I first heard about God when I was a child. 

Awestruck, I promptly fell in love with the powerful magic wand I decided he must possess! As I grew older and greedier, I came upon this brilliant conclusion that if I could have one for myself, I could become 'independant' and stop troubling God who must be busy attending to millions like me every day. 

From that thought arose what was most likely my first prayer. "God, give me a beautiful pink magic wand like yours. I will happily stop praying to you and do all my work by myself. You'll be happy you got to share your wand with me and I will be happy that I got a magic wand. Happy, happy!" 

I prayed hard the first night. 

It would indeed have been a win/win situation! 

In the morning, I remember searching high and low for the wand and not finding it anywhere. :( 

One wondrous thing about children is how they don't give up easily. They are by default filled to the brim with undying optimism about life and a forgiving nature when it comes to getting hurt. I was no exception. I was disappointed but I could wait another day. Come night, I remember wondering if I should shout out my prayers so God couldn't help but hear them this time. I don't remember if I did though. 

Now, I'm a Hindu by birth. (I've read the Bhagawad Gita. I've also read the Bible, and read a few portions of religious texts from Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam and Jainism. And I have good friends in all religions... I'm interested knowing the core thoughts in each religion that bind us to our humanity. Our good side. The thoughts that mould our character right from the start and serve as our conscience as we grow up...  By choice, I consider myself to be a part of the universal religion of humanity. But, I digress... that is not what I want to talk about now. And I'll cover that another day.) 

Hinduism is full of Gods and Goddesses. Of different colours, shapes and sizes. Each of the Gods and Goddesses come armed with their own set of super interesting godly powers. To an innocent and determined child, what could be better!! Feasting on an endless array of idolized Gods and Goddesses, I selected a few prominent ones that I liked and decided I'll take pray to them in turns so I could cover telling all of them what I wanted. Day after day passed. The Gods and Goddesses were still not hearing me, But, that didn't deter me. 

Also, as I was growing up, I was discovering more and more newer things that I wanted. So my prayer list grew longer. I wanted a horse. I wanted a pink umbrella patterned gown. I wanted a skipping rope. 

I was lonely as a single child. So, I wanted another child in the house, preferably a girl (so I could call her my little sister, boss over her and play teacher-student games with her). 

And so my list grew and grew. And every now and then it got answered. I got my horse! A wooden rocking one, not a real one... but that was okay. :) I got a pink gown in the pattern I wanted - totally hand stitched by my beautiful and forever caring mother. I got a skipping rope surprise from my strong and very hard working father. And when I was seven years old, I got my own little sister when the most beautiful baby in the whole world popped out of my mother's bulging stomach onto a cradle in the hospital room! 

I was in love with life, with the world, with all my surroundings, with just everything about me. Life was truly beautiful! My wishes were all being answered sooner or later... 

One day, in my blissful state, I asked the Gods and Goddesses one very important wish! A house! A H-U-G-E home where I could live together with ALL my family members, relations and friends happily ever after! 

Years passed. I grew up. I studied commerce and accounting. I played chess. I explored creative writing. I dabbled in the metaphysical in my quest for the truth. I learnt about databases and visual basic programming. I started working. I hungered after more knowledge. I tried to learn a little bit about everything. I learned rowing. I met more people. Some disillusionment set in. Few of my much loved people died. I developed a belief in alternative medicine. I stopped praying. Got married. Travelled with the husband. Created something beautiful, our darling daughter! Decided to explore astral travel. Chickened out temporarily. Decided to pursue my hobby photography full time instead. Got back to my country... had a health-related brush with death. 

Well, life's been happening in full swing. 

And somehow someday I was wondering if the Gods and Goddesses who had been granting my wishes in my childhood had gotten over their initial 'infatuation' with me and had also moved on. My unfulfilled wishes forgotten, their token vibrations lost in eternity, especially my one great wish about the HOUSE full of family & friends, where all good people could be found together in one single place! 

