A DRIVE in my Dolphin MX5, to say Thank You to Steemit
Thanks to the Steemit community, Friday the 3rd of February 2017, it will be a day I will always remember.
Ever since I joined, a little over a month ago now, I have been having a fantastic time on Steemit, and I have come to believe that it is the greatest social media platform on the web.
It is simply unique in many positive ways.
One skeptic said that I only felt this way because my post was on the top was of the trending page and as such I got a big pay out.
ie post:( A tough lesson to finally understand the meaning of being honorable)
Basically he was saying that and my joy, and Steemit itelf,
was based entirely on the money.
I found this comment not very nice and somewhat shallow.
But I did not allow it to spoil my good feeling on this great day.
Unfortunately it can be difficult for human beings to completely ignore negativity.
For example:
Once I was in a bar with friends.
We had just watched the Liverpool soccer team win against a mighty rival. And one of the main reasons why our team won that day was because the goalie had made some amazing saves. Nine, I think it was, and they were all remarkable athletic feats. Only one strike went past him that day and he truly was the hero of the game, as far as I was concerned at least. And yet, one of my friends said:
"What a shame the goalie did not save that last strike".
And so as much as I tried to ignore this comment, it niggled away at my brain. Was this skeptic right?
The next morning I was welcomed by a wonderful sunny day and so I decided I would get out of the house for some hours in order to put things into perspective.
I took this photo from my kitchen window, on the Saturday morning of February 4th 2017
And so I welcome you to come with me for a drive
in my"Dolphin" Mx5 and share in my thoughts and conclusions.
More commonly known in the States as the ´Miata´, my own Mazda is special edition Roaster model with a unique color known as `Dolphin Grey`.
Owners of this model actually call them Dolphins.
There were only 3000 of them ever made in the world and I waited for 3 years to buy one.
It had only one previous owner and had hardly been out of the garage.
It has a hard top which is electronically retractable. See below
Ok ignition on, and lets get going....
Into first gear:::: Money is not my main motivation and I dont think it was for those who built the Steemit platform either.
In spite of me owning this car, I am not a materialistic person at all.
Ask anyone who loves sports cars and they will tell you that it has nothing to do with money but rather to do with the joy of the ride and the admiration for quality of design.
This is also the first reason why I love Steemit.
I love the ride and it has been designed with a unique quality.
And this design, of a social media platform built onto a block-chain with its own currency, is truly something to be admired, and a such is the first of its kind in the world.
It is a thing of beauty
Steemit is the special edition sports car of the social media platform world.
Into second gear:::: Creative people are NOT driven by money but by the need to create.
There are probably only 30 artists in the world who are actually wealthy.
Most artists struggle to make a living and many have part time jobs.
If an artist does become wealthy it is because of chance, or destiny, dedication to their craft and what gives them their thrill in life.
For example:
The wealthiest artist in the world is Damien Hirst. Everyone in the art world talks about his vast wealth, and yet they over-look the fact that, while his friends all had good jobs, a nice house, a nice car, and a yearly vacation, he struggled to even pay his rent or buy bread. Eventually he got discovered and the rest is history.
No one wants to live on the bread line and many artists die penniless.
This proves that creating art is what drives the artist, not money.
Dont get me wrong, every artist wishes to be financially secure and want to be recognized and rewarded for their work. I mean, we are not communists lol! Money is an integral part of our world and is the steam that drives it.
With that said,
it takes years of dedication to learn and master technique to be able to produce a brush stroke of high quality.
It takes years of studying and memorizing color tones in order to create the illusion, and emotional power, of color depth. Once you have mastered those, you then need the creativity and drive to produce something that is unique and original.
I think this is also true of coders and creative thinkers.
I am not a coder, but I have good friends who are.
And I know that it took them years of hard study, years of dedication and God knows how many lines of code they have memorized. And then, once they got to the point where they were proficient enough, they then needed a vision to create an original program.
When we look at the history of Dan Larimer and Ned Scott, it is pretty clear that they were not driven by money to create Steemit. Although I dont think they are communists either.
Although the history of Steemit offically starts in 2016, its birth begins well before this.
I think it is pretty well known that Dan Larimer was interested and fascinated in Crypto-currency way back in the early days of when Satoshi Nakamoto was still around. And he was also one off the main driving forces behind Bitshares.
Thus Dan was no flash in the pan.
Ned Scott was a graduate of Psychology & Economics who basically fell in love with the purity of Bitcoin particularly with regards to its decentralized economy system on the block chain technology and how this can give people freedom over their own finances.
His passion for this seems to be at the speed of a sports car because it quickly drove him into the path of Dan Larimar. They put their creative brains together and it was full steam ahead.
Ok lets move quickly into third, and fourth gear:
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Steemit is an open road headed for a place called "opportunity"
The road ahead will always have many twists and turns and sometimes we will have to slow down in the bends in order to keep on track.
