True Heroes and Life Lessons on Steemit

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One of Steemit's true heroes is riding off into the sunset.

I learned today that @pharesim will be stepping away from Steemit to resume the gypsy life that calls to him. He says the idea of traveling Europe in a van has gained real attraction -- and who can blame him ... for so many reasons. There is such an outpouring of gratitude in the comments on his post that I hope he realizes how profoundly he will be missed -- by people he knows and people he doesn't.

I am one of the latter, but my gratitude to him is as genuine and deep as all the others. In the beginning, he was a major force in my Steemit journey. Almost single-handedly, he got my Steemit progress started and kept it going. MSP was the catalyst, but his trailing vote and the chain of users trailing him kept me from feeling totally lost and invisible on the daunting Steemit sea.

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He could literally make the sun shine brighter.

It happened early and with no fanfare at all. That's how it is with real heroes. My post for August 7 paid $.00. For August 11 -- $.17. For August 12 -- $.70. MSP, @pharesim and his curation trail made the difference. You can imagine the elation. He started to show up often. Not every time, but regularly enough to make posting on Steemit a lot like the lottery.

Sometimes you hit, sometimes you don't -- but when you do, it's enough to keep going.

Some quick checking showed me these votes were part of a project of his. It was nothing personal, but it was definitely welcome. On the days when he dropped by, the sun shone a little brighter. On the days he didn't, I'd pull up a new page on the screen and try again. The encouragement of his vote was awesome.

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Life-lessons in character

I see name after name I recognize in his comments list -- saying much the same thing. If you want to talk about the most positive forces on Steemit, his name tops my list. Like @princessmewmew, he was there when it counted, and I will miss him. His quiet legacy is a stellar example of how one person with consistency and a generous heart can make an incredible difference in any number of lives.

Quite the contrast to the recent presence of GrumpyCat who showed up with some blustering demands that amounted to, "If you don't do what I say, I will hurt you." And he did. With some sniffing dismissal of "collateral damage" he upvoted himself for thousands of dollars, hurt people who didn't deserve to be hurt, always chose those who couldn't hit back, taunting them with his spammy "Congratulations" meme. And then, having caused a lot of upset and harm, he vanished -- mostly. Good riddance.

I don't even like polluting this tribute to @pharesim with GrumpyCat's name and that story of arrogance. But they are two ends of the spectrum, distilled in the Steemit experience, and each carried a lesson. The world itself needs a lot more of one kind and has way too much of the other.

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Godspeed ... and God Bless!

There is a Gandhi quote that has popped up so often this year it's become cliché. "You must be the change you want to see in the world." @pharesim lives that wisdom.

For $14.70 he changed how I work with life. Forever. That's the Karma that trails him now. May it bless him in his travels.

About the art in these visual essays ...

Although sometimes the background pictures in our visual essays support the topic and text, they don't always. Sometimes the connection is clear. Sometimes it's symbolic and subtle. Sometimes, there's no connection at all.

The scenes depict landscapes and natural features, buildings and wildlife. They were chosen because they show something lovely or interesting ... or simply because the photo appealed to me.

Our spectacular and remarkable planet is changing at astonishing speed. Rarely are these changes for the better. Few people seem to know ... or care ... or have the will and power to do anything about this. It may not be long before the world humans have known and lived in for centuries is forever lost. We certainly won't be able to make repairs as fast as we destroyed it.

So a few years ago I began collecting pictures of the way things were ... and still are for now, a record of the beauty we have while it is still ours to love and honor.

The photos here are part of that collection, with sincere thanks to the artists who saw these moments ... and with their cameras ... preserved them. All of us in our small section of the planet are profoundly grateful to them for their generosity and skill ... and for the added grace, depth and dimension their art brings to ours.

Original images used under this Creative Commons license or this Creative Commons license and modified by added text.