I had no idea what I was getting into when I first came to Steemit. Truly, I didn't. I thought I would have the opportunity to write and perhaps get paid for it. Maybe even create a decent income. Kind of funny but I think I've made about .75 cents per hour so far, if that! But I've been so richly rewarded in ways I could not have imagined. I'll briefly mention them and then move on to the greater core of this post: Cooperative Abundance.
First of all, my brain has been severely challenged over the last decade or so from a long term disease. My poor mental function just a couple of months ago was quite disturbing. Frankly, I was scared. And then Steemit appeared. This was an opportunity to write, a thing I had always wanted to do on a consistent way, but never had. And I had serious concerns if I actually could write anymore. Now I know, in part at least, how it feels to give birth to a child... that's how it was with my writing in the beginning. I had to squeeze every word out of a very constricted passage. It was labor. I forced myself to write even when in a terrible fog. I got by through posting poems I had written years ago. The poems saved me.
So I bought some supplements designed to stimulate brain function, and employed other alternative healing strategies, and I kept forcing myself to write. Gradually...very gradually, my fluency in writing increased. There were even some moments of magic when what I wrote really was, to me at least, quite good. it was an amazing feeling as my mind started working once more. I have to tell you though, the tech stuff here just about did me in. My brain, quite literally, stalled out. I tried to focus, to assimilate the tech information but simply could not. It still is a stumbling block but I'm slowly making progress.
So that is the first gift I have received: I can think, and write once more. What a blessing. A wonder. A joy.
Another unexpected gift has been the development of relationships. Over that last couple of decades I slowly became somewhat of a recluse. Thats a normal path one takes as ones brain rots. You avoid people. Even family. But that has changed. What an absolute wonder it has been to create relationships. Profound, life changing relationships. Even as I write this, I tremble with emotion. It is such a significant thing for me. My sincere gratitude to all I am able to share this miracle called Steemit with. Thank you.
Hope and wonder. That's what I feel when I consider Steemit. Of course, there have been days when hope and wonder were taking a break, when I seriously considered Steemit one big fuster cluck. But I hung onto the simple advice of others who said that perseverance and determination were essential. I did not want to be among the 90% who walk away from Steemit appearing to have just sucked on sulphur and sour lemons. Anyway, when I consider the potential of blockchain technology, and Steemit in particular, I truly do experience a sense of wonder and hope. We, through Steemit, are changing the future and not just in a small way. It's kind of like we just discovered the wheel, or fire or the printing press...we are making history. Everything will change because of what you and I and countless others are, and will be doing, here on Steemit.
The opportunity to serve, to lift, to sustain and encourage...it has been many years since I've done this with anyone other than immediate family. But now, after watching some remarkable Steemians I'm beginning to see another vision. I'm beginning to reach out to others. That too is a miracle for me. It's been a very long time.
And finally, what has surprised me is that being successful here on Steemit requires one to have a plan, a system, a course of effort and strategy. It's very much like having a small business. One can't just poke it with a stick and expect good results. One must apply oneself. Consistently. With a plan. I guess I was just oblivious to that fact, though to most this was probably self-evident from the beginning. This is life changing too. And I find myself reaching out to new horizons I had not known existed. Its a profession, a career. Am I being too clever here? I don't think so. Its a true venture.
And now finally.... COOPERATIVE ABUNDANCE
Took me long enough. Thanks for hanging in there.
There is one very powerful phenomenon that has really surprised me. Perhaps more than anything else. There is a remarkable synergy growing here. There is a vision of working together, a vision of sustaining, encouraging, guiding, mentoring and uplifting each other, a vision of creating wealth and abundance together. Instead of the old survival/competition paradigm we are creating a new and vibrant way of working together. I like to call it Cooperative Abundance. A new way of life where we can connect with people all over the planet regardless of nationality, race, gender, sexual preference, or religion in an effort to lift each other up, to create abundance for all of us that are willing to work. This is a most remarkable thing. It's almost Biblical in it's power to change the world.
Of course there are those here on Steemit who still live in the ugly reality of survival of the fittest, where you trample upon the bodies of those beneath you on your way to the top, instead of working cooperatively. I do not disregard the fact that we still live in a very lower consciousness world. No, for now, we still compete, we still must be gritty and on the aggressive side of proactivity. But we have introduced an entirely new reality here. The best way to succeed individually is to work together cooperatively.
We see this in so many ways. It is remarkable to see people reaching out, and down, in so many ways, from the development of contests to delegating steem power, to creating new apps and mentoring groups. It is truly a remarkable thing to observe.
BUT WHAT IS THIS NEW ABUNDANCE?
It's not just that working together we can create financial abundance. There is much more. We can create abundance of heart, of compassion, of care, of joy, of sharing, of relationships. of humor, of service, of spirit, and of health and creativity. WE are being abundant in LIFE.
Can you imagine the galaxies of wonder we can create here on Steemit? Can you envision how the choice of love, the choice of Cooperative Abundance might change the world?
Let it be so. May you be blessed with Peace and Joy, and all good things that await those who serve with clear hearts.
