I've been having spurts of motivation to post here on Hive but they are usually followed by an annoying bout of procrastination. There's something a little daunting every time I get a little inspired to log in and I think a positive exercise could be to just get on and start typing rather than aim for what initially inspired me. Another exercise I could try ( but I'm very apprehensive about following through on ) is posting every day for a month or so, just to get me back into the habit if that might help me to overcome whatever keeps blocking me. A part of me thinks it's just the habit of giving up.
I can't say for sure what it is, but whenever I do post I tell myself well that wasn't so bad and think I'll post again in a week or less because it doesn't take a lot of time like I always expect it to, but before I know it a week has gone by and then a month and I start to wonder if my Keychain password will work or what hoops I'll have to jump through to learn what's changed in order to feel like there's a chance of connecting with an audience slash community here. That's despite it being my own failure to engage effectively with those who kindly respond to me. I find myself logging into discord first to see if that helps alleviate my concerns, maybe because I'm more likely to succeed in actually talking to somebody. It's like a quick hit of what I'm looking for, but not the real deal that feels like it costs more and may or may not pay off.
Even after logging in and before getting to the "rewards" be they financial or social interaction, I'm a little anxious about finding an image to use as a thumbnail for this so that it might be noticeable and then figuring out what tags I should use. I'm not entirely sure anymore what the best way to use tags is now, or if they're really relevant in comparison to communities etc. I'll probably think of a thumbnail idea as I'm writing this and just produce one quick and easy using an AI tool, assuming that's acceptable by the community - another noodle within the stir-fry of what I ought to know to participate.
All this anxiousness makes me wonder further if I'm alone with this experience or how many others there are who fear the frustration of not finding it easy and give up on returning. And then what does that mean for the time and money I invest. The inspiration that got me here this time ( before I got hit by the usual bout of procrastination ) was actually the idea of interviewing a few people outside the platform to get their thoughts on what it's like to get signed up on the platform. How we do that seems to change every time I look again too and I have to wonder, is it normal for this to trigger such anxiety or is this just an ADHD thing I personally struggle with.
My life's changed abundantly since the days I frequented the STEEM chain and with 2 babies blossoming before me I often ponder about what I can gift them and their minds as they grow. I strongly believe their generation is going to take on blockchain like a storm and I plan on seeding what I see as the vision and benefits. I want to provide the tools for them to learn & excel but I expect before I know it they'll be teaching me instead of the other way around, and although that thrills me because it's what they are born to do (better me), I also want to be knowledgeable enough that they are propelled even further with my help. I just feel stunted though every time I think about reconnecting for a moment (by posting on HIVE).
Even talking to somebody from here (through discord or chat) makes me a little nervous because I know that every time I do, I learn that there is more to learn and while there was a time that filled me with passion, now I'm filled with regret because it's as if I can't catch up or I would have to immerse myself again in order to do so and I don't feel that I have the time to do that. If I don't have time to do it now, the thoughts of catching up later instead give me fear of missing out.
Well there's our thumbnail problem solved.
I started this exercise with the intention of simply writing without questioning quality or inspiration or other goals, so rather than finish up with a summary or conclusion I'm going to leave it at that. I do have a couple other things in mind to post about and considered introducing the ideas, but if it's meant to be I'll be back with them soon. Now for the tagging challenge... Do I look for similar posts to figure out what tags are used... or popular? Or just post and rely on those of you who follow me and I am ever so grateful stuck around or returned. I've missed you yet I struggle to engage with you and I'm sorry about that too.
Much love to you all,
Your old friend & steem veteran, beanzy ❤
I know some people find Hive intimidating, but most people I've encountered are friendly and supportive. As long as you are original then there's not much to fear from the 'police'. If you do use any 'AI' tools then it's best to make it clear that you did to avoid accusations. It really is about engaging with real people here and we don't want the bots to take over.
I don't think we should feel pressured to do anything that we are not comfortable with. There will be those who want to post every day, but others have too much going on in the real world. Hive should accommodate everyone.
Stay well and have fun.
So, how are you?
Well, English is not my native language, so I may have misunderstood something. I like to think of Hive as a small obligation, or something to be taken more seriously than web2 networks, and I say this in the sense that I am required to maintain a minimum number of publications. Mine are texts, reflections, opinion pieces. Occasionally about games.
Along these lines, I would like to suggest that you join the HiveLearners community to be "required" twice a week to publish on a specific topic. Could this help? For me, it worked.
Furthermore, and now I am speaking with great authority, this reflection of yours (if I can call it that) would be very well received by the FreeCompliments community, and for that I would like to invite you to join us. The community works on several fronts and I can explain it to you in more detail if you are interested. Our team of mental health ambassadors should be stopping by soon.
I wish you light for all your dark moments!
