Introductory post.

Intro postWIN_20180430_22_01_09_Pro.jpg

Good morning,

My given name is Mark, though I go by a few others from time to time. I'm not quite certain how to go about writing this, so I'll just throw some stuff out there and see what sticks.

I found out about Steemit rather accidentally, when my friend @paintingangels was lamenting about the general suckitude of Facebook. I was a severe Facebook addict for a long time, it had started as an attempt at therapy and took on an obsessive role in my life. I have a rather addictive personality, which means I'm always looking for something to be addicted to. And it certainly fit the bill. Fully designed for shitposting and vanity. It's murder finding any groups of real value there.

In an attempt to get away from Facebook, I started a Google+ page as it's altogether a better system, being aimed more at artists than grandstanding. I curate a number of collections there, because there I can show my real interests instead of the sanitized version for the real-world.

Then I heard of Steemit, a place with a solid built-in dynamic for enforcing quality rather than crap. I always hoped for such a thing, a self-policing community where my critiques and input actually meant something. Where posts were rated on merit rather than political dogma. A delight in every form.

So let me introduce myself:

Due to a number of catastrophic events that have taken place recently, (honestly, a full-blown apocalypse on a personal scale;) I've come to understand that virtually everything I know about myself was based on a dizzying array of lies, bordering on a minor conspiracy (no shit) of the sort that only happens in Southern Gothic novels. I'm honestly having to rebuild an entire life at age 42.

I study archaeology, anthropology, biology, folklore, geology, deep-time theory, molecular physics, quantum physics, economics, evolutionary psychology, neurology, mythology, comparative religion, psychopharmacology, behavioral psychology, jungian psychology, teleology, physiology, and many other subjects, including:

Santeria, Vodou, New Orleans-style voodoo (very different things) Hinduism, Taoism, modern paganism, apocryphal paganism, Christian mysticism, astrology, divination, dowsing, and alot of other weird shit, all in an attempt to find a Cure.

A cure for what? Well, Life.

I'm a rather damaged individual. I have post traumatic personality disorder, complex PTSD from two separate instances of longterm abuse, chronic suicidal ambition, severe abandonment issues, executive dysfunction disorder, dissociative disorder, and quite possibly, full on brain damage; due to childhood battery and fetal alcohol poisoning. The jury is still out on the last two, but it's a line of inquiry that I'm actively pursuing.

And simply put, I want to take you along for the ride. I'm tired of hiding, and I want to tell the world what has happened, what I've learned, and what I'm doing about it all now. Believe it or not, it's very exciting. I finally have a future to look forward to.

I'm likely to being doing this in a very disjointed fashion, so my posts will range far and wide, involving all kinds of topics. From comedy to full-blown horror show. Luckily, the max of 5 tags is going to keep it down to a dull roar.

And though I'm rather afraid to be spilling the intimate details of my life in public, Steemit is so little-known right now that by the time my family hears of it, it'll all be long done. They won't be able to interfere.

Rest assured, I am certainly not doing this for attention. If I wanted drama I would do it on Facebook, because that joint is custom built for personal theatrics. I am an intensely private person, with a skin thick-as-air.

I'm doing this to help myself, and perhaps help others. My quest to find the Cure is long from over. I'm looking for collaborators, not followers.

And if we happen to save the world in the process, well so much the better.

Good day,

Carcosa Hali

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Welcome man, well written introduction - I hope all together we can make at least parts of your last sentence true. Have fun here!
Greets, @theaustrianguy

Welcome Mark may you find a lot of success here!

Welcome to steemit family! Good luck! I am sure that you will fully enjoy your journey here:)

Hello, Mark, and Welcome to Steemit.

That a very interesting intro! It sounds like you have plenty to write about / post, not only personally (thank goodness), but also academically.

And you've come to the right place. Not only does Steemit provide a pre-fab publishing site, it also offers a wide audience, some (many) of whom will find you.


Below are a few basic points of advice re posting on Steemit.
1 – Longer posts are more lucrative than short posts. If you make a post of 20–30 paragraphs, it's more likely to earn rewards.
2 – Include some photos, images or graphs, to complement the text.
3 – Make sure the text and photos are formatted properly, so that your post looks attractive and appealing.
4 – Be yourself.
5 – Be interesting and informative.
6 – Create quality content. Steemit is intended to be a platform of quality content. (You will see many insignificant posts with meager content and no quality. Most of those of posts [called “shitposts” by Steemit whale Stellabelle] will earn few rewards and soon pass into oblivion.)
7 – Get online and start curating. Read various posts, comment on those posts you find interesting, and upvote those posts. That’s the best way to attract followers.