Sometimes, we might want to stop because something has caught our attention. But an open road also represents freedom, and freedom might be a little scary, it is also very exciting.
Eventually we arrive at a destination.
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We get out of our vehicle and we have a look around.
When we look at our location we have choice of how to view our surroundings.
We can either see them as something warm and beautiful,
or as baron and cold.
This is a favorite place I know a few miles from where I live.
In Norwegian it is called Kvamsøy which Translates to: "The island of Kvam"
It is a tiny island that it just a few hundred yards off the mainland and In the summer you can even swim across.
The island is actually the smallest island in the world that has its own church.
It is said that St Olav once visited the island and many local historians are tying to prove that he did because it would then become a world wide tourist attraction.
St Olav was the first Viking to become a Christian and basically transformed Norway from a pagan land and into a Christian one.
For me the island is quite magical. And on this island, there is a somewhat unusual work of art that I created some years ago now, and every year many people literally take a pilgrimage just to come to see it.
If you look on the film footage above you can just see the little house that hold the unusual sculpture. But I will tell about it in another post.
This brings me back to my post on Friday 3rd February which was chosen by the Steemvoter Guild as their Post of the Day.
As I am still at the beginning of the Steemit open road, and I had not yet come to the destination of Steem Guilds and actually did not really know what they were about.
And as such I had no idea of what this meant or indeed if there was any reward.
But none of that mattered to me. What did matter to was two things.
1) That I chosen in the first place.
2) The wording telling of why I was chosen.
I tell you no lie, it brought a tear to my eye and I was genuinely moved. I phoned my daughter in the UK and she also cried. And this was long before any money or Guild votes came in.
I post on Steemit because I love to create content and simply wish to share it.
It is always nice to get some Steem dollars in reward votes, but I see this as a sign that a member has liked what they see or perhaps wish to give to support to a creator they value.
Some days more people see my post than on other days.
But thats just how it is for everyone.
When we are on the open road, there are more cars on this road than on other days right? And some of those cars are similar in shape and color. They are still good cars, but perhaps not cars that make us turn our head.
But then one day a sports car appears on the road and it is just so damn gorgeous that everyone just has to take a look.
And so I guess on 3rd of February 2017, I was driving such sports car on the Steemit open road and it made the SV Guild, turn their heads and look, lol!
In any case, I am very grateful to them.
For to me it was an affirmation of my own personal belief that; when you create something from the heart, a thing of truth that you genuinely believe in, then people see it and value the work and effort behind it, and value you in sharing it.
On this wonderful day it was my turn to drive the shiny sports car and tomorrow it will someone else´s day to shine.
And when I do see another shiny sports car pass me by to the top of the trending page, I for one will not be jealous of them, I will not judge them, but instead I will wave to them and smile and be happy for them, for now it was their turn to drive with the top down and feel the wind in their hair.
This is the spirit of Steemit that I choose to see, and I am sure that this is the spirit in which Steemit was created.
If it was not, then why do I feel that?
And so to finish this long thank you to the Steemit community and the SV Guild , I would just like to say that perhaps I may never become a Whale
but I am well on my way to becoming a Dolphin.
Whales may have the power to create big waves with their shear power and size, and as such command our respect.
Legend has it that Dolphins often save people from drowning also have the power to kill sharks. And of course everybody loves them.
633 people voted for my post and 61 people wrote and congratulated me. It this that is worth far more than the cash.
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Thanks for reading and thanks for visiting.
Welcome back another time.
@arthuradamson
I love this post, and what you're sharing here! For me, it all becomes a matter of what motivates us, and what our "leading" motivation is. I'm no materialist or capitalist, but I still have to eat and pay rent... but I create (write and make art) as a consequence of which I may (or may not) be rewarded. But I'd do these things, anyway. For the so-called skeptics, money is the leading motivator... and they'll write, or make tacos, or paint houses as long as "money first." Of course, the problem becomes that the latter approach generally is unable to create lasting value.
The cautionary word about the skeptics who point to us and say "you're only in it for the money" is that they are betraying their own perspectives... and when something actually turns out to generate money, they tend to invade en masse in search of not making a creative contribution, but to strip the land of every monetary reward they can extract, and then move on to the next opportunity, leaving the authentically creative in the dust. I have seen this happen on other web sites that tried to offer contributors a fair share in the stakes.
Hopefully the good folks at Steemit have safeguards in place to prevent "profiteers" from entering and gaming the system.
Wow some powerful points here. You capture my meaning in a very direct way.
Thanks @denmarkguy
Another wonderful post. I love roadsters - used to have a Toyota MR2 myself a few years ago. On a dry day it was the most thrilling car I have ever driven - sadly on a wet day which we have a lot here it was a deathtrap. Was still sad to see it go though.
Ah yes I very nearly bought an MR2 as I was getting rather impatient for my Miata to come along.
I know what you mean, there is nothing like the thrill if driving a roaster, the good feeling you get is just priceless and never fades.
