Getting my Head Around Curating
I realize, writing and posting good content is just part of the Steemit experience. Finding and sharing great content of others is just as important, if not more. But how does curating work? How can I make sure to share what I've found with as many people as I can, AND benefit from it?
Upvotes
The most obvious way is upvoting a post. Not too early, you should wait until the post is at least 20 minutes old, but early enough. In case the post becomes popular enough to make it into the hot or trending categories, these early birds get the most curation rewards. Only thing is, merely upvoting a post won't give it more exposure. For that you'd have to resteem it.
Resteems
I'll avoid beating around the bush and say is straight out: I don't like resteems, period. They clutter up my blog, no matter how much I like what I shared. Steem is not facebook, where 99% of the stuff on my wall is what I shared from what other people shared, etc. Here I take pride in my growing list of articles. But it's not just me: when visiting other blogs I also prefer to see what the owner has posted. Plus, resteeming is not considered curating, unless you gave the post an upvote. Great... So after a few attempts of resteeming articles, I've become a bit reluctant to do it in this way. Still, I want to share what I've found.
Curie
Then there are services like curie, where you can send in articles that meet certain guidelines. If accepted there may be a nice reward for you too, but once again, it is not for every post you may like. Photography or travel posts are not wanted there, nor are articles about steemit or crypto. Also, the author must have a reputation of 52 or under, and the post must have less than $2.00 payout, just to mention a few. So again, the options are limited.
Alternatives?
Instead of choosing between the beaten path and the one less traveled, you could just cut a whole new path for yourself. My attempt at this is a kind of summary of posts I've liked. I'm not quite sure what shape this will take exactly, so I'd like to keep myself flexible for now. One important thing is that the posts I recommend should be less than a week old, to give my readers the chance to visit and upvote them. So writing them on a weekly basis is the minimum. As for the number of them... we'll see. I guess it depends on how curious and active I have been that week. But since the idea is to keep myself motivated, I want to include at least three articles. So let's see what I got so far:
Are Cryptocurrencies a Government Ruse to Introduce a Cashless Society? by 
This article brings up some very interesting points regarding means of exchange, who or what they are controlled by, and how crypto currencies fit into the picture. Though the title might raise certain conspiracy-theory flags, it's worth looking into. Its reasoning certainly makes a lot of sense. And the part I like most about it: it doesn't fed you any conclusion. You'll have to come up with one for yourself, depending on where this thought process leads you.
The making of an African food forest - Part 1, The design by 
Permaculture in action! This is part of the site assessment of a property in South Africa. It discusses the zones and sectors identified on the site, as well as proposed guilds for the food-forest that is supposed to be grown there. The article mentions the history of the place, details of the property, and includes great maps (!) and diagrams. I got so excited when I saw this. This is exactly what I would be doing on the Baja California right now, if only... never mind! At least I get to read about other such awesome projects.
Hitchhiking Tales #5: Crossing by Foot to the Most Dangerous country in America by 
I love hitching adventures as it brings back many fond memories of the times I had thumbing across the world... not TOO long ago. What makes me relate to this trip even more is the author's attitude of hitching rides in Central America, undoubtedly one of the more dangerous places around. However, his exuberant positivism and all encompassing smile would clearly disarm even the grumpiest marero, while recalling something like this in myself. His stories are a joy to read.
Okay, that's it for now. Hope you enjoy these posts, help the folks who wrote them with an upvote, and maybe a follow. There'll be more of them next week.