I feel like Frodo in the Lord of the Rings when he says "I will take it... though I do not know the way."

Last night in chat, I happened to butt in on a conversation that Hive account@ned was having. I tried to be polite (hopefully I succeeded) and made this analogy. I told him that I felt like Frodo in one of my favorite scenes from Lord of the Rings. It's the scene where the powerful leaders are all arguing about how to transport the ring to Mordor in order to destroy it. Amongst all the chaos, the smallest, and least likely member of the council stands up and begins to meekly say "I will take it... though I don't know the way". I used this analogy as a way to describe how I feel as a Minnow on this site. I love the philosophy behind this site. I love the community. I love that it has given opportunities to people who would have never had them otherwise. Because I truly believe in this site so much, I want to help... I just don't know how.

I made this analogy, and asked my question: "How can a little person like me help?" Hive account@ned was very cool and said some kind words. But only after a little reflection did I realize that I had basically asked... "So can you tell me really quick how to build a spacecraft?" My question was way too big for a quick chat session (especially one that I accidentally crashed). That is why I am writing this post. I really want an answer to the question, but I don't know how to get it.

The more I think of that scene, the more I believe it is a perfect analogy for how I feel on steemit. In the scene, there is a council meeting of VIPs representing the different people of Middle Earth. These VIPs are the Whales. Then there is one seemingly insignificant, little Hobbit. He represents me and all the other Minnows. He sits back and watches the Whales. He knows that what they are doing is important. He knows the goal is altruistic and must be accomplished. He desperately wants to help accomplish this goal. Finally he gets the courage to speak and offers his help... and then quickly realizes he really can't help. At least not on his own. He needs the help of the Whales in order to accomplish anything ...at least at first. Of course in perfect Minnow fashion, three other Minnows join him.

There eventually comes a point when Frodo needs to do this alone (Except for Sam. Because if Frodo is going alone, of course Sam is going with him). But before he gets to this point, he needs a lot of help from the Whales.

This is where I am at in my steemit journey. I desperately want to help the site grow, but I don't know how. I have read posts and white papers. I have chatted and researched. I have watched craigrant videos. It seems every time I think I have it figured out, I really end up following Gollum to my doom.

For example, I originally thought the best way to help the community was to put everything you could into Steem Power. I thought that it somehow magically helped the community grow. When I was lucky enough to earn a couple of hundred dollars, I desperately wanted to turn it into magic Steem Power. You can't do this directly from Steem Dollars so I clicked "convert to stem". Easy enough, I'll just convert it and then turn it to Steem Power. Wait, not so fast. Something pops up about taking a week and and something about a "price feed average". But I wanted to help the community immediately. It might die without my 100 magic Steem Power! So I went to the internal market, traded Steem dollars for Steem and then converted it to Steem Power. I had done my part to help! I waited for my gold star.

But not so fast, I have now heard that perhaps it is better for the community if you go trough the week long conversion process. Is this true? I don't know? Could I have helped the community more?

I forgot to mention my goal of converting to Steem Power. I dreamed of becoming someone whose votes actually mattered (I'm not talking Whale or even Dolphin sized effects). I dreamed of my vote being worth... a penny. I thought that would make a difference. I would see a good post and bless it with my vote. The counter would change from a 0 to an .01 and that contributor would have a concrete, tangible symbol that someone out there valued their content. I was going to make it hail like never before!

I figured how much Steem Power could it take? Apparently it's more than I have because my vote still doesn't have the desired effect. So how much Steem Power does it take to make your vote worth .01?

Then I figured, well maybe I can help by providing content. But if no one sees it, have I really helped at all? Have I actually hurt the site by flooding it? I don't know?

I can easily find many "Just let go of the money part and enjoy expressing yourself" posts. It is just as easy to find "Here's how to increase your chances of making money" posts. I just can't seem to find the one I'm looking for. I need a "Steps to take in order to best help the community" post.

In life I am a huge "pull your weight" guy. I can usually figure out how to do that. Even if I'm bad at something, there is always some "grunt work" that can be done.It is really bothering me that I don't know how to "pull my weight" here. Is there "grunt work" a little guy can do?

Any suggestions?

If anyone can answer the following specific questions I would really appreciate it. If people add other questions in the comments, that would be great too!

1. What is the best way to help the community?
2. How can I "pull my weight"
3. Is there a preferred way to allocate the funds in your wallet in order to help the community?
4. How much Steem Power does it take for your vote to be worth .01 (at full voting power)?
5. How about .02?
6. Can you create too much content?
7. If I see 50 good things in a day, should I vote for all 50 or does that make the votes meaningless?
8. How can we make minnows feel valued?
9. Am I asking the right questions?