When Jaynie launched this particular campaign, I immediately got onboard. I wasn’t thinking about what I was going to write and how I will present my reasoning for supporting the movement, I just knew in my bones I was going to participate. You see, this is exactly what PowerHouseCreatives community is to me — a place that bustles with festive energy and spontaneous engagement, a place I can feel at ease.

I’ve joined Hive nearly three months now and like all new hivers who join the blockchain for the first time, I didn’t find the place particularly user friendly. The trending page usually had crypto-related posts all over and some other technical stuff I don’t care much for. I thought all the people on hive are crypto-nerds who do not laugh and talk in ones and zeros!

But thankfully, I found my way to The Terminal, which is an amazing community for newbie hivers and some of the members of that community are ever active, trying to help new users to see the light! From there I went to PHC. I’ve seen that community before after joining but like every new hiver, I was posting on the biggest communities, erm...all the rewards were there or so I have been told! (spoiler alert: it’s not). Also I couldn’t figure out at that time what kind of posts would go with PHC.

Now, PHC has Hive account@jaynie. If you don’t know her, she’s like a tornado in a dead sea! Yes, quite the opposite of what hiveans usually (calm, calculative) seem like. Instead, she exuberates energy. I actually told her that! Then I stayed in the phc discord server to see what they were doing.

Turned out, they are doing a lot of things! Apart from contests and collective initiatives like this one, they do daily-rally where one post from the community is selected each day and everyone engages on it as a community. Which can catch you off guard. Suddenly you’re the center of attention and that’s pretty sweet! Also members usually share (on their own accord) posts by other members they liked. But what actually makes PHC stand out is its willingness to go beyond to establish a friendly and engaging environment. On hive, on twitter, on discord. True, discord is perhaps not good for hive but as long as there are no hive chatting platforms, discord is here to stay and PHC discord server is one of the most active (and civilized, mind you. Quarreling is not engagement) ones I have seen! What do they talk about? No, what do WE talk about? Why, anything and everything! From sharing memes to meaningful conversations on linguistics, you name it. I love being able to share my favorite songs and the ones I discover daily and getting feedbacks on them. You see? PHC has some of the crucial and essential things that are prerequisite for running a community successfully.

And a community must have its active users. Apart from Jaynie, there are other members who are likely to grow on you. Bigtom, the traveller, master tracker, DIY expert, literature lover who loves to undersell himself, Zord the animator who arranges contests all the time, wwwiebe and his photography and sense of humor, Jerrytsuseer with his ever changing name (he’s currently the style guru), memes and a marvellous voice,
Britt with all the fun challenges, Kittygirl the hive tech-witch from The Terminal are here as well. There’s Steven who does portraits and loves good music. Starstring with whom chatting is always fun. Felt Buzz who actively seeks out undervalued posts. Eugelys with big eyes. There are other members too along with the ones who frequent all communities.

Everyday when I wake up, I reach for my phone habitually and check for notifications and seeing those red marks from PHC server brightens up my mood. No, hive is not all that barren and alien once you have found the people of your own.

I’m not inviting you to PHC because I want to give you a hug and sing merry songs together, marching in unison. No, I’m inviting you because I think you deserve a healthy, authentic communal experience that we inherently crave as human beings. Good luck.