An Ode to the Pond (MSP) and a Love Letter to @swelker101 (language warning)

This may seem off topic at first, but have you read Snowcrash by Neil Stevenson? It's a really fucking good book. My only problem is that every time I try to read just a little bit of it I'm sucked in for 6-8 hours until I'm finished. I come out pretending to slash invisible government people-hackers with katanas.

Anyway, in that book (which I of course highly recommend) is a really unique setting. It's a raft that sales across the ocean. In the middle of the raft is a nuclear powered submarine (loaded with a nuclear warhead) and attached to it are a million little life rafts. Some are big boats. Some are just tiny one person rigs, but The Raft is the conglomeration of all those boats together.

I think it's equal parts having gone to and taught at institutions heavily influenced by military cultures combined with nautical themes that I can get the idea of The Minnow Support Project as a ship we're all on together. Somedays that feels like we're on a speed boat racing in America's cup. Sometimes that feels like we're on an aircraft carrier slowly turning in the middle of the ocean. Sometimes it feels like we're a million people latching our boats together in a giant raft so we don't float away from each other. No matter which one of those I'm feeling like it is it always feels like home.

Peace, Abundance, and Liberty as Verbs

While to most people the words Peace, Abundance, and Liberty are values; in here they are also direction. It's the wind that guides our tact. It's a verb. It's an action. Peace isn't something static to achieve. It's a moving target every day with a new set of criteria and a different way to think through things each time. There are a new set of challenges every day and how to apply the value of peace, abundance, and/or Liberty is a daily question and puzzle.

The French existentialist Sartre wrote once about the Bible and the short comings he found in it. I'll paraphrase him as saying 'Bibilical understanding of life is easy at the extremes. It's simple to say do not kill or steal. The challenge is that most of life is in the grey zone, and the simple commandments don't clearly state how to proceed." I don't mean to down play the Bible for our religious friends, but I feel like steering a 5,000 Steemian ship, raft, minnowschool, flotilla, or whatever it may be isn't always clear. I just do my best to act on simple guidelines and treat this place with the humor it needs and the seriousness it deserves. It's not just my home. It's all of our homes. And I try to treat the members like I would family members who I love even when that's hard to do. But what's the other option... they're my family.

Digistead

So, along with that sentiment I've been thinking of this place as my digital homestead. For a while I was really considering wether to spend my time buying a greenhouse to practice aquaponics that I love dearly or stake my flag in the ground in Steemit. So, I'm cristening the term "digistead." It's the amalgamation of digital and homestead. PALnet is mine (it's my home, but that's not to stop others from claiming it as their home. Many of us belong there!).

As simple as it is this image has captivated me for a while.

It has so many elements of clever from the historical nature to the internet culture. I love it, but it also got me thinking.

I do give a fuck

I give many fucks. And in this Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network I shall sow my seeds of fuck and harvest the fruits of my labor in the form of digital wealth and an international family. So, have I staked this claim and put my body to the task. There would be no home, no digistead without it. I will tend this place for as long as it will fulfill the simple mission of P.A.L. See my fuckfields and gasp slack-jawed at my harvest of freshly given fucks.

Shane

So, with this backdrop I'll share that there are plenty of times that I second guess myself. There are times that I'm unclear of how to execute best on Peace, Abundance, and Liberty. There are times when the needs of the many are beyond the scope of my limited heart and brain. I seek enlightened council. I need strong people with caring hearts and a deeply shared passion for the mission to help guide me and make sure my eyesight is clear.

In this regard one of the first people I constantly turn to is @swelker101. He cares deeply about this place. He approaches things with a level and even tempered head. He understands the long term vision of the Minnow Support Project and what this group of immensely talented people are capable of when we work together. He is kind, funny, charming, and deeply committed.

It seemed at the time like a lucky find to have him join early, but to see him be a wonderful guide and fantastic leader I'm shaking my head in wonderful disbelief. He's a blessing to have in the group, and one I'm deeply thankful for. And I'm blessed to have had him enter the group nearly at it's founding!

Shane; I love you like a brother, I trust you like a wise teacher, I'm grateful like a warm smile, and I'm your friend like two 10 year olds playing in the woods. When I come home to PAL and see you in there another day I'm filled with joy, gratitude, and relief. It's another day I'll have my bud, wise council, and a steady/firm hand that knows the way.

There's no fancy prize, no award, not much more than an attaboy, but I'm immensely grateful you're here and it's a remarkable honor to serve this population beside you.

Thanks Shane. I love you. Pure bromo!

PS sorry to ruin the moment with a Witness vote thing, but please make sure you upvote his Witness. Shane needs 100 votes and 10 PV before he can be a managing Witness with full elected and accountable authority in there. The sooner we can get him there the better. www.steemit.com/~witnesses