A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE

When I joined Steemit six weeks ago, I did not know what to expect from it. I had heard about Steemit from a friend who was into cryptocurrency. He was the one who suggested I should join the platform. Funny thing is that he was not even a member. He knew I was having a few blogs on different social network platforms and that I was annoyed of switching from one account to another.

Before diving into the big Steemit river of posts, I took a few hours to read some of the introduction posts written by various people from around the world. Some were fun, short or quite hilarious, while others were more complex and offered a more detailed and personalized content. Before drafting my Intro post, I asked myself what were my expectations regarding this platform? What were my goals? The answer came shortly within my mind: "Increase my audience and raise awareness about Lyme disease."

Once I finished my first post, I ensured it was properly edited and then I clicked the Post button. I was convinced that no one would read it, thus I did not care much when I saw it made only $0.02. Throughout the following week, I tried to made some sense of my journey on Steemit. The amount of information I had to learn was overwhelming and time was not on my side.

Each time I logged into Steemit, it was a learning on the job experience, as I had never used Markdown or any of the Discord channels before. I continued to post each day despite the fact that no one commented on my posts. I thought that it was common sense to have no one reading a newbie's writings. Only on my 9th post, I received my first comment who came from @moeknows. Thanks to him, I discovered the alliance tag, which made believe that I had to join them.

FIRST TASTE OF VIRTUAL FAMILY

As soon as I posted my application to #thealliance and landed in the former Gamma syndicate I was welcomed by @edthecanadian, @tattoodjay and @katrina-ariel. I remember that day I told myself that things seemed different on Steemit compared with other platforms. I was not able to pinpoint it, but it was a good vibe.

@tattoodjay has always been there answering all of my questions about the alliance and supported me ever since. He even tried to translate one of my French poems. If that is not called support, I don't know what it is! Thank you @tattoodjay!

@katrina-ariel has been a source of inspiration not only for me, but for a lot of other Steemit members. It's always a pleasure to read any of her enlightening posts.

At the end of my first ten days on the platform I ran out of bandwidth. Mostly because I have made lots of comments and edited multiple times one or two posts. I was surprised to see that I was not allowed to post anymore. Luckily I ran into @techslut who kindly offered to delegate me some SP.

Besides the fact she helped me with my bandwidth problem, she gave me a really valuable piece of advice. She advised me to keep a ratio of 20:1, meaning that I should write about 20 comments for each article that I post. I was really impressed by her gesture and I followed her. When I went to her blog I saw she was the mastermind behind the enticing Mistress of Magic. She has also written a lot of great educational posts and tutorials.

STEEM ON!

On my 11th day on Steemit, I received a comment from @jocelynlily for one of my poems. It was exciting to get some constructive feedback. Having my tiny poem read and commented by a writer meant something. The following day she wrote me another comment that left me speechless. People have read my poems before and told me they liked them, but no one took the time to actually go through it so methodically, like she did! If you read one of her posts, which I invite you to, you will agree with me that she's a real talented writer!

From my 12th day, I started to feel the magic happening. I was receiving more comments and more people were following me. That's partially due to @thealliance and @ameliabartlett and her @ladiesodsteemit for featuring my posts. A big thank you!

Then my new friend @c0ff33a came along and brightened my days with his thoughtful comments and sent others on my path. He got me hook on his coffee posts and sincere friendship.

Once I stumbled upon #teamgirlpowa, I discovered some amazing women with incredible powerful voices and amazing empowering stories. I am referring to: @limabeing, @shawnamawna, @appiepearl, @thekittygirl, @EsaiaMystic. They were not afraid or vulnerable to share their stories. Their words speak with confidence and power, from the depths of their soul. I invite you to read at least one of their posts and decide for yourself if I’m right or not.

I almost forgot to mention my adoptive poetry family: @poetrybyjeremy, @angelveselinov, @poetsunited, @isleofwrite, @quillfire and @madevi who have been more than kind and supportive with me.

Recently I connected with @rensoul17, an amazing soul, a poet, a writer, a motivator and a spirit like no other. I am really glad our paths crossed.

GRATITUDE & LOVE

One month and a half of Steemit enabled me to meet some amazing people. I am floored and humbled by the number of encouragement messages I got on Steemit and on Discord from all of you. I certainly did not expect anyone to open up and reach out to me in such a touching way. I love you all and enjoy reading your posts.

Six weeks here also meant an increased traffic to my a-zlyme.com website. I had over 600 Steemians having a look into it and learning a thing or two about Lyme disease, which brings me one step closer to my goal of raising more awareness about Lyme disease.

I thank you all for inspiring me to fuel my work, my writing and my advocacy!