The MX5 seems to grip the road like glue but it is not good on snow because it is just too light.
I am considering getting an Audi TT. They have a four wheel drive which I have heard is really good in the snow so it would be a good winter car to have. And cool as well.
Not really my normal type of post but I had such a good on friday I just had write something about it.
Thanks @thecryptofiend
You're welcome - I love cars. After the number of times I came off the road in my MR2 I progressed on to Subaru Impreza AWD to make sure it didn't happen. Then we had really bad snow and even 4 weel drive was not enough lol!
Sounds like you get as deep snow where you are as we do here in Norway!
My neighbor across from me has a Subaru Impreza AWD, at least I think it is.
Such cars are popular in Norway cos of the winter of course.
But this year has been so mild it feels like spring. Really unusual.
I normally cant drive my Mazda until April.
It was a gas to get it out yesterday.
Well I'm in Northern England and I think the problem is more that we rarely get snow nowadays. When I was a kid it used to snow all the time. Now when it does happen it tends to come in a short sharp burst and we aren't prepared for it. For example my brother lives in Canada and they change to winter tires which we never do hear because of the infrequency of snow. Those really fat tires that look great (and give good grip in normal conditions) are pretty poor in the snow.
Yeah it seems there might be something to this climate change thing.
Hah know what you mean about those fat tires.
I also have a set of winter tires (vinter dekk) but even with them my MX5 is too light so I just end up keeping in the garage the whole winter and dont bother changing them s anymore. Hate that job anyway lol
I used to live in the north of England too, and way back in the 1970s and I can remember walking on a frozen lake. It never froze again.
Strange you mention Canada, I almost emigrated to Toronto before I ended up in Norway. Canada was the land of my dreams as a kid.
Always a pleasure to chat with you @thecryptofiend
In life the journey can be as exciting as the destination when you are doing what you love.
Making meaning is more important than making money. NIce post @arthuradamson
Absolutely right and well put @ogochukwu
Really enjoyed the post, and the analogy to the car drive is great. (Beautiful car too...bet it is a hoot to drive on the windy roads.)
And I agree, as a writer/photographer/creator of other "stuff", the main motivation on this site is the impetus to create, and have folks read and enjoy one's works. Yes, it is nice to be rewarded monetarily, and a necessity of life, but large rewards are often few and far between. It makes sense...there is so much talent out there. But even more so than money, appreciation for one's art created is so very valuable to the creator of the art.
I've always loved writing and creating, but had never done anything with any of it, and really dropped off in these endeavours the last few years. Life gets busy and crazy sometimes. I was introduced to Steemit this fall, and it really jump-started the process once more. I'm so very glad Steemit exists as it does, and that it is a very very positive, supportive site as well. I hardly EVER see negativity and snark's towards others. Which I greatly appreciate. Yes, there are disagreements now and then, but most of it works itself out. I agree with you, this is a special site. Hope it stays that way...supportive and positive and open to creativity, with lots of very talented people. We can all enjoy the idea of them zooming about in their sports cars of creativity.
Congratulations again on your award, and keep on Steemin' ahead.
Hey, what wonderful reply, I see you got my meaning and you put it well .
Nice to hear that you also have experienced mostly the positive side of Steemit.
I know what you mean by some bickering, but as you say, it is very little considering.
You sound just the type of person we need on this platform.
Cheers for reading and responding
Followed @ddschteinn
I think you should consider listing your artwork for sale on Peerhub Marketplace and accepting STEEM or Steem Dollars for them. You could even make a Peerhub listing for commissioned works, where people can tell you what they want in advance of you producing it.
After you create some listings, you could then make some Steemit posts letting people know where they can purchase your work.
Hey that´s a brilliant idea! @shenanigator
Definitely gonna look into that.
I had heard about it but not had look at it.
Ive been so taken with the Steemit community and and having such a great time getting to know all the fascinating people on here, such as yourself, that I just have not had a chance to really look around properly.
However, I am more or less just getting to that now lol!
I think what it is @shenanigator is that I came from the FBook bubble.
In the FB algorithm bubble it makes sure it sends you people who it thinks you like, right?.
But the thing is, I want the freedom to meet all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds. In that way I can expand my knowledge and my mind and thus grow as a human being. Hope that doesnt sound too liberal lol!
For example, just recently I have been having some great conversations with people who know a lot about crypto-currency.- in the crypto currency tag. Those guys are fascinating, really friendly and really helpful.
In the FBook world, I never would have got to meet those guys.
But for sure I will be looking into the Peer Hub Marketplace..
Really appreciate you mentioning that man, Cheers!
This post has been ranked within the top 80 most undervalued posts in the first half of Feb 06. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $3.64 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
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Cool!
Am I first? I love being first to comment, haha! Well done Arthur my friend, happy for you and your success, and hope for more in the future!
Thanks dreemit, always wonderful to hear from you.