Eight F---ing Years
Almost a third of my life, I've been here. You'd think they'd let you off for good behavior at some point. This year, I've read a bunch of interesting Hiveversary posts from people turning "my age" or even older, some I've known for years, some I only discovered recently. And I think the thing that keeps resonating across these posts is the surprise at commitment.
Like, I think we expect to have this kind of length commitment to people in our lives - certainly, being in a relationship of 8-9 years, while no small thing, is not out of the ordinary, either. Having a friendship last this long, or a relationship with a family member (of course) is also common, as is having the same job for almost a decade.
And yet, everyone here seems so surprised at the fact that this love affair with Hive (at the risk of being corny, the way we all get a bit on Hiveversaries) has lasted all this while. Perhaps we're surprised we kept at it. Or that we still want to keep at it, are perhaps more involved than we were three years ago, that somehow this thing in our life has remained a constant, despite so much change, chaos, and unpredictability.
What's changed?
Well, I was just thinking yesterday that this is the place I feel most free in my writing, and has been for a long while now. I find it easier and more inviting to experiment and be playful here than I do, perhaps, if I sit down to write-write a story on my own. It's terribly stimulating, to me, and that wouldn't have been true 8 years ago, for sure.
If I look back at my first posts on the blockchain, they were much more clean, more general and like a magazine-type article. Now, I struggle to remember the last time I wrote something that's not deeply personal or some kind of creative exercise.
To be fair, I was still quite young, and suppose I was quite shy about my lived experience. Perhaps it seemed insufficient, like I wouldn't have much to write about, somehow.
What's same?
But I remember, still, the thrill of one of the very first things I wrote. I think it was about the great relationship I have with @ladyrebecca and how immensely fortunate I am in that regard. And I was writing it while on the road, helping with a theatre festival in another city in Romania. Early autumn. Remember feeling like everything was possible, including being taken seriously for something you feel, craft, make up.
I'd say that's only intensified down the years. This elation of doing something that matters, of putting yourself out there, and finding someone who hears you (or in this case, reads you).

I had this picture as a closing banner for years.
What's gone?
So incredibly much. I think, like many of us, about the Hive people I knew five years ago, or when I just came on, and how long they've been absent from the blockchain (and perhaps, some, from this Earth as well).
I remember coming back after a few months' absence to learn @dreemit had passed. I was so shocked, and so incredibly saddened. Interacting with her during the dark pandemic times was such a delight.
Then, there's the people who simply...stopped. I pestered @guyfawkes4-20 a long time to not give up writing here, but I guess life gets in the way, and we abandon this place. I don't know why.
Would you leave?
I inevitably come back to asking 'why should I?'. Obviously, things rearrange themselves quite drastically in life, but I do consider frequently the people who left this place behind, and all the valid issues and frustrations they had with Hive. Personally, though, I couldn't see it. I've taken breaks here and there, but would like to think I'd find my way back here eventually.
What's stayed?
So much, impossible to mention. I've loved so many different interactions here, some with people I've known for years, some only discovered, as I've said. But much as I love the new people I'm discovering, there's something unparalleled in maintaining a relationship with somebody from across the globe, and perhaps from across a lifetime, for eight years simply via an online platform.
I suppose allowing people to impact you in a major way is always a risk. Even online. Even from across the world. And I'm grateful to Hive for that, for all the good things and the happy moments it's brought me.
And for giving me faith and courage in my own writing, without which my life would've been radically different.
Happy Hiveversary! Hive is all about the wonderful people, and it indeed is life-changing :) Glad you started all these years ago.
❤️
Nobody here but us trubeliebers,...
Amen.:)
Happy Hive-versary! 1/3rd of your life?! That's crazy to think about. It's been great getting to know you over the years!
I often lament about those bloggers, like @dreemit, who've passed on and so many others who've just left the platform and I've lost touch with. There aren't many originals (circa 2016-7) left. I think a lot of people feel so passionately about this place they allow their emotions to get the best of them and rage-quit.
I've had thoughts, just this year, about taking a break myself but I haven't yet. This place has become such a great creative incubator I can't imagine what my writing would even be like without it.
Thank you, Eric! It's been such a pleasure getting to know you as well <3 I see it as an incubator as well - extremely fertile place for creative thought. Were you considering a break because it was getting to be too much, this place, or because of other existing engagements in life? Just curious.
Thank you! It certainly is a great place for creativity and to keep you writing! I think it's a little of all those things you mention — life getting a little more hectic, priorities shifting. Also, genuine engagement is beginning to taper off with my posts and that's always been the motivator to keep me posting. After almost a decade of 5-7 posts a week I feel like I need to reevaluate my posting frequency and maybe slow things down a little (maybe to once or twice a week?).
Güneş is saying goodbye for today with the most beautiful colors. Every sinking is a harbinger of an innovation. Remember, even though it's dark, hope always shines somewhere on the horizon. Leave today's fatigue into the sky, get ready for tomorrow's birth
My 8th year is coming up soon in another 6 months, also spent 1/3 of my existence here and is a big part of my life. Feels insane to me how similar we are in that sense.
It's insane, particularly for people like us who started young here. :)
¿ᴺᵉᶜᵉˢᶦᵗᵃˢ ᴴᴮᴰ? ᵀᵉ ˡᵒ ᵖʳᵉˢᵗᵃᵐᵒˢ ᶜᵒⁿ @ruta.loans
I loved this post because just this week I was thinking about many of those who have passed away. There are people I didn't like and didn't agree with their dramas, but I still miss them and wish they'd come back. In a month, I'll be 8 years old.😁
I wish they'd come back too. Happy (anticipatory) Hiveversary then! :) Kudos for sticking around!
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Well I'm treating Hive as any other social media, kinda. I mean, I have many many reasons why I could leave Instagram and Tiktok. And yet I'm still there because there are other important reasons for me to stay.
About Hive, I only have reasons to stay and no reasons to leave. Guess it's not the same for many others.
Sure, life gets in the way. But that should be true for web2 social media as well, right? Or maybe not, because those became an addiction while Hive is not?
Here there's no dopamine peaks that keep you always engaged. It's Hive double edged sword.
Wow, eight years is not a small milestone.
Hive is not just a platform, it’s a community that evolves with us, and I think that’s why so many of us are surprised we’ve stayed this long and still find joy in it.
I deeply connected with what you said about how your writing has shifted from more “polished” pieces to something more personal and real.
That’s the magic of Hive, it grows with us, and it makes space for our voices at every stage.
Thank you for sharing your reflections with such honesty.
Here’s 🥂 to many more years of writing, connection, and unexpected friendships on Hive.
Happy Hive Birthday! Glad you are still here on the blockchain. I enjoy reading your posts very much, and admire you for what you write at such a young age.