Mirror Reflection: What's keeping you motivated?

I've been through quite a few cycles in my 10 years of following and investing in crypto, and it's been a rollercoaster. Personally, the gut-tossing reaction is gone, and the prices of crypto don't dictate my emotional response. The up and down ride becomes manageable when you can see past the prices. Beyond having a strong stomach, what keeps me motivated is that we've reached a watershed moment in web3 technology from which we won't turn back.

![me watching the markets](https://images.mirror-media.xyz/publication-images/J7qGCtNbLJk1qkyuMfI4S.gif?height=426&width=340)

## A New NFT Universe is Born

NFTs The bubble has burst, scattering the best of the technology like the big bang.

We saw plenty of grifters enter the NFT marketplace last year. People got rugged, and projects lost credibility. But the idea of having ownable digital collectibles and identities isn't going anywhere.

The bubble bursting has forced most projects to regroup on a smaller scale. Watching communities regroup on their NFT strategy has me optimistic that we will see better membership models built, better art projects launched, and the future of retail unfold in the next few quarters.

## L2 Summer

Another exciting development lately has been L2 adoption. Even with the Ethereum merge on the horizon, plenty of low-gas and ETH-based projects are being built. Whereas L1s struggle to compete with the big two, there is plenty of space for solid ETH L2 networks.

## Builders Build

When the .com bubble burst in the 2000s, it created a new force of focused organizations that built the internet we see today. I can feel the same energy from the crowd of builders pushing their projects ahead. The conviction from people in the trenches might be the most significant thing keeping me motivated today.