I was tagged in a challenge thing yesterday and whilst I normally don't engage in these challenge things this one seemed productive for steem and so I decided to jot down a few words in response.
theycallmedan wrote the original challenge post which you can read here. In summary it's a chance to write a pro-steem blog outlining what you are grateful for in respect of steem. I'm just going to jump right into it.
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My brother tarazkp got me into steem. He thought I might have a few things to say now and then and it could be a good way to have some fun with the secondary benefit of earning a little crypto along the way. I'm grateful to him for that, and his ongoing support, but more importantly I feel that steem has brought us closer together as brothers.
We've always been close, we share the same birthday in fact, however with him being in Finland and me in Australia it's been difficult to maintain that efficiently. Through steem we have engaged a lot more, not just on-platform but in phone calls and video chats, beat ideas around and talk about the future, not just of steem, but our own. I can confidently say steem has brought us closer together and it's the first and foremost thing I'm grateful for: Steem and my brother's help and assistance.
Next is the ability to express myself in the written word. It is a cathartic process at times, fun and frustrating too of course. But here on steem...It just feels good. I can share my day, my plans, something creative, things about my life or anything at all knowing that it'll land in a place where like-minded people do the same. It may not be well-received from a votes perspective but the reward comes in the writing, the satisfaction of completing a random set of 500-1000 words about whatever the hell I want to write about. In short I feel steem is an environment where a person can comfortably contribute with a degree of impunity, and safety. Of course its decentralized nature is appealing also. So, I'm grateful steem...But it's not really steem that makes all of this possible is it? No, it's the people that are here on steem that do that. Yep, you...My peeps! (You know who you are.)
The people...I've engaged with some cool people and whilst some have decided to move on and away many stick around. I'm grateful to steem for them, the ability to engage with like-minded or even the diametrically-opposed individuals who provide interesting, fun and informative exchanges, open up my mind to new ideas and share a small part of their lives with me from wherever they are on the globe. Steem feels real and whilst I'm not naive enough to think people always tell the truth I feel it's a good indication of a person...At least the people I engage with anyway.
So there you go...One of the very few challenge things I've ever responded to. Thanks to 
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default and aim small, miss small.
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