In real life, pandemics permitting, my wife and I go to a lot of art exhibitions.
We’ll often plan entire vacations around a particular exhibition of works by an artist or artists we love.
For myself, I have a particular thing for abstract art.
When I walk into that first room or space, surrounded by those works, it’s like the chemistry in my brain changes, almost instantly.
I feel good. I feel better. It’s like my soul is being fed. Sounds corny, but it’s true.
Life isn’t always easy. But for me, art can cure most ills. Particularly the ones that float around in my head.
What ISN’T good for my mental health is speculating in pfp avatar projects.
Yes, in addition to collecting NFT art, I’ve also dabbled in pfp avatar projects.
Why? Because they’re fascinating. They’re cultural memes, unique to the world of NFTs. They’re new, emergent, and powerful.
Anyone with a curious mind in the NFT space is going to be intrigued by these projects.
The trouble is, I also find them addictive and stressful.
I get into that FOMO thing.
“What if THIS one is the next CryptoPunks or Bored Ape?”
But buying these projects in their early days is like playing roulette. It’s a game of chance. And by the time their future is a little more certain, they cost too much.
Anyway, a few weeks back I found myself awake at 3:00 in the morning, checking my phone, anxious about the price of a project I had just bought into. The price was going up and down like a seesaw.
At 3:30 I sold, at a small loss. Just to get it out of my head. I recognized that this just wasn’t good for me. I don’t need that kind of anxiety.
So… no more avatar projects.
Because there is always an urgency to them… an urgency to buy or to sell.
And urgency is stressful.
I still find these projects intriguing… but from now on I plan to participate just as an observer.
Time to settle back into my love for abstract, generative NFT art.
When I feel down or a little depressed, I just open up my virtual gallery in a browser, and wander around, looking at the pieces in my collection. It calms me.
And the calm it brings me is the same, whether – for example – my Ecumenopolis by Joshua Davis is worth 26 Eth or 3 Eth. (Yes, the price has been in both those places.)
The price makes no difference to how the art makes me feel.
I can’t say the same for pfp avatar projects. I think the perceived value of those pieces is much more tightly bound to their price.
There’s that flexing thing.
Would you love your Bored Ape as much if it was worth just 3 Eth?
Maybe you would. Maybe the community would be enough… assuming the community continued with the same conviction and energy at that price point.
But for me, I know avatar projects will always stress me.
I need to stick with generative NFT art. That’s where my happy place is.
How about your own mental health?
If you’re in this space, you know what I mean. You have your own story. You know where your own stressors lie.
And maybe, like me, you’ve found that happy place.
If not, I’d encourage you to step back, take a breath, and figure out how you’re going to engage in web3 in a way that feeds you, and doesn’t feed ON you.
We’re just starting out. We’re on the first lap.
If you don’t find a way to stay sane with all this, it’s going to be rough on you.
Update: 3 days after publishing this I bought into another pfp project. Hopeless! Mind you, this one seems to be pretty stress free.