It must have been something pretty close to 26 November, 2021. Back then I was posting fluting videos on Reddit, and was looking for a new place to host my videos. 
Over the first few months I made a lot of typical rookie mistakes, like voting for my own posts, posting low quality content like photo only posts (as they often do on Reddit), and posting too frequently…we all have to learn the ropes, and I was no exception - but learning how to grow and thrive on the #hive blockchain has honestly been very fun and rewarding.
Engagement/Social
I’ve been lucky to make some really cool friends on #hive, who have had an actual impact on my life in some way or another.
Anytime someone asks me about the money side of #hive, I like to point them instead toward the rich and engaging community that’s made me feel so welcomed. I often use the example that I used to do the same thing on Reddit for free, and that coming to #hive not only started my getting paid to do the same thing I was already doing, but also led me to a much deeper and stronger community.
Content
Not long after my initial introductory post, I felt inclined to create a more in-depth record of myself here on the blockchain. I wanted to back up my work, opinions, ideas and content at large with as much of my own real person as was reasonably achievable.
#whoisalbuslucimus During this past year I’ve also learned a lot from creating my own communities.
Most of them are fairly low volume, but they’re there when I need to post specific content. The hottest of them all, in my opinion, is QuenaSabor, and even within that arena I’ve learned a lot more about what kind of content really seems to drive the larger #hive community - which in my experience has been the fun stuff that engages people.
For myself and for the QuenaSabor community, that means the Name That Tune contest. I was very excited to see how much the #hive community comes alive for fun engagement initiatives…the only thing better I think, is the kind of work being done by amazing Hivers like 
*Links are to posts of theirs, referencing the kind of content I’m talking about. These are not the only two out there, but these are two I feel make it a consistent goal to utilize #hive in ways to make the world a better place in meaningful ways.
The Name That Tune contest has been a very rewarding experience - not just in that it’s been the most successful in terms of author rewards, but really because it has enriched my #hive experience. I’ve made many friends through the engagement generated by the contest, such as 
Perhaps for me, the biggest accomplishment in terms of content had been the creation and upkeep of The Albus Index.
#albusindex This is always mentioned in my signature so I’ll skip the basic description, but I’m glad I started it fairly early on because it was much harder to build out retroactively than it has been to maintain.
In addition to these larger scale items, in case you missed it, here is a list of many of the other things that I did here on #hive this year:
- I migrated my photography over from other social media and cancelled the accounts, and shared new photos here on Hive
- I dug a Bunker by Hand! (it collapsed before I finished, which I knew was a risk with the method I chose…)
- A Tree Fell on My House
- I Sold My House and Moved to Another State
- I created and shared a variety of crafts and projects
- I created and shared a variety also of art works
…and of course there was more, but man, what a year!
Numbers
In the beginning, I had some really profitabl posts - in the neighborhood of $30-$70 - and immediately was amazed to think that everything I posted would bring it this kind of payout! Of course, one of my earliest lessons was learning that this is not likely to be the case over the long haul.
Looking back, I can see that most of the posts hit the numbers they did thanks to a few individuals and groups, likely supporting the encouragement of new users.
| Column1 | Column2 |
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…so while the generous votes of a few, such as 
But, if this reaches any new users who are going through this period right now, I would say it’s worth it to just keep going. My posts after a full year of posting, engaging, and even investing my own money in #hive, now tend to make about $0.80 on average. I know that’s not much, but it’s also not nothing…it’s proof that we can grow on the platform, which I think has been a topic of question over the time I’ve spent scrolling my
Anyway, I guess that’s pretty much it!
To all the friends I’ve made who weren’t specifically tagged here, I appreciate you! I just wanted to take a moment to review and celebrate my first year in #hive. Here’s looking forward to another fun year!
Thanks for checking out some more of my work! As always, I hope you enjoyed witnessing as much as I enjoyed creating!
© Photos and words by 
If you enjoy my content, check out the Albus Index!
Here you’ll find links to various post-groupings, so you can find all posts related to a specific topic quickly. Topics include lists of brewing recipes, flutes, crypto talks, rucking posts and an index of all acoustic covers. The lists are updated as new content is added, so they can always be used to quickly navigate my content.