But, wait, had the Gods and Goddesses really forgotten? On June 17th 2017 (which also happens to be my best friend's birthday), my dear husband walked me into a place called STEEMIT! 

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It's been thirty-six days now. And I've found my HOUSE of friends. It's just the most wondrous place I've ever been to.

Some of the things I've done ever since I walked into Steemit: 

Travelled: 

Travelled to places I've always wanted to go, went on adventures I wouldn't have dared go by myself and visited events I might never have had a chance to witness otherwise. That's right! I got transported to Japan, ate some berries and witnessed some of its culture through @boxcarblue's eyes, I travelled across the border to Mexico through @papa-pepper's (a most amazing and incredibly kind-hearted person) posts. I travelled the scenic paths @mrwanderlust took through his photos. Somedays I took a peek into @sweetsssj's travel itinerary. And I photo-witnessed some of the grand events @mammasitta visited. 

Feasted on delicious food: 

Oh, food! Whilst here, I've feasted on so many yummy looking food photos hot off @gringalicious and @allasyummyfood's blogposts, that I need to find myself some new clothes! ;) According to my husband, I'm a terrible cook (of course opinions differ ;)) but thanks to @jamtaylor's Food Photography contest judged by @gringalicious, my cupcake photo got the second place, and I got to prove to my husband that I'm an good photographer of food atleast! :D 

Met world-famous photographers: 

I met the amazing photographer @siavach and through his posts some more incredible photographers! Seeing their work added a whole new dimension to my perspective of photography. Yesterday, I saw the lovely @beanz's breathtaking on-a-pole photoshoot! 

Came across a oh-so-deep thinker, @rok-sivante. All his posts put me in such an altered high state of mind that I take some time to reluctantly come back to normal life afterwards.

Answered the call of the wild: 

Deep inside of me is a part which just wants to embrace old mother earth, to travel fearlessly, to befriend not just humans who cannot understand my colour and conversation, but also animals who cannot understand my speech and intentions. Through @papa-pepper's wild-man videos I did some of that. He is one who walks unafraid, befriending snakes, turtles, bugs and scorpions alike! A most interesting person!

Discovered dangerous secrets: 

Recently, I came across @v4vapid, who is very bravely bent on exposing the dangerous happenings around the world. His blog took me on a virtual ride to the areas where illegal organ harvesting and weapon smuggling is probably taking place as we speak! 

Sparked off some inside my mind debates: 

Inside me is a great gambler. So when I met Randowhale, I got addicted. My fault not his. With the purpose of my being on Steemit getting diluted thus, and my happiness at being ruled by a bot's percentage rapidly diminishing, I soon felt like kicking myself. And then one incredibly genuine and family-oriented person @markwhittam's (you have to see his tinyhouse video and the lotus birth post!) timely post on Randowhale brought me to a full stop. What goes around comes around, he said. And rolled his sleeves and came forward to support me. I hope I can return the favor some day. But, for now I'm so glad I've made such a kind and good friend... I've now spent all the money I'd kept aside for voting on Randowhale. And will probably look for his help but rarely in the future. Let the really needy ones get his vote. I'm going to work even harder to deserve mine. 

Yet another internal debate! Recently, I came across @canadian-coconut whose blog post on vaccination shook me to the core. I checked out her blog and found that she's one very passionate woman spreading awareness about natural immunity, vaccination dangers, lies and corruption to name a few. Her deductions are spot on and considering that they are concerned with making life better for our future generations... I will definitely be a frequent visitor of her blog hereon. 

Made some awesome friends: 

Yes, I did! Steemit is the perfect place where you can not only explore your own interests but also expand your knowledge based on your friends' interests. 

@stephmckenzie whose dignified writing style, dedication to research, super interesting posts and quiet support without asking for anything in return is one solid person I want to be friends with forever.

 @donofa artist photographer who always gives me feedback on my posts when he's around. 

