Thoughts from a hostel´s common room

in #writing5 years ago (edited)

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I´ve been highly disconnected from all social media, Steem included - or to rephrase, disconnected from technology - for a little more than a month.

To some of you, this behaviour might come off as contradictive and negative from my part, because I´ve been a strongly vocal Steemian when it comes to posting daily, having a committment with our blog and audience, keep engaging when the steem price is low and interacting and encouraging interaction accross the steem blockchain, especially during a dry streak.

Recently, there´s been a lot going on regarding our blockchain, a lot of projects are being born, initiatives like the State of Steem and the Steem alliance gathered a lot of people in the same place, having discussions and striving to work together, something new to out community; small communities are getting bigger and big communities are launching their Dapp, Frontend or interaction website.

I´ve been part of this blockchain for a little more than one year and a half and, to be able to see it evolve they it´s been is amazing and makes me proud about us.

Don´t get me wrong, I´ve been reading a lot and browsed Steem almost daily for half an hour, maybe an hour every night. I just stopped checking discord messages - sorry if I didn´t reply to you or took a long time to do it - and posting/interacting in the various Steem Frontends; not because I didn´t want to, but because I needed to stop and get out of the woods to be able to see the full picture and to assess my next move, both Steem Blockchain related and Personal life related.

Of course @steemonboarding is still being developed and baked, this project has nothing to do with this situation assesment I´m telling you about, I´m talking about individual stuff here.

In one of my oldest community focused posts, I write about how reinventing ourselves and keep evolving is key for keeping our audience interested and interacting with us. So, what happens when this reinventing and creative inspiration is there, but we don´t really know how to translate it to words (or posts)?

I decided to stop posting. To keep reading but not interacting; to evaluate what I want to do next.

I started by travel/adventure-blogging because well duh, I was traveling; then I evolved into community advice kind of posting because I realized a lot of people started to follow me and look up to me; then I got a delegation from @blocktrades, so I started to focus in rewarding the community and encourage interaction and involvement from and with the people from Steem; now, I´m not traveling, there are so many people posting about tips/advice and I no longer have my delegation - temporarily, hopefully - so the logical step, at least for me, is to determine what I want to focus my blog about.

So here I am, in the common room of a jungle-like hostel, as the last 25 days, trying to figure out my next step in life and thus, my next focus point of my Steem blog.

I have some ideas, and I think I have the proper inspiration to make it happen. If everything goes according plan - it rarely does - I´ll start posting about it tomorrow. Or perhaps tonight, who knows.


I want to thank everyone who messaged me to check up on me and see if I was still alive, I´ll reply to all your messages in the next few hours, it´s nice to see some Steemians caring enough to write a check up message when they see you are not posting as much as you used to.

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Hey man!

Good to hear you are still checking in, even if not posting.

Hopefully the break has been good for you and new ideas will arrive onto Steem soon.

Later!

Hey man, I would never survive without checking in and read around, especially since these days have been of extreme change on our Blockchain! Thanks for dropping by :))

Good to see you here, even if it's just for a little bit :-) Those reflection phases need be experienced in full, and that means not writing or interacting, or those stories and conversations get tangled up with your own thoughts.

I'm not someone who starts DM'ing people just because they take time off - I see that as a healthy thing, I often wonder why I'm so 'afraid' to not post for a week. As if we're forgotten so easily...

Cheers and take care :-) Will see you when you feel like it.

Exactly, can´t allow being biased or influenced by outside opinions, when certain decision will only affect you. I was also very afraid of disconnecting myself for so long and I actually stopped doing a lot of things and trips because I knew I would be 4G-less for more than 24 hours and I couldn´t allow myself not curate or not interact with the community! Can you belive that?

Hugs all the way to the Netherlands Rosanne!!

actually stopped doing a lot of things and trips

Mehhh - yeah, I know the feeling and I've heard more people talk about it. Pausing life because there was a need to blog.

Hugs in return dear Eric! Hope you're figuring things out and come back stronger and wiser then ever before :D

Great to hear you take these steps as sometimes stepping back and reflecting highlights the best path forward. Building community seems to be exhausting and daunting but I also think that it is a fulfilling experience. I continue to look forward to your projects so welcome back!

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It´s an everyday job, to build community and mantain relationships/interactions fresh, and yes, it´s quite hard and sometimes tiresome, but when you like it, it´s not like having a job but like a hobby. Even so, it´s necesary some times to take breaks, otherwise we can burn out too fast!

Awesome to hear from you after so long and cannot wait to see what emerges from your cocoon!!!

Thanks Lindsay! I hope I can get back on track tomorrow and re-start posting daily!

Sometimes, we need to stop talking and start listening.
Sometimes, we need to stop writing and start reading.
Becoming an audience is a great blessing because it helps us to refresh for another great strike.

Thanks @Anomadsoul for stopping by.

You inspiring many!

Wise words my friend, indeed sometimes we need to step back and stop talking and writing to be able to open our own minds to the outside world. Thanks for your thoughtful comment mate!

I admire you bro, we have about the same amount of time and you have demonstrated you are role model for the Hispanic community.

You are one of those steemians that make it impossible to leave.

Thanks a lot, I'll never forget the support you gave to our projects, the effort you've done and the example you've set.

Whatever the new you will be i am sure it will be great and will have the uttermost success.

Didn’t know you’ve been in the jungle bud. Glad you’re ok and looking forward to reconnecting via Discord

Posted using Partiko iOS

Jungle/beach zone around here man! Me too, I´ll come back full force soon :)

Great. Shoot me a message :)

Good luck! I think it is smart to take the time to evaluate where you are and what you want to do next. I was a little worried that I hadn't seen a new post from you in a while. I look forward to reading about whatever you end up deciding to do next. You are right, I think a lot of people do look up to you, so I have no doubt you will come up with something absolutely brilliant to move forward with!

Hey glad you’re still alive!!! Same on my end I’ve been rather off these past weeks...but inspiration comes in waves so no worries !!! 😀👍

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Still alive! I´ve been paying attention to your other social media posts (you traitor), I´m glad to see the belly´s evolution <3
Hugs and kisses Eve!

LOL i hadan excuse heheheh but now I'm back =)

Nice to see you back blogging mate and travelling as well. That hostel looks like a nice place to be holed up :-)

The next step will come to you, when you're mind is ready. Well... that's the way it always works for me anyway. When I least expect it.

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