Before I joined Steemit, I was quite literally languishing. I had lost my dream job, my health has been absolutely terrible, and I honestly was giving up. Drifting day to day, the only thing breaking up the monotony was flip flopping between crippling depression and anxiety.
@lauralemons had been saying I should start a blog on here forever, that I would do well, and finally, I bit the bullet. I signed up, got my snarky name rocking, and apprehensively began to post. I mean, I needed money and it seemed like money was exactly what I would get for posting things I normally made into long statuses for Facebook. My first couple posts did very well, thanks to gracious visits by a whale named @donkeypong.
I felt rejuvenated, and somewhat validated if I am being completely honest. My friend's have always urged me to start a blog or a book, telling me that I constantly make them laugh, but that could easily be from a place of pure bias. Suddenly, strangers are laughing, and giving me MONEY.
It felt damn good.
But then something even more magical happened, I joined the PAL/msp (Peace, Abundance, Liberty/ Minnow Support Project) community over on Discord. And what originally was a quest for financial gain became a quest for laughter, friendship, community involvement, and fun. Exactly what Steemit should be. Sure, the money is a great perk, but it really isn't that important. Creating and sharing and connecting is much more valuable.
I no longer cared about financial gain.
In about a month's time, I have made countless friendships I wouldn't change for anything. I practically spend every waking moment lurking or interacting with the community. Over there, my brand of occasionally subversive and snarky humor is embraced. Well, for the most part.
Oh, and did I mention the glorious STEEMES?
Through the amazing community over at PAL, I have gained confidence in my writing skills through the fiction workshop channel, stimulating and silly conversation in General, and even met @artsygoddess who has started a Steem-Art discord in which she gave me a stitching channel! (That's right, aspiring curse word stitchers, you can come chat over there and learn/share your work in a dedicated room!)
Through my involvement in MSP I have seen an insane influx of traffic and attention to my blog. Instead of popping in and only using the bots, I stayed and talked to the many hard working individuals involved in this amazing project created for the sake of helping us little guys get visibility. Generous resteems and sharing of links happens very frequently if you stay around and become a compatriot, not just someone chasing an upvote. And trust me when I say, it is damn easy to do. There is even a streaming radio station that broadcasts on twitch and takes requests. We all jam out together and have fun.
@aggroed, The Big Purple, is a fearless and benevolent leader.
@gmuxx, our gallant knight, is a eloquent and classy riot.
@swelker101, well... Shane is blamed for everything, but we love him. We just have a funny way of showing it.
@sammosk, the peachy wonder from down under heads the peachbomb movement. And he also runs creativebot, an initiative and curation for all things... well, creative. And artsy.
@sircork is a wise cracking smartass that often heads the msp radio program. And man, dat quick wit.
@crimsonclad, the moshin' atomic bomb after my own heart, has made an incredible website for the community.
And we can't forget our STEEME master, @soundwavesphoton. With blinding swiftness, there will be a STEEME in the chat as soon as a joke is made, and you can bet your sweet ass, it is usually Photon behind it.
There are too many other fun and kooky characters to even begin to list them all.
Come and hang out with us. Give it a week and tell me it hasn't changed the way you Steem! This one is for PAL. You guys have changed my life and I love you.
PAL/MSP Discord: https://discord.gg/yWn29K3
Steem-Art Discord: https://discord.gg/emsdtDK
Crimsonclad's amazing website: http://www.minnowsupportproject.org
And please consider delegating to the community! https://mspdelegator.herokuapp.com/
