers-for-your-witness-vote
I wish you good luck with steeming and I Will See you around🍀
Your value and input is appreciated!
Good luck with your journey and may you find what you are looking for.
Just remember that all good things come in good time and never giving up is they key to big succes on Steemit.
Please vote for a witness to. Also you could join the SteemTerminal Discord.
Or visit @heyhaveyamet #HHYA and My friend @xcountytravelers for more newbies exposure.
Let me know if this was helpfull or you need more help.
Greetings from Brittandjosie from the Netherlands
Great #introduceyourself story, @bolko. Nicely done! You have my upvote and follow plus I have featured your post in my entry to this week's Pay It Forward curation contest: https://steemit.com/payitforward/@zorank/pay-it-forward-curation-contest-week-41
Hi, @bolko. Great to have you on Steem blockchain. We came across your story thanks to feature by @zorank! Your post has been upvoted by our curation voting trail and resteemed by @steemcuration.
Your post was featured in an entry into @pifc's Curation Contest:Week 41. Posts are selected because the entrant felt you are producing great content and deserve more attention (& rewards) on your post. As such your post has been upvoted and will be visited by other members of the PIFC Community.
We are always looking for new people to join our curation efforts. This is a great way to meet new people and become part of a community that focuses on helping one another.
Want to promote a post for free and have a chance to find some other great content? Check out this week's Pimp Your Post.
The Pay It Forward community also has a Discord Channel if you are interested in learning more about us.
Welcome to the Steem Community! This is an interesting place but please be aware of a few rich individuals in here who are very mean if you disagree with them. They are almost like communists. You say something they don't like and they come at you with full force...
So thread lightly and be careful with what you say. I had a couple of bad encounters with those people and now I've decided to keep my blog neutral. No politics, no sports, no religion.
I wished this place had a little more Freedom of Speech, but since it doesn't... I just share stuff that I know it can't bother anyone.
PS: I've find your post because @zorank featured you in his entry for the Pay It Forward Contest
I'd like to invite you to participate in My Art Curation Initiative #7
Welcome to Steemit @bolko. Sounds like you have had a pretty adventurous life. Very cool that you were able to publish the book of poetry. I think this platform will be a great outlet and help for you. We have a great community. Looking forward to see your postings in the future.
You were featured in week 41 of @pifc's Pay It Forward Curation contest by @zorank
You got a 89.36% upvote from @bdvoter courtesy of @bolko!
Delegate your SP to us at @bdvoter and earn daily 100% profit share for your delegation & rewards will be distributed automatically daily.
500 SP, 1000 SP, 2500 SP, 5000 SP, 10000 SP.
If you are from Bangladesh and looking for community support, Join BDCommunity Discord Server & If you want to support our service, please set your witness proxy to BDCommunity.