This is full of thoughtful ideas, and lots of things that I think about as well. First, though, I'm thankful for being included in your list of gratitudes, and it's an honor for me to read your kind words. We will definitely get caught up-- I'm getting faster at typing every minute, so I manage whole groups of sentences now instead of short phrases that used to take five minutes to peck out. Now I can respond with more clarity, sometimes.
When I did my year anniversary post, I scrolled down my page to the very beginning, and there were sections of perfectly good posts with $0.00 showing, and I remembered the feeling of frustration at that time. It really took a while for me to see the real value of spending so much time creating stuff here, and in fact I still need reassurance from time to time, but this post is a fine example of what I am grateful for in this steemosphere-- just the interest and warmth that you show in your communication is a blessing to me, and your presence, along with my other friends that I've met here, makes it a very valuable part of my life, well beyond that ever-present $ symbol which lured many of us here initially. Thanks for the great compliments and well thought-out, genuine encouragement that you offer here, you are high on my list of gratitudes in steemit world and in my life wholly.
Oh happy birthday to you, I nearly forgot that you are also a year older now, but I somehow missed this post earlier, so by the time you read this it may not really be your birthday anymore.
I think we're our harshest critics, that's why it's great to have friends to provide reassurance whenever we feel down. For me, I abide by that "do unto others" mentality, so I do things the way I want them done to me. Leaving thoughtful comments is my main priority here because I want to honor the author by acknowledging the effort put into the post. Since my votes aren't worth tens of dollars, it's the best I could do for now. I'm just glad to be part of your gratitude list as well. Warms my heart to know that :)
Thanks for the greeting, man! I saw the comments late as well so no worries about it :D
Back when I started here and was typing Fictionarium chapters every day, I had zero time to hang out or meet many people-- now I make sure to do both creating and hanging out as much as possible, it's more rewarding in more ways. I definitely appreciate the thoughtful comments on my stuff.
I remember back then when kept commenting on your posts and you don't comment on mine hahaha! I'm just happy that you were able to branch out and divvy up your time. Extremely glad that my posts are fortunate enough to be considered a stop during your treks :)
I was overwhelmed for a while, and I wondered sometimes why it seemed so lonely- oh this also reminds me I have some new names to add to my list- people who have been commenting on my posts and I haven't had time to check their pages out... I'm getting better!
No worries, brother. I keep telling Dreemit that I'm the same way. It's really hard to expose yourself socially, huh? That dilemma is the same exact thing I go through. I'm glad that you're reaping the benefits of opening up! Do let me know if you stumble upon another like-minded individual in that list so we could grow our group :D
Yea for years I remained pretty private and secretive online, but now that we are well into the great revealing, or Unveiling, there's no point in trying to hide anymore. Steemit seems to be the place to store all of what's real now. 'Hi, I'm Paul, for real.' ;)
Once you're seen, you can't be unseen. Welcome to the light, Paul. For real real this time. Which is ironic given your name haha!