Can We End Radio Silence...Together?

in #steem6 years ago (edited)

C906F63F-C86B-47F6-A51C-553DCCCED975.jpeg

I’ve been working for myself for nearly six years. It’s rewarding in many ways...but quite desolate in others.

You see, I’m an extroverted introvert. I’m really good at turning it on. I can charm most any room. I am pretty masterful at connecting to other people.

But it drains me. And when left to my own devices, I have a tendency to isolate. For hours, even days. Happily. I lose myself. Immersed in my own company. Truth be told, while I love my friends, there’s no place I’d rather be than with myself. To be perfectly blunt, I’m pretty cool. If I do say so myself...

For an artist, this is a risky confession. Perhaps it’d be risky for anyone. Because the simple truth is that we need each other...people, I mean. We rely on each other for most everything. We validate each other. We support each other. We enable each other to move through this chaotic world. And let’s face it, we also set each other straight.

So while I can create alone here in my bubble, I cannot spontaneously succeed in here. I require contemporaries, fans, patrons, and teachers. I need feedback. Level setting. Reality checks. Often a swift kick in the ass. We all do.

So why am I rambling on about this?

I’m not entirely sure. I believe I’m attempting to put some nebulous request out there into the ether. I’m laying myself on the line. Raw. Vulnerable. And oh-my-god...needy.

I need you. All of you. And you need me.

I recently watched a fascinating old TEDx Talk given by a woman who gave shape to this in such a basic yet profound way. Watch it if you can. If not, here’s the synopsis: Barbara Sher proclaims that isolation is the one and only thing that stands between each of us and our dreams. If we can get over ourselves and connect - and declare our dreams and ask for what we need - people will rush in like water to fill our gaps. When asked, they don’t just want to see us succeed, they need to be a part of it.

So here I am declaring: I want to be a successful Steemian. I want every post I lovingly and carefully craft to be rewarded and appreciated by the community based on its merit.

And here I am asking: I need followers and upvotes and support. I need community. And I need to follow and support you, too.

According to Barbara, this is where the magic begins, people step up, and dreams start to come true.

Now here I am open and offering: How can I support you?

Sort:  

Hey Lisa, you have been one of my biggest supporters throughout the last several months. Besides your upvotes, your comments have always been awesome! I couldn't have asked for more :)

What more can I do for you?

Awww. That makes me happy. Thank you.

Great post @outrayjust! I know what you mean about the happy isolation. If left to myself i'd be happy here in my bubble too. Fortunately, i have other peeps who bring me out into the real world from time to time and it's kinda saved me, although i'm still a huge introvert. I joined steemit to do the same thing. Artists have always needed splendid isolation and genuine community to succeed and i'm working on it. Thanks for the post. Following :)

We are pretty precious, aren’t we? 😄

So it will be, I wish you very good energies and I think you are already successful, very much is going very well here and although you do not believe you have supported me a lot, maybe you will need to vote in some publications that we follow you to see if you can support also

Thanks for the thoughtful response 🙏🏻

You do not have to thank, a pleasure to be able to contribute

You do a very good job with the things you write, I also think you are very successful, I see that you support others with your votes in their comments and always respond to what we are saying and that is good

Thank you for the support 🙏🏻

everyone on here needs friends that have a higher rep and vote to help them - I've seen your stuff - you're talented . @countrygirl talked about you for 10minutes last night - didn't ask me to support you - just talked about you. With friends like her, you'll get by :)

She’s a good egg. And I’ll be audacious and ask you to support me! Because I absolutely do need as much as I can get. 🙏🏻

I panicked because you asked a question. That's what happens to me - I am afraid it will be wrong. You have been supporting me Lisa. And I appreciate each and every time you have a great comment or a "me too" moment with me.

I’m an extroverted introvert. I’m really good at turning it on. I can charm most any room. I am pretty masterful at connecting to other people.
But it drains me. And when left to my own devices, I have a tendency to isolate. For hours, even days.

This is me as well.

I will continue supporting you with comments and upvotes....and if you need more, just say the word. ;)

I know I need to build more connections, get more followers, and follow more people. I look at you and some of my other Steemian friends and see how interactive and well engaged you are and wonder what I’m doing - or not doing - that's getting in my way.

I’m pretty sure my content is pretty high quality. But often it goes unnoticed. I’m just feeling a bit frustrated...like I’m missing a piece or two of the puzzle. Or simply not seeing where they fit together.

I hear you....I know. Your work is high quality. I don't know what the answer is. I see a lot of people like you get pennies for your work and I don't understand why.

I was looking at your post count - and that counts for comments as well. I compared it to a few people (Dan) to see how many they had vs you....from joining in relatively the same time period. You are showing 980 posts and Dan is showing 3557. Your post number will definitely affect your rep and the number of followers. The more you comment, the more posts you will have, the more exposure and ultimately the more followers.

