17 Months ago I joined this platform, I remember Googeling "blogging for money" and Steemit came up as a result.
I have been a Blogger for 9 years, and I thought I could share what I have already written on different platforms that can financially support me, so I started seeking out for platforms that can generate income on the side.
I did not want extra income from blogging where people have to pay me to see my content. My content must always be for free in what I blog about or write, so I found out that Steemit generates money as people simply like, share and participate, which I liked, as this has NO cost on the person benefiting from what I am sharing, or gaining the support and assistance. even though I am not the best at writing. (that does not stop me).
BUT - I joined Steemit and it looked dead, like I was in a Desert, no one here to actually read or support my content, so I decided to make a test post on sharing a bit about msyelf and what I do and want to do, to leave that blog on here for a while and see what traction I get.
The results were staggering, I literally forgot about Steemit till one of my Friends @worldclassplayer found it and he was excited about this new platform, and he started ranting about it and telling everyone how great it is, I had a light-bulb going on in my head of - wait a minute, I know this platform, but to me it was shit.
17 Months later today, this place is totally different, I cant recognize it from when I joined it, I still do not know much at all from how things work, except that I blog and share it here and I browns around and vote on other peoples content and comment/talk a bit here and there.
See, I don't like to do something from a starting point that is corrupted by something else, or motivated by something else that isn't from a true expression of me that stands the test of time, and I have found Money is a very way to corrupt why one write something, or the way we write something or how often we write something, and I have been testing myself in time to see if I will write from the starting point that is clear as me here or because of this platform giving an opportunity for income/money, and I have succeeded in my own cross-checking, in the past couple of month with Steemit and all the cryptos going high and gaining lots of interest and growth, I had NO attraction, no motivation within me to write just because of thee points, because of MONEY dangling in the horizon as an opportunity.
It has been a test, as I could have had THOUSANDS of dollars by now if I sold myself out, selling myself for money, especially when I don't at the moment need money for basic needs, but more would be great to do a lot more within what I am doing, but I had to make sure my starting point with money is clear, that I am standing stead fat within my principles and not within money and to lose myself, where every words is a word written for energy to gain money, as that in the long run would have fallen and I would have lost who I am. This is something I had to do for myself.
Knowing I could have made money everyday, even if it was just a dollar if I wrote a blog everyday just for that purpose and to still withhold myself from doing so, to not be led into temptation, but to instead find my directive principle as my guidance to guide me.
So, Here I am, I have discharged all the energies connected to the possible opportunities of money and making money and hitting it rich and being famous and going big and bla bla, you know, and now I know, even if all crypto currencies fail tomorrow, and suddenly all my writing that I have done has a value of 0 once again, I am here, I remain the same as always in my writings and if there is money involved or not, my writings stand and I stand.
I wanted to write and earn money for it, as the cause I am supporting and walking as needs money to do more, but I realized I could not walk in the starting point of money, or I would lose myself, perspective of the cause, who I am and what I stand as. Because if I lose that, then what will all the money be for? then I am just another asshole with money here on earth.
cool post about integrity in blogging on Steemit. that is actually one of the biggest criticisms about Steemit, is that it creates an environment for people to be artificially nice and supportive and complementing, because of the starting point of wanting to be liked, get attention and ultimately make money - there is simply no point in having money without principles and integrity, and those with clear eyes can usually see that when a post is not genuine and is written from the starting point of wanting to make money, it usually stinks of it.
yes, well said.
Awesome comment @adrianblackburn and I totally agree.
Another awesome post Gian. Thank you for walking and testing this point and making sure you are standing clear within the things you participate in. You're an awesome example of what it means to live by principle.