While I'm glad that all those initiatives exist and I appreciate you for pointing me in their direction, I'm not really looking for inspiration or motivation to post. I don't have the time to make a commitment to posting regularly and this is not anybody's problem to solve. This was simply an exercise to address my procrastination by facing whatever feelings & thoughts come up when I pause to question myself on it. I think the procrastination happens as a consequence of trying to ignore them and just moving on, but it still ends up bothering me in the back of my mind.
A big reason for the stress is probably that I got too immersed back in the day when I was on STEEM and I never succeeded in finding a healthy balance of being online & offline so my mental health paid a price back then & has been much better since going cold turkey. But circumstances have changed since so the pressure to post often is off.
I don't think that writing needs to be Joyce to be quality. I just think that it needs to be authentic and of interest to be be worth the effort. And as all insights could be of interest to somebody then who can judge if a post is quality or not?
My partner would be an anxious person as well and as one of those people who don't take life too seriously i can often find it hard to relate but i have gotten better over time. I find that most of it stems from trying to compare herself to others and their accomplishments and what other think of her.
But none of it matter really. You have to write for your own love of writing. Hive has changed a lot over the years but learning it's intricacies is one of the fun parts of being in the community.
There are lots of ways to join now but plenty of knowledge between all of us to figure it out. Just ask the questions and we'll do our best to help find out the answers.
It's not a need for quality that blocks me, it's the repeated relearning that demotivates me. It happens like this: I have this idea, something that might be received well here and might even formulate into a business idea if it is, then I consider logging in to get some feedback & either I get blocked by that demotivation or I get blocked by a new process or update or culture change that later demotivates me when coming back again.
Hive has changed a lot over the years but learning it's intricacies is one of the fun parts of being in the community.I wish I still felt the same, but this is where I feel there is too much effort to re-engage. My anxiety seems to stem from the inability to be both in and out. Like if I get involved & invest my time, then I can't come and go as I please without losing some of what I accomplished from my last visit - because whatever I learned has potentially been updated or the tools I used look different, etc. If I had the freedom to stay involved consistently, I might still enjoy the rapid changes in the environment and challenge to adjust and adapt, but it's been a long time since I've felt in a position to do that, and I don't think I ever want to be back in that position either, since that would mean less of a life outside of Hive.
I do have to say I'm extremely impressed by many of the app builders efforts to include educational material in their onboarding components. I just wonder if the dust will ever settle so that it's easy to come & go without having to be immersed in order to feel included. I'm aware that my mind is making the issue bigger than it is. Hence the procrastination.
This is something I probably just have to get over, but I also believe I can't be alone with this problem, and if I solve it for myself alone, then the problem isn't really solved, because I think growth and ease of entry, (revolving door) exit & re-entry are important for the success & growth of the network.
👀 See I've no idea what I just commanded but glad to hear it failed
Dare I say that you're overthinking it all? It's not as if you don't have plenty to say...life on a boat, the joys of bringing up 2 babies..we're all ears.
I do, but i always find myself more interested in (or confused by) what's happening here. Back in my days on steem even after the guilds started pushing rewards to those who posted about anything other than the platform itself, I couldn't help myself. My interest was in this ecosystem so I couldn't keep from writing (or podcasting) about it. I have so many questions, like why are notifications being read a blockchain transaction? I wish I hadn't missed the meeting where that was decided a priority. 😅 I jest but I really do wish I hadn't missed so much and it all made as much sense to me as it used to.
You are right though. I'm over thinking it. Mainly because I usually dismiss whatever causes the procrastination & it gets ignored, so right now I'm just ruminating, but don't worry I plan to snap out of it and move on.
The wonderful thing about blogging and posting is that you can do so whenever you want. If you want to stay committed to doing it, then that's up to you. Otherwise, just write whenever you wish to write. You have the power to make your own choices - there's no guilt about it, unless you choose to feel that way!
If you want ideas, I created a deluge of themed days on the FreeCompliments Community. There's always something to write about, should you find the time and motivation. If not, the world will keep on turning.
Ultimately, make the choice that's healthiest for you. If you'll be in a better mental state by consistently blogging, then make yourself do so. If it ends up putting more pressure on you and makes you pay a toll on your health, then avoid it. Our health precedes everything else, because without it, we'll cease to exist.
Coming and going and posting whenever would be fine, but the anxieties come from how often and how fast things change around here and/or I start to forget how things work. I think when you're heavily involved like you probably are, you start to forget just how many tools & programs there are to learn to use along with all the other intricacies of the blockchain rules etc. You do it once and it doesn't feel like a big deal, you just see what you accomplished as a result. You do it again and again and it starts to induce anxiety just thinking about it.
At least, that's my experience.
It could be any little thing like an update to Keychain, or Peakd partners with a new sign in authoriser, or a bigger thing like how the reward pool works.
The stress is not about posting or frequency or ideas or anything like that. It's just the process of learning how it all works over and over again to figure out what's changed that causes me to stop and procrastinate, followed by the fomo of that procrastination. But please don't see this as a request for help. Thanks for listening (reading) and for bringing your initiatives to my attention!