Set yourself a number. I do this. I try to hit a goal of x number of comments to reach y. So your first goal could be to get your post number to 1000. Follow a few more people too. After a month you can weed the numbers to those who are active supporters.

You like science. Follow a few of them. You like chocolate...that too. You are an awesome photographer. Do those boring challenges. While doing them, connect with others who are following the challenge. That's how I did it. Use #photofeed and #photomatic for your photos. They travel around highlighting posts.

You are a cool person. Deep. Thoughtful. Artistic. A story catcher. Who knows...you might catch a story or two on your travels through deep steemit :)

I'm resteeming this post to see if anyone sees it on my blog.

Hope this helps. :)

You are awesome. Thank you.

I don’t do many challenges. I can change that. Is there a good way to find them?

And yeah...I need to get better on commenting. And engaging. I’m not sure why that’s been so tough for me here.

Ima get to 1,000 before I go to bed!

Yes...do it!!! I'll find some for you...the color challenge is the easiest to get into or black and white. Let me snoop around and find something that would suit you.

monomad - all the instructions are in that post

B&W Photo Contest You'll find a lot of photographers on this one

Portrait Contest @jasonrussell is very talented and he runs this contest. I think you'd do well here.

Then the last group you might find people is at @photofeed, #photofeed - go through the tag and see if you can find others and see what they are up to to keep connected.

Re the contests - I didn't do them bc I thot I would win or even cared that much - altho the competitive side of me sulked when I didn't win. I made a lot of connections through some of them. I visited the shared tags and scrolled through and upvoted a couple every day and made comments. I got followers.

Anyhow...I think that's enough to get you going. I don't want to overwhelm you. If I see something up your lane, I'll send you the link.

Have a good night Lisa :)

Gracias. Contests will be my Wednesday mission. You have a good night, too 🌙

"extroverted introvert" I enjoy/suffer the same disposition .

It’s a weird existence, isn’t it?

Introverted extrovert is a good personality type to have if you want to make it as an artist. The introvert creates and the extrovert markets herself effectively. Just my observation as an introvert/introvert who finds people extremely draining in the flesh and hates tying to sell herself.

Keep doing what you are doing

I totally agree! I sometimes wish I was an introverted extrovert. But I’m the flip side. So I too get super drained with real people and the whole marketing thing.

I am an extroverted introvert too . Even though I just suggested a support group, lol and wrote the longest comment ever... that stuff is draining to me too hahaha. but sometimes it is also enriching enough that it balances out.

I came across this I think rather randomly tonight but what a synchronisitic thing because I am feeling this right now, too. I just entered the working from home world, and its been quite the adjustment. I have been writing out this same type of vulnerable stuff on my blog as well, and I even wrote the phrase , "thats where the magic happens," i believe! With a picture of Oprah, no less, lol.

I have been mulling around this idea of "It Takes a Village" as a theme for a group or community or curation. But reading your post got me thinking ... what do I need right now, if i listen to my inner voice? What kind of support do I want? And what I would really like is to find people, especially other women who have been down this path before, that I am just embarking on, that I can swap feedback with. What I seek is akin to a community of practice, or like a seminar, which is what we call it in my field. A group of people who check in and support each other through the questions and issues they run into as they do their work. something beyond upvotes and curation...something a little more focused than socializing, but less formal than a class or support group. It would help to process the things that get us stuck, and those vulnerable questons we have.

I think video conferencing could be a way to create this because I think seeing peoples faces helps so much. That might be beyond some people's comfort zone but I am throwing this out there on your post to see what you think.

There are some great Discord communities to join, and I have made a lot of friendships there. The voice channels can help, but they often are more like radio shows than conversations. Those are fun, but not quite what I am imagining right now. So what I am suggesting is just an idea.. not sure if others would like it....

I am a trained group facilitator and so this makes me brainstorm all kinds of possibilities. Like what if you could be a part of a smallish group that met every week, whether that was in DIscord or over Skype ...and it was semi-confidential, even? This is a longgggg comment so I will stop writing now! :) Thanks for your post, it really evoked a lot in me actually. Curious what you think of this!

Wow...this is a lot to think about. 😄

I’m winding down for the night but I’ll respond more deeply tomorrow. Glad you found me.

I’m torn about your idea as it relates to this platform. Perhaps I’m not clear about what it is you’re suggesting. I think support groups can be amazing. In general I believe independent, self employed people almost always need channels and outlets for connection and accountability.

So before I say much more, I’d like to better understand what you’re reaching towards here.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.16
TRX 0.12
JST 0.027
BTC 54506.20
ETH 2881.76
USDT 1.00
SBD 2.03