New Milestone Reached Of Over 1000 Followers - My Gratitude, Insights, And Reasons For Attending Steemfest

Some of you may know me from hosting the Steemit Open Mic contest which is a total blast and in its 37th week now. I love listening to music and watching people perform live.

When I first joined Steemit on August 31st, 2017, I never imagined that I'd be spending so much time on it and engaging with this community as often as I do, but it has inspired me to keep contributing and giving it my attention.

What an incredible ride Steemit has been. There is so much good content from so many good authors that I feel like I owe some of them for teaching me so many new things.

A Thousand Thank You's

Reaching 1000 followers is a new milestone and I want to express my gratitude to all the people who have taken the time to follow my blog. I wish I could follow each and every one of you and read every post but it is just physically impossible to do that, but what I can follow is the good examples from so many of you that make the Steemit community the special place that it is.

Examples like that of @papa-pepper and how he helps so many new people on Steemit and even helped save someone's life. If you have not heard about that story you can read it here at The Reason You Don't Understand Steemit - It's Like A Gift Economy Not A Commodity Economy --- by @stellabelle

And examples like my favorite witness @pfunk who sponsors Steemit Open Mic even though he doesn't play music himself but appreciates what the contest does for musicians on Steemit.

One of the main reasons I like doing the Steemit Open Mic contest is to bring new users to Steemit and keep them here and to get their music heard so when I read comments like these...

...then I know something is working right.

Hearing from new users that tell me they joined Steemit because they heard of the Open Mic contest and seeing them get upvotes, rewards, picked up by @curie, and gain a bunch of followers right out of the gate on Steemit makes me so happy to be part of that process. I feel like I'm giving back.

Watching as musicians who have met on my blog from joining this fun contest and seeing them collaborate on music projects of their own is a gift worth more than the rewards of posting.

Here is one user named @eurekaj [explaining it in their own words](Usd300 And Climbing Musicians Have You Posted In Open Mic --- by @eurekaj
)

Or when users like @jessamynorchard start a Steemit Musicians Group on Facebook specifially for musicians or @soundlegion's Steemit Artists Music Compilation I get goosebumps thinking I am part of this incredible world-wide community.

I also want to thank Steemit to introducing me to cryptocurrencies which have had a profound and immediate influence on my life personally. I have "gone down the rabbit hole" as they say and it is a journey worth investing in. The more we can break free from the shackles of our so called "free societies" and interact peer-to-peer when we exchange ideas and value, the better off our world will be.

Last week I gave my first public speech at a Dash Sonsored event in Cancun hosted by the Bitcuners that you can read more about here and that would have never happened if I did not discover Steemit. Steem will always be my first and favorite crypto.

The Gift Economy

This thing of ours, to use an old Mafia term, takes on a life of its own and branches into new inspiring ideas that make Steemit what it is today and what it will become in the future.

Steemit authors that give on Steemit thrive on Steemit. There is a place on this planet where the "Pay It Forward" principle is alive and well and that is here on Steemit.

Pay it forward is an expression for describing the beneficiary of a good deed repaying it to others instead of to the original benefactor. Wikipedia

Quoting from @stellabelle's post linked above --

Steemit has characteristics of the gift economy -- @stellabelle

I especially liked the quote she credited to Pichot in her posts reposted here.

A Gift Economy is one where status is given to individuals based on what they give to others as opposed to a commodity or exchange economy where status is given to those individuals who have the most (Pinchot 1999). -Learning To Give credit

I have to agree with her 100% that Steemit is a gift economy and approaching it with the idea of giving to the community as opposed to taking from the community will show far better results for your interactions with the community and your posts.

Going To Steemfest 2 In Portugal

The Steemit community never ceases to amaze and inspire me and I can't wait to meet more of you in person in Lisbon, Portugal this November at Steemfest 2.

If you have not heard yet about Steemfest 2 you can read more about it at Steemfest Updates Hotels Booking Site Now Available --- by @roelandp

I missed last year's first Steemfest but I will be at this one for sure and hope to see you there. I'm hoping some of the people I introduced to Steemit can make it this year and I look forward to meeting many of the Steemians I have met here on the platform in person.

So what is it about Steemit that makes me want to get on a plane and meet with people I have never met before and talk about a website?

It's funny when you think about it, but Steemit is just a website after all. My friends that are not on Steemit can't understand what makes Steemit different besides the rewards and if I'm honest it isn't so easy to explain without sounding like a fanatic about Steem.

Steemit has this feeling interwoven into it that fosters a shared experience as if we are all on this journey together to new, unexplored worlds. Wait a minute, this is just a website we're talking about, right?

Yea, but there's real engagement and connections being made on this site and I want to meet these people face to face. I want to get to know them in real life like I already feel I know them online. Strange only because no other website has made me feel this way. So see you is Lisbon!

Thank you again to all the people that make Steemit possible and to all the authors, upvoters, resteemers, and followers that have shown their continued support. You are appreciated beyond measure!

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