Meet the New Dolphin

I still remember the first time I joined Steemit.
I was asked to by a Dutch lady and I agreed to do so with a writing partner.
At first, I mainly read and tried to understand what Steemit was about. To be honest I found it difficult.
While lying in bed I read, wrote, upvoted and left some comments. This was basically what I did. I powered up but never withdrew an amount.
To be honest it still beats me how people back then could earn so much. It turned out there were voting bots, tricks I never understood or was introduced to.
My start was lonely and after my writing partner left (we wrote stories together, the same story in turn whatever popped up in our minds) the only thing I could do was to continue writing, posting, commenting and upvoting.
After several months I left. No matter what I did I was unable to get in touch with other Steemians.
One post of me, one of the very first, did receive a "high" upvote but I had no clue what to do with it. Those 80 dollars remained in my wallet for over one year.

After a break of some weeks, I decided to give Steemit a second chance.
I wrote, posted and later on met the lady who asked me back then again at @alldutch how to withdraw Steem. She must have been thinking I was kidding her but I was not. I hadn't the slightest idea what to do with the Steem in my wallet after 1 year of joining the platform. The amount I had was reduced to 34 dollars. She explained how to withdraw while we both being online. I am still grateful for her help and although we are no longer in touch I still think of her once in a while.

On a Saturday morning, I joined @marblely, my neighbour on a list meant to grow together on Steemit, by upvoting, reading and encouraging each other, in her #ccc contest. Ia was to write a story with emoticons only which was quite a challenge. It took me several hours to do so with my phone.
Thanks to her I was introduced to the @ccc community where I received a warm welcome.

Around the same time I joined the freewriters.
They were all very helpful, especially @mariannewest, and encouraging and it was nice to focus on creative writing, word games, and puzzles for the brain instead of long epistles which most Steemians are not interested in reading.
Unfortunately, Steemit is not the place where you find people who love to read but there are many great writers, who started on this platform and we're willing to share their stories, poetry and art with this platform. Like back then I notice that they are rarely rewarded. It's kind of sad if you consider that. These authors have so much to offer and are an enrichment for this platform.

There was a time when I was very active on Steemit and I was in the top 3 commenters as well. Indeed reading others, upvoting and commenting took the biggest part of my day. Unlike others, I do not have a laptop plus I was writing while lying in bed while struggling with the slowest internet connection on earth. It was and still is hard to load Steemit.

Most Steemians I met left after a big fight on Steemit.
Those Steemians started a new platform. The fact that I wanted to stay and see how Steemit would do wasn't appreciated. I was scolded at, received terrible pictures and till today my stomach turns if I think back to that period. There was a hostile atmosphere before and even after those people left. The downvoting on posts of "the enemy" started, and those who invested in SBI were punished. It's a good thing this is the internet and these were not neighbours in real life throwing rocks at me. I decided to stay and keep writing and posting even if I was ignored by the "entire" platform, even though I no longer felt welcome.

What happened with my Steem during all those years?
Besides powering up, I gave most of it away.
I was a member of @CCC and @freewritehouse. I donated and hosted contests on their behalf (at least three times a week) and was happy if I earned enough to pay those who joined the contests.
But it turned out that it, I, was never good enough and strangely enough most of those I helped, read, upvoted, and commented on during all those years did not do the same for me.

My journey on Steemit taught me that most Steemians are only here to make a living. A quick post and they leave. This is for sure not always about greed. Another fact is many users do not have access to the internet 24/7 and... I am one of them.
There were times I wrote offline and drove 13 kilometres to use the free wifi of the library, next, I sat for 2-3 hours in the cold on a bench outside to be an active member of Steemit. The truth is I can no longer do that.
I tried to hang in, kept hosting contests, giving away the Steem I earned, but to be honest from the moment I gave up hosting for the freewriters and CCC I felt relieved. Indeed those communities fell apart.

I saw others grow, doing well while with me everything remained the same. All that was left was stress so it was a good thing for me to leave.

And now I am back again.
I told myself I could try again. This time for me. First writing twice, perhaps three times a week, no stress. I admit I still have no clue about all those great things Steemit has to offer but I am excited to learn more, and meet new people but not at all costs.

Thanks to @patjewell I finally understand what #club5050 means and I am happy I found a new community to join (most communities I once subscribed to turn out to be dead). Thanks Steem For Ladies for the warm embrace and a special thanks to @patjewell for taking the time to explain how to start on the new Steemit and for answering each one of my questions!

Hurray, I am no longer a small fish!
Finally, I turned into a dolphin! It was a long road and it was about time.
This is a brand new start for me and I intend to learn and grow. After all those years of struggling and investing in this platform and others (and also because a dolphin is not my favourite animal) this is the best thing I can do. I have no intention to give up again. I like to write, I love to read and I am looking forward to my next milestone which is? Anyone?

The pictures are mine!

16-1-2024

#steemexclusive #club5050 #clubdolphin
#Holland #steemit #netherlands #introduction #kittywu