As many know, this last week my brother @galenkp who I haden't seen for 12 years is visiting Finland and it has been great to have he and his wife as our guests. What I have tried to do is show a little bit of what we have been up to each day and also give you insight into my personal reflections on the situation.
The reason I write about this stuff is because I find that it gives some space for me people to consider their own positions and perhaps consider it all a little more or, differently. There is value in this in my opinion and I hope that you are able to take some time for yourself while reading or looking at the images and find something that helps you improve something, however small. Perhaps it is just your mood.
It has taken quite a lot of work to keep posting consistently while they are here and I have dropped back the frequency slightly and, focused more on what we have been doing rather than how Steem is doing. I find the work it takes me to delve into Steem thoughts is much more intensive than reflecting on family as it is mostly out of my wheelhouse but, it is very rewarding for me.
I really like thinking about how communities operate and, how various individuals act within those communities. I like attempting to find solutions to issues and of course, being a part of helping various people solve some of the things they face. Of course, not all of the things are on Steem, in fact, most of what I do isn't on Steem at all. I'm not saying that I spend all of my time in chats but, off-chain conversation takes up a lot of my time space.
It seems a lot of people think that all that happens off-chain is link dropping but that is not the case at all. For me at least, off-chain is where I actually get to know people as it is a more 'natural' environment of sorts and you can see how people act when what they say isn't immutable or needs to be hardforked out. It is also the place where people can discuss personal challenges and circumstances. For me, it is where friends can be made.
This week, I have had to forgo some of my activities to keep up with spending time with my family and it is interesting to see the effects it has. For example, I haven't been able to comment straight away and, get to all comments with a reply. Often, I will spend more time commenting on my posts than writing them and, my posts aren't 'quick to write' posts. Engagement is something that is often talked about but rarely actually invested enough in to understand.
Even though I have been trying my best, I have found that over the last few weeks (after my daughter was in hospital and then my brother arrived) where my method of engagement has changed, support and commenting has changed accordingly. Since I haven't been able to answer as fully, the comments aren't as full. This is quite natural but I wonder how many people really think about it.
If someone goes out of their way to comment well and then they get "great." as a reply, why would they comment well again? It is the equivalent of comment spam, reply spam. I feel that I have had to do a little of this lately and I apologize for it. I have also had to post and run occasionally too which means, posting without staying to reply to the first few comments at least, I don't enjoy this.
There are so many things that I want to write about that are more serious in nature but, it doesn't feel right to write those this week so I am avoiding them for the time being. After my brother leaves, I will get back to those things.
I know that for some, the way this place operates can be very frustrating but for me, I see that frustration as a sign that I actually care about something here. It could be that it is only the money but, I believe that not to be the situation in my case. I actually enjoy the hard times, I enjoy the dealing with problems. It seems, I am a bit of a masochist of sorts but, it is where I feel that my particular skills have value to the community.
Any community is made of a range of people who offer something or, take something and the healthiest members ore those who do both. I am not looking for sainthood, I want to get paid but, I do not want to get paid for nothing and, I want to be able to give more to the community than I extract. This isn't Steem value though, it is about the perspectives I can offer that could help individuals within improve themselves, their lives and hopefully, the lives of others also.
A community requires all sorts of skills and even though I don't think I have found my place yet, along the way I hope my own skills can help others find their place in the community, a place where their skills make the community a better place for more people. There is a lot of potential here to improve lives and it isn't all about the money but, it does help those who can, do. The problem for many though is they won't do until they are getting paid.
That isn't how a community works, the investment comes first, than the reward.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
PS, it is after 1 am and tomorrow is the last full day my brother is here therefore, I am going to go to bed so we can get an early start. I will get to comments later but I hope that more people will both talk with each other and, reward each other for commenting well which means, reading the comments of others, not just the post. That is engagement.