BMOE Launched! My learning diary to keep my control in life

Hi all, my name is wasabi.

This time, I launched my new blog called “Build My Own Empire (aka BMOE)”. In this blog, I will write the process of searching for “a way of life to grow myself with technology without losing control of my life”. The main topics will be decentralization, blockchain, data privacy, cyber security, well-being, etc.

Privacy is the key for “Be who you are”

These topics can sound daunting and seem unrelated to anyone without specialized IT knowledge. However, each of these topics is unavoidable for us to live a “human-centric” way of life in the future, and it gives us everyone who wants to live as they are a new perspective.

Why “living yourself” leads to security, data privacy, and blockchain? At first glance it may seem unrelated, but I strongly see a very deep relationship between these two, and they’re often underestimated.

My realization, “Something is definitely wrong”

I was born in Japan and after graduating from university, I moved to Berlin, Germany as a freelance translator and writer in 2015. I was not happy about the work environment and working culture in Japan, and that was the main reason why I wanted to move to Berlin, having more flexibility on my life.

Since there were a very few people who move to abroad like me, I started my first blog to share my experiences. This was how I got involved in IT. I talked about this process in detail in my TEDxYouth talk.

Thanks to technology, I was able to make my living off. I could expand my business to multiple fields by using my blog, and that change my life completely. I’m currently engaged in blockchain and mobility-related Companies visit tour coordination, interpreting and translation services, and working with a startup which develops a human-centric way to share data . (I’ll talk more about this startup in detail in another article. )

The Internet is not “free” at all.

While the internet has enabled me to work wherever I live, I experience more than a year and a half of depression. It sounds typical, but I totally got burn out from all the social media, dealing with haters and such.

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, LINE, Whatsapp, e-mail newsletter, blogs, emails, etc … How many tools and messages we have to check everyday? And how many people are desperate to show a beautiful side of their life and feel the pressure of “can’t never fail”?

What I felt as a blogger actively using these tools, was that I was not free at all.

I felt that the means and purpose were reversed. When I was depressed, I no longer had the feeling of living my life. My life might be looking awesome to a certain people, but I was always under pressure to faithfully protect my persona as a blogger who moved to abroad, this figure as an “ independent woman”.

Many people are now doing their best to be good at Social media. There is no way you can be successful other than being accepted by the major Internet providers due to the structure of the current Internet. That’s the only way, and I wonder if we can call that the Internet space is truly diverse today. To me, it’s just like a system in which the value of human beings is determined only by the exam scores. I think this is the illness that the Internet has today.

In exchange for being convenient, we pass on our personal information to these services, and companies sell them as big data. Is it really a fair trade?

Looking at the Internet and the way people are today, I think there is something in common with Japanese society or maybe in the world.

We used to think that If we get good grades at school and work for a good company, our life will be happy ever after. But ofcourse, it doesn’t apply to everyone.

I realized from my own experience. People lose control of their life by leaving their standards of value to others. And the human who loses control stops thinking. This is a very scary thing and we need to warn ourselves.

Who is using my data and how? Is the transaction fair?

To become conscious of these things, you first need to know your “needs”. If we face ourselves and ask our own values, but we don’t have a clear idea of ​​what we want, we cannot achieve diversity. Accepting different ideas and values always starts from accepting yours without judging.

In my case, there was order how I actually start to realize the importance of data privacy. 1.) Know who I am, 2.) Know my needs, and 3.) Acknowledge/accept my needs, no judge(even if it is different from others).

Especially this 3.) was difficult for me, and I call it “the battle against myself, the centralized power”.

There are still many things I want to write, but since this is my first time, I’ll finish here. If you have any thoughts, I’m happy to hear your opinion too!