Hope this helps for now. Good luck, and Full Steem Ahead!

p.s. Unlike you, I never really found Facebook to have any interest or much value for me, so I abandoned it in 2012. On the other hand, since I launched myself here on Steemit, I've been spending most of my days creating various types of content.

Speaking of which, your interests seem not only wide-ranging, but also deep. So, you could possibly consider making SERIES of posts here on Steemit. Most of my posts are parts of large series, and that helps in attracting an interested audience.

Prepare yourself to be adored. I hope you like it here as much as I think you will. SO GLAD YOU'RE HERE! ♥ HUGS!!!

Oh.. my favorite part ...

I found out about Steemit rather accidentally, when my friend @paintingangels was lamenting about the general suckitude of Facebook.

:D

Aah, I applaud you in your courage to share your inner self!
I also have suffered with mental illness in my life (as you know) and for a long while resisted sharing my stories and growth and discoveries, not because I'm afraid of stigma from psychologically "normal" people, but because so many people with mental illness hated hearing that I believed through personal experience that we are capable of healing ourselves from within. Especially on Facebook, I woukd get a lot of lash back over my views in the mental health community. So I stopped sharing, till I found steemit.
I know now that a lot of that resistance is due to both programming and fear, and I have much more compassion now for people, but yah... I understand your nervousness to share your journey! It's hard when you are on the outskirts of normal society, but then to also find yourself suddenly as a person in 40s sinking down down down the rabbit hole, and the onion layers being pulled back, I totally get that feeling, wow. Very similar to my own experience. Keep sharing, can't wait to read more! Also, I feel newly inspired to share myself. So thanks for that!

Xx ToL


Welcome to Steem @yestermorrow.

Do read A thumb rule for steemit minnows - 50:100:200:25 for starter tips.

Spend time reading Steem Blue Paper to know how Steem blockchain works and if you still have any queries ask them on our Ask me anything about Steemit post and we will try to answer that.

All the Best!!!

Yeaaaass... Glad to see your perfectly damaged self show up!

Hi there Mark, and welcome :-)

You, my friend, are a lucky person to have ended up in life with a beautiful person like @paintingangels as a true friend. Excuse me for starting with saying how lucky you are when clearly life hasn't been to kind for you until recently, but I truly believe you have found a good place to find these "collaborators" (although I'm afraid I'm gonna have to follow you to ;-))

I laughed with joy and understanding when I read:

"...the general suckitude of Facebook."

You come across as an erudite and well-balanced person, so I'm sure I'm telling you nothing new when I say you should be glad and proud to have shaken off that Facebook addiction. I never had a Facebook account, but my girlfriend, my son, my sister... everybody I know, come to think of it, waste a lot of their time and energie there. When I see the average post on facebook, when I accidentally look over the shoulder of girlfriend or son, I become very sad...

People on Facebook act like commercials. What too few people realize is that commercials are not made to make you happy, even if they're full of smiling, happy people who don't seem to have a care in the world... The trick is; commercials paint an exceedingly beautiful picture, with exceedingly happy and abnormally beautiful people to keep you, the customer UNHAPPY. For if you were happy, you'd have no wants, there wouldn'd be any reason to go out and buy brand X...

People do the same with the picture they paint of themselves on Facebook: they generally share their happiest moments, their most beautiful pictures, tell about their greatest successes... On Facebook the people ARE the brand X's that are trying to sell themselves, not realizing they only make life miserable for others and eventually themselves.

Very few people do the opposite. Very few people have the guts to do the opposite and make themselves vulnerable in their quest for a shred of honesty in this over-commercialized, over-individualized world we live in. Like @paintingangels I have nothing but respect for you and this honest, beautiful first post. You might not want to hear this, but Steemit works a bit like Facebook: what you put in, you get out of it. Problem with Facebook is that the input consists mainly of fake sales-pitches of people who are better at hiding how broken they are themselves. You'll see that the input here differs a lot from that, so what comes out is different to.

Okay... I'm ranting again... sorry for the amount of words... It's late...

That was way too much words to say: Welcome Mark! Glad you came here and left Facebook! Looking forward to future posts ;-)

Hey now. You been reading my mind? Because that's precisely how I've been feeling about Facebook recently, and almost all of modern social media. I certainly agree that consumerism is fully dependent upon inciting anxiety in order to sell a palliative of some sort, whether it be a worthless gee-gaw, vapid entertainment, overpriced junkfood or another empty promise.

Facebook has turned into a vector that pushes the same product: outrage and desperation, packaged up all shiny and bright.

Thank you for your comment. :)

Winston, wow! What a sweet welcome, that was amazing! I love it when people say so many words!! Thank you for welcoming my buddy to steemit! ♥

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