How Has Steem Impacted My Life
I was having lunch with a seasoned journalist, the book reviewer of an American newspaper for two decades, and the conversation, naturally, shifted to writing. Somewhat, apologetically, I shared with my new friend that I had accepted a job as a food writer, but my work there was not exactly literary. "You never write with your left hand" he told me, half sternly, how encouragingly. Meaning, all writing is practice, and conscious effort is never wasted.
I remembered this fateful conversation, over two years ago, when I first signed up to Steem. Previously, I'd virtually lived on Facebook, and my forward-thinking, crypto-curious, wife suggested that I give Steem a try. Blogging — something that I swore up and down I’d never do — certainly, helped to kickstart my creativity.
For one, it forced this old dog to learn new tricks, since I began posting, regularly, on Steemit, as well as being paid for my posts in cryptocurrency. Also, one of the boons of joining a new community that thinks differently has been collaborating with other creative souls: visual artists who illustrated my writing as well as accomplished musicians who put my words to song, or transformed it into new art.
By way of example, here's a recent interview with with @Clixmoney about what joining this platform means to me.
Who knows where Inspiration comes from, and where it goes. I submit that even artists don’t — at least not yours truly. After something of a dry patch, where I began to refer to myself as an “ex-writer,” I find that -- thanks, to Steem -- I’m writing, again. Not necessarily better, but differently.
Being Here is testing my responsiveness as a writer, to write more and more easily, in response to life's various stimuli (including writing prompts and competitions, such as this one :) And, as my mentor/friend once told me: You never write with your left hand.
Inspired by this dynamic online platform and challenged by the new network of creative thinkers that I’ve become a part of, my literary work is benefiting, too: having written (and, promptly, posted on Steemit) three new poems that I’m pleased with, in three consecutive days—-a feat that I’ve not achieved in years, possibly decades.
On account of this renewed burst of creativity, I’ve begun to polish older pieces I’ve posted on Steemit, in order to include them in a forthcoming book of literary, cultural and spiritual pieces that I’m putting the finishing touches to, tentatively titled “Revolutions of the Heart".
On New Year's Eve, I received exciting news that Revolutions (my eighth book) has been accepted for publication by a publisher I admire, Wipf & Stock :) A propitious start for the New Year!
So, professionally and personally, Steem has given me reason to celebrate and has felt like hitching a ride to the Future. To give back to this stimulating community, I'm spreading the word as far and wide as I can, among my 12,000 followers on social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc...) as well as magazines I write for and real-life friends and family members.
Generally-speaking, I tend to save my earnings, on Steem, to invest in the platform as well as the future. But, the winter of 2017 was different; I was in between jobs and Steem was at an all-time high.
Using a fraction of the money I made on this platform, I was able to pay for the majority of my trip to Peru — for which I was very grateful. Below, is a picture I took in Peru that summed up how I felt:
If you happen to be reading this and are considering joining our growing community, here's a distillation of all I've learned about being on Steem (over a two year period of ups and downs) in easy-to-read, 15 bullet points:
You’ve just landed on a new planet—-explore it and meet the inhabitants.
Post about what you love; what springs from the heart reaches the heart.
Seek out like-minded people who share your interests.
Seek out those who challenge you and can teach you new things.
Use tags, wisely, so your posts are easy to find and read.
Study popular posts (and tags) and try to understand their success.
Enter competitions, because prompts stir creativity and even if you don’t win, they’re community-building.
Help others, if you can; better yet, collaborate on a project.
Always answer your comments, kindly and thoughtfully.
Keep your posts varied, in subject and tone, to attract and hold attention.
Never underestimate the power of good images (and include their sources).
Write well and proofread for spelling mistakes as well as grammar.
Find out who the key players are on the platform and welcome newbies, as well.
Have fun and try to keep a good attitude (at least, most of the time).
Try, also, to share beautiful, hopeful messages (life is hard and we all need uplift and inspiration in our lives).
(Original photo taken inside a flower, at a farm in Colombia)
This entry is in response to a post by @theycallmedan, which will be judged and voted on by himself, along with @mindtrap and @acidyo.
To submit your entry, answer this question as best you can, and follow the rules outlined in Dan's post: What was the impact of Steem in your life ever since you became part of the Steem family and why you would recommend it over a similar project?
I like your post and story Yahia, I have upvoted and I will resteem it so I can come back and read it again. Thanks
Thanks, for your support, Jerry. We all have our stories and it's nice to have a platform where we can share. Cheers :)
Love your fifteen bullet points, @yahialababidi; which, over the past two plus years, I've also found to be accurate and quite valuable.
I too love Steemit, and the community I've found here, even though I've been posting only sporadically of late.
I actually do practice writing with my left hand. My mom was naturally ambidextrous, and told me a story about when her mother had to have her right (dominant) arm in a sling for several weeks, and literally struggled to feed herself, much less do much of anything else.
So, already being a fairly ambidextrous kid to start with, I started writing and doing many other things with my left hand, in order to strengthen my abilities. I still switch off hands regularly while doing most tasks. It now comes naturally.
And it does open up your thinking to do so. It's amazing how simply holding a pen in my left hand can instantly change my outlook on a situation.
At this point, I'll take Steemit over all other social networks combined. I have roughly the same number of followers on FB and LinkedIn, but rarely use either any more, and don't miss them.
And Twitter and Instagram, while I do have accounts, I've almost never used.
Congratulations on getting a publisher, and best of luck with your newest book!
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Thank you, for your encouragement :) Interesting to learn about your literal application of ‘left hand’ quote.
There’s no limit to what we can achieve when we are out of our comfort zone, try new things & put our mind to it!
Steem on, friend 🙏🏼
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_/|\_It resonates with me, especially on the crystal clear points you listed out there. No doubt that getting to the top is no easy task in any social platform, including Steemit. Great to see we have similarity in terms of experience here.
Highly rEsteemed!