Reaching Dolphin and investing into the platform

Once upon a time there was a guy who was completely oblivious to the world of blogging and crypto-currency; In June 2017 the clueless guy was introduced to steemit, a blogging platform that rewards content creators with crypto-currency payouts. It was tough going and he struggled to gain any real traction or to get noticed in the vast world of steemit. He persisted though, and persisted and persisted...

...He wrote a lot, about many different things. He wrote with passion, putting himself out there personally, sharing his inner-most thoughts, his hobbies, fears, experiences and ideas. He commented on other users's work, voted with his very small SP, longed for his vote slider to be awarded him and watched as his steemit wallet grew , ever so slowly, little by little.

The clueless guy was lucky to have some assistance though, a Yoda of sorts, although just a little taller than the original green Yoda. In addition to his steemit-Yoda the guy was also lucky enough to capture the attention of a few users who engaged with him expanding his paradigm into areas previously unknown.

It's been a rollercoaster journey for the clueless guy however each up and down, twist and turn brought greater value, not just from a crypto-value perspective but from an emotional perspective also; He found writing to be extremely enjoyable which is why he continued to do so.

In case you haven't worked it out yet, that clueless guy was (is) me, and yes, I'm still largely clueless some 529 days or so after I first started my steemit journey.

Do you see the image to the left? That's me. Well, it's the new me. No, not the one in the bikini. The other one with the fins. The dolphin. I'm the dolphin gratefully receiving my "welcome to being a dolphin" kiss from that lovely girl in the bikini. 😋

That's right, I am now officially a dolphin on the platform.

I'm not really sure what that means at this point although what I do know is that it represents over 500 days of posting an average of 1.3 times and making around 9.5 comments per day. It represents a lot of writing, daily writing, and a great deal of effort. It also represents a little additional effort off-platform trading my meagre crypto-currency holdings (gained through steemit) to increase it little by little. It was hard work. I didn't buy STEEM or exchange bitcoin for it. In fact I didn't invest anything into steemit at all except a lot of time and effort.

Having said the above though, I have not reached this milestone all on my own. To say so would be narcissistic, egotistical and just plain wrong. I have people to thank.

You may recall I mentioned my Yoda. Well, as it turns out he isn't Yoda at all, he's my brother @tarazkp. Many of you may know him by reputation on the platform and a few from steemfest recently in Krakow. Some of you may even recall, from one of my previous blogs, that he and I are born on the same day, only 9 years apart. I am older.

We've always been pretty close and remained so when he went to live in Finland many years ago. I won't go into the story of our joint 21st and 30th birthday parties in Cairns some time ago; That event will live in infamy, however I will say that he has been of invaluable assistance throughout my steemit journey culminating in me recently achieving dolphin status. He's also been a pretty good brother.

I told him I was thinking of investing it into steemit and he agreed that it may be a good time to do so. We did some calculations and determined that I was just a little bit short of becoming a dolphin if I invested what I had and to my great surprise he told me he would spot me a little bit of STEEM he had saved to help me out.As I said, I blogged a lot and traded crypto over the last 18 months or so and was able to create a small stash of STEEM off-platform. You know, a little something that I'd squirrelled away for a rainy day. We were speaking the other day, @tarazkp and I, and he asked how much I had and what I was going to do with it.

So, in short, my little brother helped me become a dolphin, through support on the platform and some crypto-support and I am grateful. I understand how difficult things have been for him and his family for a few reasons including financial ones and therefore am very aware of the magnitude of the loan...Did I say loan"deserve" it. That meant a lot. As you know I've had a lot going on lately here and have wavered at times in respect of steemit.? Yeah, I thought it was a loan but no...It was a gift! So, thanks Yoda...I mean @tarazkp, I appreciate it greatly, especially your words telling me that I

I mentioned earlier that there's a few other people I'd like to mention. These will be in no particular order of course and I am equally grateful to all of them for different reasons. It's a testament to their quality that they have moved forward from helping little old me through friendship, advice and simple engagement, to doing so with others. So, thank you all.

Thank you to @sirknight for including me in some of the concepts you championed on the platform and for your constant engagement. You were one of the very first to welcome me to the platform and have remained consistent with your engagement with me throughout.

To the indomitable characters @mattclarke and @o07 a heartfelt thank you for bringing my steemit experience into the real world through the monthly meet-us in Adelaide. Your work with the #mallballers crew is greatly appreciated and I look forward to continuing those meet-ups. #AdelaideSteemFest2019 boys! Seriously though, thank you for your engagement on and off the platform.

To @anomadsoul, @acidyo, @jasonstaggers, @alexis555, @pharesim, @ripperone, @wackou, @sniffnscurry, @ocd, @m31, @redes, @ausbitbank and so many more who have been kind enough to throw me a vote here and there. It's amazing how a vote from a large account can positively affect a small user like myself. It's so difficult to be noticed on steemit so to be noticed by the likes of you is a welcome shot in the arm.

I'd also like to thank all the users who have engaged with me through my blog. (You know who you are) The comments, questions and remarks you leave for me are all welcome and I do my best not to miss any of them. If I have I am sorry. It's your comments and engagement that helps make this platform enjoyable.

I'm not completely sure what being a dolphin is all about however I believe the status comes with a little more responsibility on the platform.

It's not that I have not taken (or shown) responsibility in the past of course, I guess I mean that other users may perceive my account a little differently. Or then again, maybe not. Maybe the dolphin status is a hollow accolade and doesn't have any tangible meaning, but to be honest I don't think that's the case.

It shows a certain commitment on my part, I think so anyway, especially since I didn't buy my way into it with my own money, just the effort I put into the little bit of crypto-trading I did and a whole lot of writing on the platform and I believe that the right thing to do was to invest back into the platform as I have done.

I don't know where this will lead, steemit I mean, and crypto as well, however what I do know is that creating content is enjoyable. Sure, sometimes I don't know what to write, I struggle to create anything at all however I think we all suffer that affliction and feel frustrated because of it. I tend to just write about what I'm interested in, passionate about or what's on my mind at any given point. I write more for me than for others and that's the reward I pursue and ultimately receive.

So, thank you to everyone who reads my blog and engages with me. I know it's a tough time for crypto and the platform at the moment however nothing worth doing is ever easy and I believe that we have a future. I urge people to keep posting with quality and validity and to engage as much as possible. Who knows where this journey will take us, but whilst we're on it we might as well have some fun right?

Below are some blogs I've done. I wanted to share a few with you at this point, on achieving this milestone, as they remind me of my journey on the platform and of some of the many topics I've written on.

My introduction post
Colonial calvary to
Australian Light Horse
Port Arthur
The tree
My dad's war-time memories
Shooting straight
UK food
Camp like a boss
Weekend adventure part 1
Weekend adventure part 2
The battle
The pine cone war

Image source
Image source