I came across a post written by @themarkymark, he titled the post "How Did You Get Here And Why Are You Still Here?" His experience about how he got here made me recall the whole experience of how I got here. At the end of his post, he asked, "WHY ARE YOU HERE?" Honestly, I just couldn't resist the question, so, I said let me respond to his post. You can check his original post HERE.
HOW DID I GET HERE?
When the lock down started last year due to the covid-19 pandemic, it was really tough for me as a teacher and also as an artist. It was tough for me as a teacher because I was not going to school and the salary was not coming that much because school was not in session and students were not paying fees, but I must appreciate the owner of my school, even at that, he went out of his way to pay at least half of the salary every month. And it was tough as an artist because I could not deliver portrait outside my state since there was inter state lock down as well. Because of that, I turned down so many deals that period due to their location, so many clients always want the hard copy drawing and it was really difficult to convince them to pay for just soft copies. So, the question I was asking myself that period was, what will I do? Because I know the reason I share my stuff on social media, was for me to get more clients, but now, of what use was me sharing when no one would make a portrait because I wouldn't be able to deliver to their location. Hence, I started looking for different alternatives, that will enable me to draw and still earn from it.
On this particular day, I went to Twitter to check more update on this whole Big Brother Naija stuff, while I was scrolling and reading different tweets to keep my mind distracted, then I saw a particular tweet that was talking about sharing contents and earning from them, I quickly ignored with the mind that, these internet scammers have started again. But as I was about scrolling to another tweet, I questioned myself saying, "Why don't you just click the link and give it a try?" Well, I went back to that tweet and click the link, it was a WhatsApp link, so it direct me to the WhatsApp of the person that posted the link. We get talking and the conversation was interesting, he guided me on what to do and how to go about it. This person was @spirall, he was very supportive and a very nice person too. He taught me different stuffs and I learnt some the hard way. And told, I am still here and happy I found this platform.
WHY AM I HERE?
The question now is, Why exactly am I here? Originally, I came into the platform with a mindset of making money by sharing my contents. But lately, the main reason I am still here is because, I want to grow. I want to keep learning from different minds and also have them learn from me, and I can do that even while I am earning. I came into this platform not being much of a writer, but today, I am glad I am the one guiding someone in her journey of becoming a great writer and that's because I have allowed myself to learn from this platform and I am willing to share that knowledge with others. I express myself more of late with my writing and sometimes, I question myself, like, where is all this coming from? It's so because even though I want to earn, I have choose to learn first.
Why am I still here? Well, of late, I thought of how @spirall introduced me to the platform and I know how beneficial it is to me, so I told myself recently that I will try to introduced at least ten serious minds to the platform. Honestly, it is not easy, because the Question and Answer section I have to face with the different folks that normally show little interest is just something else, and in the end, most of them just don't really bother to join. But, I am still here because I want to also let some folks with real potential to grow on this platform, benefit from it and also do my best to give back to the platform in my little way. So far, the only active persons among those I introduce to the platform are @thelazyartist (please show her your support so she can feel welcome on the platform) and @golden06 (this is my very own little girl, apart from her parents, I am like a second parent to her, I am glad she always listens to me, she treat me like a child will treat her father and I treat her like my own little girl, please support her blog also).
Why am I still here? One main reason I am still here, is because, I have to prove to myself how much of a writer I can be. After the situation of my plagiarism, my blog was really struggling, and anyone would probably leave their account and create a new one to start afresh, but I told myself no, I made that silly mistake and I told myself never to do such again, I own my mistake and told myself, it's time to prove to myself what I have inside. So, even when the reward was not forthcoming, I did not stop pushing, because I have a point to prove to myself, so I am still here because I have an unfinished business with myself, I have a direction for my writing and I still have a lot to learn from the different communities. I told myself, whenever I am free, I will engage more, participate more in contests and support those I introduce to hive as my own little way of giving back to the platform. The platform is about creating Original contents and I am still here because I feel I still have a lot of contents in me to show to you all, so I don't think I would be leaving anytime soon. By August 15, 2021, I will be a year old on hive, and my goal is to write more before that day and of late, I have been working towards that goal.
So if you ask me WHY AM I STILL HERE? I will say, I AM STILL HERE BECAUSE I STILL HAVE A LOT TO LEARN AND ANYWHERE THERE IS LEARNING, THAT'S WHERE YOU WILL DEFINITELY FIND ME.
Thank you for reading!
THANKS FOR VISITING MY BLOG!
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Interesting read. I think I kinda understand now why I didn't see post of your drawings for a while. 2020 was something! Thank God things are better now!
Thank you. Yes ohh, one of the major reasons I have been on a low with my drawings, but slowly, I am coming back. Good thing everything is slowly becoming normal.
Yes you are right the covid-19 pandemic effects every one mentally physically and ecnomical.
It helps lot.
You are right, I am glad slowly, we are all getting to a better place.