@stevenalexander thank you for this wonderful post. I see myself in the very same pattern that you are narating.

I have been in Steemit for barely a month but it feels like a lifetime. My first introductory post did not do that we'll and I felt bad and insecure. A lot of beginner posts say that your introductory post will decide if you will be successful or not. Then I started following people but still not getting any traction back to my posts even if I was leaving good comments.

All I was getting were bots so I wasn't sure if I was getting the right exposure. I learned later on what bots to use.

So here I am brimming with lots of ideas for content, pouring my heart out and connecting with like minded people who apparently appreciate what I write about.

I recently left my job because I have been suffering through a depression phase and I was turning to writing to ease the pain just like I did in the past. I have several unfinished books that I have written in a flurry of creative energy during my depression phase.

You see during such periods I can't even get myself to leave the house. So I have been working several odd jobs and discovering steemit placed my efforts in trying to get good articles that would generate upvotes.

Unlike you I have not been successfully and it has put a damper on my spirits but I continue on hoping that I'll have a breakthrough.

So I go about it setting a target of 1 to 2 posts a day and even if they are earning cents or even nothing at. Sometimes I would struggle what to write because I am forcing it. Unlike before that the creative urge would lend itself and the words would just come out but now treating it like a job, in order to earn has stiffled that urge to write.

So I read here to step back from time to time and not put all my eggs in the steemit basket. It has potential but at this moment it will not give me enough to live on. Think that was my flaw. Being so unhappy and then discovering I could earn here made me want it so much to be true right away.

I now know it will take some time. It will take some post that will be my breakthrough, it will take time making connections and content that people will care enough to read and if they upvote it is just gravy on top.

Thank you for showing how your journey was and even if our path is not the same it is still good to know that I am not alone.