Hello, everyone. I'm Marcelo.

And I'm a writer and amateur filmmaker. This is my very first post, so: #introduceyourself.

Photo of me taken by a friend, who insisted I wear that shirt.

About myself:

I'm 24 years old. My native language is spanish, but I write both in spanish and english. When I say I am a filmmaker, I mean it in a very broad sense; I write, direct, edit and basically do most things myself. If I could film myself acting, I would. But I'm not a youtuber, thank god.

But, to talk more about me as an actual person, I'll talk about my life, not what I do.

I have epilepsy-- I've had seizures since I was 14. Since my parents where always quite funny about traditional medicine, I didn't start taking medication (which, by the way, is quite expensive) for it until I was 18. Currently, I've been seizure free for 1 year and 9 months. I feel like I should add that over the years, seizures have been the cause for small scars on my face because I would fall on the ground and hit my face. I also lost 4 teeth when I fell on my face unconscious during a seizure about four years ago.

I was an addict. But I've been sober for two years. I was badly addicted to cocaine and alcohol not too long ago. For two years, I didn't do much but drink, smoke cigarettes and weed, take shrooms and take small amounts of drugs all day. Then I was introduced to cocaine by my dealer. It escalated very quickly. I immediately dropped every other drug (except alcohol) and started doing cocaine every day. I had to sell many of my things, including my precious drums and cymbals. I still feel a knot in my stomach when I think about it. One time, I sold a 400$ snare in perfect conditions for 100$ because I was out of drugs and money. To make it short, I ended up overdosing 2 times before realizing I was going to die if I didn't stop. And I did stop, and I'm happy now. I don't drink, I don't smoke. Hell, I don't even drink coffee. I do, however, take xanax for anxiety, but mostly because...

I was diagnosed with a heart condition a year ago. This was long after I'd stopped taking drugs, but the doctor said that I was incredibly lucky my heart didn't give up on me. The condition is called mitral valve prolapse and, what that means, is that when my heart pumps blood to the rest of my body, one of the valves doesn't close properly, which causes a small amount of blood to flow back into the heart at the same time. This condition I probably have had all my life but it was because of the strain I put on my heart that it got worse. I am now medicated with heart medication (beta blockers) and the previously mentioned xanax.

My goal is to make beautiful, meaningful art. To write, to make films, and to share it with all the people that I can.

Here, on Steemit, I'll be posting my written works, photographs, and any other thing I make. Hopefully, you'll like it.

Thank you for reading, I hope to be a member of this community!