The #payitforward initiative is a passion project that I've begun as a way of saying THANK YOU to the Steemit community.

I set a Steemit goal and went for it!

When I started in July,2016, I had ONE follower - the wonderful Hive account@phoenixmaid - who happened to be the one that introduced me to Steemit. I read the white papers and saw something so incredibly special here! So, with dogged determination, I posted, engaged and built to where I am today!

Just over 600 followers
Just under 5,000 posts
~5,700 SP with 12_M vests
From day one, I knew I wanted to be a whale but I had to set small goals and create a pathway. One goal was to engage with the community every day. If I missed a day of posting, I spent a couple of hours reading and commenting.

Getting to 1_M vests felt like it was taking forever!
I wasn't a minnow - I was still plankton!

RAWR!

Man, oh man, I wanted to reach Dolphin status before the end of the year.

I wanted it so badly that I could practically taste the ocean.

There were days when I didn't think it would ever happen. AND THEN IT HAPPENED with a couple of weeks to spare!

Now my eyes turn to the distant horizon of reaching Orca at 100_M vests, which feels like a long-assed way away, so... You know... Fuck It!

I did not reach my first BIG GOAL by myself. I had all of you supporting my creativity along the way. So the #payitforward initiative is really to give back to the awesome Steemit community.

Thank you for being YOU

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Many of you have been getting to know me through my blogs and comments. I've welcomed a lot of new members with the first rule of thumb in community engagement: The Three Cs

Content creation - COMMENTS - Curation

^{Maybe that should be 4 Cs? LOL}

I press those things upon newcomers because we are a social-based platform.

People follow PEOPLE

Sure, people may follow a brand, a big name, an influencer... Yeah, it's kind of cool to rub elbows with them BUT connections are not built by association alone.

Connections are developed
through emotional and intellectual stimulation.

When you share your stories, insight, knowledge, passion, and craft, you give us an opportunity to know you - connect with you - empathize and/or accept you for the real person you are. I sincerely appreciate the people who lay it on the line. They speak their heart, express an opinion whether it's popular or not, bare their vulnerabilities. The people I follow are open to infinite possibilities. They are the doers on Steemit and in life.

Thank you for letting me be ME

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^{Hubby and I. Best friends.}

Steemit is the first platform that I've encountered which allows me to be eclectic without a filter. I've shared my fiction and nonfiction writing, sang a few songs, written a few helpful guides, and offered a view into my world.

From the marrow of my bones, I know that my calling in life is to help people.

When asked, "If money was no object, what would you do?"
My answer would be, "With food or with thought, I want to nurture the world."

Time to "frolic"

In the first #payitforward post dedicated to Hive account@klye toward his moving expenses, I explained that the Amish use the term "frolic" for cooperative work projects within a social atmosphere. Members in the community volunteer their time, skill, and resources.

If you've ever seen the movie Witness starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis, you would see an example of a frolic in the barn raising scene:

When a community comes together for a single objective, that one big bitch of a task doesn't seem so ominous. In Hive account@klye's case, he needed to come up with money for moving expenses. He reached goal in FOUR DAYS thanks to the community and was able to stop his power down.

Read his celebratory post

Let's frolic some more!

Two members of our community Hive account@l0k1 and Hive account@shla-rafia face homelessness. They have both received author post rewards. John, aka Hive account@dailybitcoinnews lives quite minimally in a tiny trailer. He was able to treat himself to a little eggnog and some de-stinkifying incense for his ferret from the author rewards I sent him.

It's sucky and it hurts when you pour your heart out in a post and no one sees it or acknowledges your existence. These will always be extreme cases of need, but sometimes it's not even for a monetary boost. Sometimes people just need to be acknowledged.

What can YOU do?

Be a good Steemian. Create, Comment, Curate. Blaze your own trail. Discover new people. And if it is within your means: GIVE.

Ideas:

Give your time and attention
Direct donation - send STEEM or SBD directly to the recipient.
Donate proceeds from your post - Write a post and state your intention to donate to a person or cause.
Upvote and/or resteem content
Share their post on your other social media
Advocate for your community because one day you may need them.

Come frolic with me 'til the New Year!

This is a 50/50 post.

I will post author rewards and recipients in comments as a form record-keeping. Author rewards not specifically earmarked for an individual or group will be transferred to savings and distributed through random acts of kindness or based on immediate need. Please note: I cannot guarantee earnings.

The Genesis of the Barn Raising #payitforward Initiative - A Way of Giving Thanks

I set a Steemit goal and went for it!

RAWR!

Man, oh man, I wanted to reach Dolphin status before the end of the year.