Eight Years in the Hive — Still Going and Building!

Yes, it's January 29th and today is my 8th "Hiveversary."

Yay.

Happy Anniversary to me!

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about being able to write those words is the fact that I rarely stick to anything for so long.

Not really for the want of trying, but because generally that "something" either dies an untimely death long before I grow bored with it, or renders itself obsolete to a degree that I just can't bring myself to pursue it anymore.

I would have to give kudos to Hive for still being here and for pretty much still offering at least the same opportunity to blog and create content that it originally did, back when I first found it.

Somehow, I've managed to write 2,575 top level posts since the beginning. I'm not sure how many words (or books?) that translates into... but I rarely write much less than 500 words in a post, and often write over 1,000...

What Makes Me Continue

To be honest, what appealed to me about this place — originally, that is — wasn't so much the possibility of earning rewards as the promise of a place to store my content long term. You know, "the immutable blockchain" and all that good stuff... and the fact that there was not "a company" to change their mind or go bankrupt in the next 30 minutes, thereby rendering all my writing lost.

The reason I was less tied into rewards was mostly based on experience: At the time I joined $teemit, I had already been "creating content for rewards" since 1999, and had been burned so thoroughly by that particular industry that my starting point here was basically "Yeah, yeah, you SAY that, but it's a lie, to be sure!"

Cynical, much?

Pretty much any time I "earn" a little here I experience it as an unexpected — albeit very welcome — bonus I was not counting on.

Much gratitude!

But I also have much gratitude for this being a place for me to explore stuff in writing," which — one could argue — is a significant part of my own mental wellness regime.

It's nice to not feel constrained by subject matter, is I have so often been during the many different writing gigs I have taken on, along the way.

It's also cool to be able to use some of my tens of thousands of photos for something at least marginally useful!

I'm grateful for the community aspect of Hive, as well... "social blogging" was my favorite web format when it first came about in the late 1990's, and it remains my favorite format. Maybe that just proves that I have passed into "Olde Pharte" territory... twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok etc. all just annoy me and I generally avoid them.

Particularly, a shoutout to the Silverbloggers Community which has become my preferred "home" for posting here! More proof, I guess, of the whole "Old Pharte" thing!

A Few Benchmarks and Numberish Things...

Yes, I'm a bit of a numbers geek, but it's also cool to be able to look back and chart my progress, bit by bit.

To that end, this represents my 2,576th post here... and since eight years equates to 2,922 days, that's actually not too far from being a blog post a day for eight years. Which makes sense, this Hive has pretty much replaced keeping my private blog on Blogger.

Engagement matters — I think — and so the 17,371 comments left for others are important to my enjoyment of using Hive. I always had ambitions to keep a 10-to-1 ratio, but 6.75-to-1 is not too shabby, either. But I could do better... things to work on.

Last but not least, as I write this words I have reached 7,965.732 Hive Power. Perhaps that sounds rather modest for eight years... but life happens, which leads me to....

Good Intentions and "Sales Shaming"

It has always been my intention to allow my stake to build indefinitely, perhaps to even (eventually) building a worthwhile "investment" of sorts in the community.

But life happens.

I haven't held a job with a "steady paycheck" since 1998... money ebbs and flows, and is sometimes in critically short supply.

And so, I have had to cash out to some degree, three times, now.

Once to buy a new set of tires for our truck because the old ones were getting to a point of being life-threateningly dangerous, and twice to save ourselves from a property tax foreclosure on our home.

Because we live near the poverty level, see...

Sometimes I find it a little distressing that there is a subtext of shaming directed towards anyone who powers down their Hive to finance their daily lives.

Where the inside meets the outside...

Not criticizing the process, so much as the attitude, particularly given that there are people selling hundreds of times more Hive than I ever will, as result of cashing out their "pay" from the Decentralized Hive Fund.

It's money, OK? It's the DOUBLE STANDARD that irks me, sometimes...

That said, most of the time I just relax and have gratitude for the fact that a few cents here and there help make life a little bit easier... and if I keep plugging away at this, I might actually be able to build some substantial stake...

Of course, the irony of crypto is that these financial emergencies each happened at a time when Hive was in a deep valley, so we had to sell a lot more than we might.

Onwards!

I have no great goals for the coming year, besides a basic keep on keepin' on as long as the going remains good. I doubt I'll ever run out of things to say...

Can I reach 12,500 Hive Power by the end of the year? I don't know, but maybe I can. I'll give it a try. Barring disasters, I have no intention of powering down in the foreseeable future.

As a final bit of "tradition," a quick shoutout to my blogging colleague @tarazkp who joined this crazy circus on the same day I did... well done, mate! We made through another year!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful remainder of your day!

Oh, and Happy Lunar New Year!

(10% @commentrewarder bonus on this post)

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

Greetings bloggers and social content creators! This article was created via PeakD, a blogging application that's part of the Hive Social Content Experience. If you're a blogger, writer, poet, artist, vlogger, musician or other creative content wizard, come join us! Hive is a little "different" because it's not run by a "company;" it operates via the consensus of its users and your content can't be banned, censored, taken down or demonetized. And that COUNTS for something, in these uncertain times! So if you're ready for the next generation of social content where YOU retain ownership and control, come by and learn about Hive and make an account!

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(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly and uniquely for this platform — NOT posted anywhere else!)
Created at 2025.01.29 11:40 PST
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