@nextgen622 who's incredibly family oriented posts are a pleasure to read.

@nexusfyre, an extremely dedicated fiction writer, editor and good friend I can always rely on to enhance my writing greatly.

@rhondak in the MSP Workshop. She's such a fun person, classy writer, hard worker, and an animal lover that she's a natural inspiration! Oh, and I'm lucky I got to interview her. Did I mention she's the Executive Director of an animal rescue? 

@jrhughes, an author: her stories, her writing, her contest... I think her posts are some of the best I've come across in Steemit... she's just so flawless in her writing! And she has a follower in me for life. 

@Gmuxx who is a moderator at PAL Discord with a heart of gold. He's also a super cool writer. And he's always around and ready to help. (I adore his @muxxybot who curated my work once and ever since cheers me everytime I post.) 

@soundwavesphoton whose sprays lovejuice on his friends to support their blogs and whose heavenly sound waves are usually playing in my ear when I'm doing some writing. 

@stitchybitch who is such a good and funny writer but only because she is such a naturally super cool person. She has me in splits every time. Every time!

@Tayken who's an awesome author (writes beautiful poetry and on stuff such as conversational transcendence) and a cool graphics person. My profile pic is a gift from him. 

@arbitrarykitten and @hannahlicious whose blogs I love to visit... 

@wandrnrose7, @kubbyelizabeth,  @tremendospercy, @improv, and @sammosk who likes mangoes just as much as I do... and who writes about life on the moon... :)

All these lovely people are the ones who bring out a smile from me when I log in to Steemit... (And if I've forgotten anybody, feel free to shoot me but forgive me first please!)

All these lovely people may not be in my 'real world'. But, they are real people in this world. And I love them for being in mine!

Created posts of my own: 

Yes and I know this is an example of a super long one... Thanks for staying with me so very far....:D 

So this is what I've being doing on Steemit all these days... 

Here's what I'm planning to do on Steemit in the future: 

1. Hopefully brighten dull days and bring like - minded people together to interact with me and with each other through my contests. Did you hear me say CONTESTS?

2. Share my knowledge on my favourite topics such as photography, self-improvement, parenting, travel, health, alternative medicine, metaphysics, brain programming and fiction. Obviously. :) 

3. Upvote the posts I genuinely appreciate and comment/follow their authors for more. 

4. Amongst other things, vote for the witnesses. Though I'm still trying to figure this one out. 

What's my advice for Steemit folks: 

1. Unleash the creator/author/teacher inside of you! But always ensure he/she is adequately clean, appropriately clothed and the hair combed first (Reread and edit/polish your work so the writing you present to the world is one of your best.) You can get this done at the MSP Workshop for blog posts for free! Yes, there are a bunch of weird people there who dedicate some of their time everyday only to this work. @rhondak, @nexusfyre, @PegasusPhysics and @sebastiane are four people who've scrutinized my work under their microscopes in the past. I'm forever indebted to them. Remember your content is what represents you in the Steemit world. Whether it is your blog or you comment, always remember to present it suitably.

2. Comment on posts you genuinely like. Upvote to show your appreciation and support. (Remember we are like a friendly family?) Resteem if you think more people should know about it. 

3. Go to the hashtag introduceyourself section and welcome the newcomers and guide them to find their footing here. They will thank you later. 

4. Participate in contests. (My current WEEKLY Potpourri Treasure is up and running here: https://steemit.com/contest/@sandzat/potpourri-treasure-contest-week-2-me-mine-and-myself. Check it out and challenge yourself with some fun stuff!) You not only have a chance to win something for a little bit of your time and effort, but well designed contests bring worthy like-minded contestants together and then everybody gets to have fun, learn, make friends and make money/win prizes! 

And that is what Steemit is all about. Isn't it?

If you enjoyed my post, do show me your love. And I'm really looking forward to hearing from you! God bless you and all your own! - @sandzat