It is that time.
The end of the line.
The holidays are over.
Tomorrow, I go back to work.
And what that means is, that this is the last of the Summer Reflection series, which has been fun to write daily for the last 40-odd days. It has been a good way to document my days in a way that I will remember, but more than that, it helped me find value in what was largely ordinary experiences. It helped me to look at the days a little differently, and reflect upon what transpired.
I was more grateful for the ordinary.
But, what it also reminded me is how easy it should be to create something original on Hive. Even if it isn't literary gold, and even if it isn't about the most exciting events in the world, we each have days where we experience things that make us think. Perhaps the ones who have the least amount of this, are those who spend their days online, rather than with people. When they write, they tend to be regurgitators.
A lot of people compare Hive to other social medias, but that isn't really a fair comparison. On all the other social medias that the majority of people flock to, the platform itself is trying to sell you something by design, which means, so are all the users. Their economy is driven by ad revenue, and it fundamentally undermines the integrity of all the information provided. It is not that it is all produced to deceive, but when encased within the context of the platform, it inevitably will.
When the social medias first started, users were actually creating there, sharing pictures of their lunch and updating bits of their lives. However, once the monetization really kicked in and they worked out how to really mine through ad revenue, the platform incentives changed, and ordinary users, turned into extraordinary consumers.
Insatiable.
It is more than an addiction, it is a mental illness. Yet, people keep logging on, eating, but getting nothing of value out of it for themselves. They don't get better, they just get worse in pretty much every way imaginable.
If they had an imagination left to use that is.
Many seem to struggle to create anything anymore, which indicates low imagination, or low motivation. Either way, I think we have crushed down the human willingness and ability to create something, to make a personal mark on this world using our minds and bodies. Stupid content goes viral, but the real virus is the one spreading through the platforms that share it, the sickness that stops us being human. Instead, we are just fed cattle, getting milked for our attention.
And therefore our potential.
All we have in our control is our attention, but it is being stolen from us and we are willing victims. Yet, to break the cycle, all we have to do is stop consuming mindlessly, and start creating mindfully. I am not talking about the nonsense of mindfulness as sold by the media, rather, the practice of paying attention to our surroundings, behaviors, interactions and our thoughts and feelings about our experience - and then share.
Is it so hard?
Maybe people's days are so boring that they have nothing to write about. Maybe they are just so incredibly busy that they can't find the time. But, either way, doesn't that indicate other issues? If life is so boring, why? If so busy, why?
What are you doing, and where is your time being spent?
Maybe we should all take stock of our lives and work out what is going on. And for those who feel that they should be doing something different but don't know what, I suggest writing about it. For those who are doing what they love already, I suggest writing about it.
There is so much value in just taking some mental space and writing.
So, while I don't know what the next series of writing is going to be, the experience of this one was a reminder that I should create another. Something that helps me reflect, grow and perhaps help or motivate others to grow themselves too.
Do it daily and all these small steps mount up.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
I used to try to do that regularly, but I have found that I enjoy things much more fully if I do not try to see them through others' eyes, which is how I look at things when I am planning to write about them. Does that make sense? For instance, I have haiku running through my brain whenever I am gardening. I used to run inside to write them down, just so I could post them. But now, I let them ooze out of me and into the other entities in my environs, and this increases my pleasure at that moment. The world seems a richer place when I am not hoping to set the thoughts down for others. I marvel every time I read something of yours that you have such coherent thoughts multiple times a day, and find the time to write them down.
Yes it does. But, I see some value in doing this, as it brings me perspectives that I might not realize I might be able to enjoy, or ways to improve what I already do. It hasn't been a negative for me.
There is also value in keeping things personal too though. For me, I share a lot of my life, but not everything. Some things are just for me.
I haven't been looking at the numbers, but I didn't realize it was already 40+ posts of your summer reflection. What I'm surprised and envious of is that you have 40+ days of vacation. We only have 15 days of vacation, and people usually spread it out over the year. Being able to spend a long vacation with family really opens up out of town/country trips. Being away from work that long, the welcome back bonus now makes more sense.
Don't be too envious. The reason I could take more was because I am a year behind on my vacations. I had the stroke just before summer, so it turned into sick leave and my holidays went to the next year. I just took a bit more this year. Though, the Finnish holidays are about 5 weeks in total a year.
I see, that makes more sense. But 5 weeks is still a lot compared to our 3 weeks.
It is basically like keeping a diary, but not an agenda. In Latin culture this is frowned upon if men do it, because of machismo, but it is supported by girls who do it.
In my beginnings as a teacher, I kept an anecdotal record of each of my students, from the first moment the student set foot in the school until the end of the year. In this record, I had the student record some anecdote of the day, such as having done well or badly in an evaluation.
Today, in addition to writing, I keep a digital video record of all the moments I spend with Matthew.
Summer 2024 is coming to an end and with it the holidays. I hope you enjoyed it as a family… Now back to work.
It is funny, because machismo is about as gay as it gets! When men spend so much time worrying about what other men think of them, questions could be raised ;)
Did you share the anecdotes with the students at the end of the year?
Of course, the idea was for them to see how much they had learned, how much they had matured and with what new eyes they saw their future.
To be honest, I have started to compare HIVE to Steemit nowadays. The payouts are incredible! Some post reaches $500, what the hell it is 😄 I wonder whether some Hivers gone back to Steemit 🙄
No - Steemit is run by the few staked witnesses who circle vote themselves and cash in on overpriced HBD.
I love reading the Hive feed without ads. And sites with advertising on the Internet are already starting to annoy me.
Adverts have always annoyed me, so I block all I can.
I am a newbie but when I started writing, it feels like I am reconnected to myself again because it made me reflect and share.
Welcome!
And yeah. I think that consumption steals a part of us in some way, but creation builds us.
I couldn't help but make comparisons between what you write and what you bring to me, and what others do to sell texts that don't express a single meaningful emotion or truly appreciable fact, yet sell it.
Things always happen that I won't understand.
If the pandemic continues to spread, where will we end up?
To the end of everything, and it's clear.
The end of everything as we know it today. Where it is heading is into a pit where the majority of people have no value and constant struggle, and a tiny minority control them.
This has always been the case.
But the power of social media has led to a new chaos of the powers that be, and most people are only driven by frivolity and consumerism.
Good health and peace to you.
Good afternoon friends. Greetings for today.
Nice comment
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It's still crazy to me that you get time off work like the kids get time off school in the summer. Over here only teachers and positions like my wife get that kind of deal. I just can't imagine all that time off all at once!. I think I would go crazy.
I have always loved writing and writing on Hive is just like a way to boost my writing skills
I get writing jobs on freelancing platforms too