There is no way I would have stayed on Steemit if it wasn't for the connections I've made with others on this platform. You're told right from the beginning that it's about community, and if you don't realise that early on and build those community connections, then you are clearly here for the reward pool only, which to me seems to result in the greedy use of bid-bots, spam comments and a pretty desolate life here in the Steemiverse. Because we're meant to connect, us human beings, and we're meant to learn and grow from each other.
Steemit kinda re-set my love of human folk. If you've ever been pulled into one of those hideous comment quagmires on Facebook with thoughtless, ignorant and down right nasty conversations, you'll know that feeling that human beings can really suck. Clearly the flagging system prevents that here, but to be honest, Steemfolk are a different kind of folk - it seems we're also hear to learn from each other and offer what we've got. In some of the communities here, it's even more than that - it's trying to live by tenets that profess to make the world a better place - whether that's through philosophy, the food we consume, spirituality, gardening, music, communion with nature, meditation and mindfulness, these communities have at their heart a kind of betterment that raises the bar for not only everyone on Steemit, but for the writers within these communities too.
I was lucky enough to be nominated into @tribesteemup - I mean, really, really blessed. I loved what @indigoocean said - she couldn't quite figure it out until she realised it was because she was a good writer and that she had something to say that was worth reading AND that what she had to say adhered in some way to the pillars of this community:
FIRST, each individual is the exclusive proprietor of his or her own existence and all products thereof, holding no obligations except those created by consent;
SECOND, no individual or association of individuals, however constituted, has the right to initiate force against any other individual and each individual has the inalienable right of self-defense against the initiation of force;
THIRD, explicit voluntary association is the only means by which binding obligations may be created, and claims based on association or relationships to which any party did not consent are empty and invalid;
FOURTH, rights are neither collective nor additive in character, and no group can possess rights in excess of those belonging to its individual members;
FIFTH, the Earth is not a resource to be exploited, it is a living system, of which we are all pieces, and we must learn to live in harmony & balance with the rest of the system;
SIXTH, animals & plants do not exist to serve humans; they are living things that have their own existence, of which they are the exclusive proprietors;
SEVENTH, the purpose of all human endeavors should be the creation of a more thriving, peaceful, healthy, joyous world for ourselves and to leave for future generations;
EIGHTH, basing our interactions with each other on cooperation, co-creating the world we want to live in and pass on, is key to our success.
When someone believes in you, you're far more likely to rise up the best version of you that you can be. I started to question my own voice and begin to understand that I had something to say that could help people in some way. Maybe it was making them smile. Maybe it was making them think. Maybe it was making them feel as if they weren't alone in their experiences. Maybe it was something I could say that could help the environment in some way. I started to realise how much I actually had within me that could work toward those eight tenets, and that what I had to say was really worth something. It's inspired me to keep writing. Every day I'm totally awed by the content written under this tag and feel with every post I write I have to live up to them in someway.
It's awesome getting the rewards for your post, for sure - I am not sure I could have continued without it. Knowing that you will earn from what you write is certainly a morale booster. But being part of this community, and the extended ones such as @freedomtribe and @ecotrain and @naturalmedicine, all with @tribesteemup members within them, have enabled me to connect to a lot of like minded people that make my day every time I log in.
Even more than this, is that without that support from @tribesteemup, I wouldn't have been able to start Natural Medicine at all, along with @holisticmom and @mountainjewel as support. Having a guaranteed payout every time I posted meant that I could accumulate enough steem to delegate to the this account so that I could give back to people within these communities and outside it too. There's people in Natural Medicine from TSU, from EarthTribe, from Freedomtribe, from Ecotrain - and that makes me so darn proud. I actually feel as if I'm working with others to make a difference, and that's been validated by a big delegation from Tribe Steem Up into the NM account.
Honestly, that totally rocked my world - with this delegation, I can keep supporting people and spreading the love outward in the way it's been showered upon me. I can keep supporting writers who are doing the hard yards collecting their stories about healing and providing answers for those who need it - in the short weeks since NM has been running, I've seen people actually transformed by some of the healing that's been talked about under the #naturalmedicine tag, and that have written to me to thank me. I don't think I could have done it if it wasn't for TribeSteemUp's support. I really don't.
I feel really proud that Natural Medicine is really following the original pillars laid out by @kennyskitchen, and we tried to echo them in our little preface:
@naturalmedicine is a group that wishes to promote natural, holistic and supportive alternative remedies on Steemit, moving away from big pharma and towards a more intuitive healing that is supported by ancient wisdoms, home remedies, herbal lore and science, indigenous traditions of healing and other learnings that inform and support us to heal and nurture our bodies, minds and spirits. We welcome all alternative practitioners and those with an interest in natural therapies, cures and medicines, and are committed to sharing and promoting these paradigms and understandings on the Steemplatform. We support co-curation, mutual support and the promotion of the @naturalmedicine community, and are inclusive and respectful of each others skills, wisdoms and knowledge.
I misheard someone talking about curation the other day, and I heard it as care-ation. I like that. I like the way we're care-ating each other in this tribe and it's subsidiaries and offshoots. I know that I'm going to continue to care-ate as much as I'm capable and do TSU and these communities proud.
https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/QmU9f4FK9j91cnUGYk9hnMXuYdAFcnF6ekkpXZ5DfiByfG
If you're a supporter of all things natural healing, you might like to read our introductory post here. We'd also love to welcome you on Discord here!!
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