I've written a little about how I had the desire to get back into the blogging game before I found out about Steemit, and I want to share that with you tonight. But before we get to the reasons I was so interested in joining Steemit and what Steemit has come to mean to me over such a short period of time, I wanted to get something out of the way first.
When I first joined, I didn't know a lot about etiquette on Steemit and what is and isn't permissible. I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks in the beginning and violate any unwritten rules, so I didn't give due credit where credit is due. I owe my knowledge of the existence of Steemit entirely to @givonwayne. Without him I wouldn't be here, and I wouldn't be engaging in this great opportunity. I also should take the opportunity to out my husband who is also on Steemit. If you have an opportunity to check out @millennialnow, you should. He an alright guy. :-)
So - why did I want to join Steemit and what has joining Steemit meant to me?
Writing has been part of my life for a long time. I've been writing since I was a teenager, and I learned that out of all the things in the world I could do, I'm not half bad at writing. I continued to write consistently up until the last 2-3 years. In the last 2-3 years, I haven't written at all. There are reasons for that, but for now, we'll just say that life happened and the times when I should have turned to writing the most were the times I turned to writing the least.
In the couple of months leading up to the discovery of Steemit, it had been my silent prayer for something to come along that would make me write again. I desperately wanted to write, but I had no motivation to do it; so, in the category of prayers unspoken, I just prayed and waited for an answer to that prayer.
While I was at work one day, @millennialnow texted and said that @givonwayne had shown him the coolest writing platform and he couldn't wait to show me. You can guess that writing platform is Steemit. We both signed up for accounts and have been championing the steep learning curve ever since. Okay, almost championing. We're making strides.
I won't lie; the opportunity to make money just for posting my ramblings was exactly the motivation I needed to get back into writing. I also won't lie and say I don't want to make any money on this platform. I do. It would be awesome to be able to support my expensive reading habit (read "buy all the books I want and my own personal library in which to house them"), but even if that takes months to come to fruition or never happens at all, I'm still glad I came.
You see, I was so incredibly afraid that I'd lost my writing talent because I hadn't used it in such a long time, and I was afraid that it might not come back even if I gave it the old college try. I think I'm very rusty, but I do have brief moments of brilliance that shine through. It's like riding a bike. You don't forget how to ride a bike, but you do have to practice in order to become good at it again.
Steemit is my opportunity to write again, and it is an opportunity to become part of and help grow community. It could also spawn other opportunities, and although there have been highs, lows, and lots of questioning myself, it has helped reawaken the desire to do more and to conquer this thing called life.
In short, it's been great, and I've loved almost all the minutes of it. If you're feeling a little skeptical because, as a lowly minnow like me, very few people read your posts, don't get discouraged. This is a marathon - not a sprint. Good things often take time and hard work.
Happy Steeming!