Steemit 1 year + 1 month + 4 days

Somehow I let my 1st anniversary on Steemit pass by but I want to go ahead and acknowledge the powerful presence it has in my life and my birthday seems to me the perfect day to do so. While Steemit is not without its shortcomings, I’ve found it to be overwhelmingly positive and even revolutionary within my own life.

On August 12, 2016 I first posted and expected that I would simply post about my various tile projects, but what I didn’t expect is that Steemit would very quickly become one of the most important developments in my life during the past year.

Quite honestly I was initially lured by the financial reward but I soon discovered that I desperately needed what Steemit had to offer which was and still is a place to explore my creative voice and to connect with others - alike and different - in a uniquely personal way.

My commitment over the last 13 months has remained consistent regardless of the ups and downs in the value of Steem because Steemit gives back so much beyond the financial. I’ve managed to find time for Steemit almost every day even if it’s only 15 minutes and often at the expense of sleep which says a lot because my time was already spread far too thin with too little sleep.

Lucy and I found a sunbeam in which to do some early morning writing

a catalyst for creativity - and much more so than meets the eye

I’m not a quick writer, nor a great one and it takes me a lot of time to create a post but it’s well worth it. I’ve found that creating content provides an opportunity to improve my storytelling skills, and it turned out that writing about my studio life, projects and the inside stories behind them offered a professional reflection that has been profoundly eye-opening for me.

I’ve felt a kind of freedom here from the usual censorship I impose on myself when writing and it has become an essential outlet for exploration of ideas that I’m not sure I would have found expression for otherwise. Although sharing in this way has always felt risky to me, I’ve grown a lot through daring to do it anyway.

There is a lot more transparency, and edgy exploration I can do but I’ll get there in good time.

I cannot stress how life changing Steemit has been for me and mostly because it’s given me a vehicle to find my voice on a whole new level. These days if I’m not spending enough time posting, reading and interacting on Steemit, I begin to feel edgy. It’s truly become an essential endeavor for me.

As we’ve all seen, Steemit is also an invaluable catalyst for collaboration and creative inspiration. This aspect of the platform is growing in leaps and bounds and I”m really interested to see where it will take us.

a unique brand of connection that is removed yet surprisingly intimate

Another huge reason I'm committed to Steemit is the friends that I've made here. This community has a real place in my life, in my heart and daily I show up to curate, upvote and give feedback because I care deeply about this platform and the friends I've made here.

We’ve created a web of support here, of personal, regular connection. We take risks to reveal ourselves a little more than usual here because it’s removed, and then when we receive a positive response, we feel seen and validated, and thus the intimacy.

And at times there is a profound quality of conversation that arises and I’m blown away by the intelligence and innovative thinking that goes on here.

a revelation of support

As a full-time artist starved for support, I burst in to tears at the overwhelming response I received with my first post. Our society pays a lot of lip service to valuing creativity, but when it comes to paying for it there is a disconnect. I’ve seen it over and over again across creative industries and genres from music to digital art to painting to intellectual property to photography to ceramics and have spent most of my adult life subsidizing the difference between what my work costs to make and what I have been able to sell it for. This subsidy has come at the expense of my time, energy, health and quality of life. The price has been steep to say the least.

So to be paid here for one’s ideas, thinking, creative process IS a revelation and having this support has changed me for the better.

in process some waves carved from clay. Darker areas indicate clay wetness, and the lightest crests are already bisque fired.

A huge thank you to @fairytalelife and @steemed without whom I never would have joined. Each in different ways coached me through the process of my first post and my first SBD->USD conversion which was as foreign to me as navigating pluto. They were profoundly gracious and generous and didn’t once patronize me for my complete cluelessness.

And to all of you dear friends new and old, you know who you are and I hope to continue to nurture our connection and support each other to be our most vast and brilliant versions of ourselves.

There are so many who have influenced, affected and helped me that I can’t possibly name all of you, but you matter a whole lot whether you know it or not. A special shout-out to those especially generous Steemians (or Steemers as some prefer) who act beyond your own benefit. Those who are reaching out to make it a better place in each your own way.

I’d like to close with a quote from @hansikhouse
“In the end, there's nothing better than being incentivized and rewarded for improving one's self and making great new friends”.

Thank you for your support of my blog and for your presence here, may this platform soar and all of us with it!