Hi from Hive! Hi from The Philippines!

_{Welcome to the land of eternal sunshine!}

Hi from the Philippines!

After countless days of slacking off, I finally had the drive to write about this brilliant initiative by @livinguktaiwan. Hi from Hive is a perfect place to find authentic and very human experience here in Hive. We need more of that. I suggest you all take this as a challenge and write your own experience here in Hive. It's good to have all those experiences in one place. This will be very helpful in onboarding more users here.

_{Meet your Patron Saint of Dead Leaves and Broken Nails. 😂}

Speaking of onboarding new users, as I noted in my birthday post, I have been very busy lately on onboarding my friends here in Hive. I also noticed that most of my interactions happened off-chain. I'm always lounging on both OCD and Hive PH Discord channels. My Twitter DM and Messenger are also always open in case there are concerns or difficulties that my newbie friends may encounter as they navigate the platform. That's why I don't know if I can post as often as I want now that I have a lot of hustles on the side. I'm not complaining though. It feels good to help.

Hi! I am Kim Ybañez from Cebu, Philippines. If you wish to know more about me, you can find my introduction post pinned in my blog. I have been here since Hive was born and I witnessed what happened before that. It was one hell of a mess that if you made your introduction in this space after March 20, 2020, you should consider yourself lucky to be in a much better place than before that date. Just imagine all your works and investments for years to be at risk of being erased forever. That was a nerve-wracking experience and I felt so old talking about this. I guess you can consider me as one of the Hive originals.

I was thinking of how to approach this post because it seems I have been talking a lot about what Hive has done to me or what I have been doing in Hive. I already posted about 10 Reasons Why Hive is Perfect for Me. I suggest you check that out if you want to know more about me and why I'm here. My third reason in that post was that I wanted to promote my country to the rest of the world and that's why I specialize in travel. Since my goal was to promote my country, I made sure that my travel posts would live to that goal. I'm like a broken record when it comes to quality content because that's the only way I can think of to achieve my goal.

What's in the Past

As I have mentioned many times in my other posts, I didn't have any blogging experience before blogging on a blockchain. When I started on the previous chain three years ago, everything was so new and the learning curve as so steep that I spent many sleepless nights figuring out how stuff works. Even the process of cashing out seemed so complicated even when there were guides to follow. I lost a few dollars, but I enjoyed every bit of it. I thought I found something that I won't get bored with.

_{Throwback to one of meetups here in Cebu. I wonder where are those people now. Don't worry people. We'll have another meet up soon!}

Before Hive, there was a different beast. Trust me when I say that if you're reading this now, you're in a much safer place than where and when I started. When almost everyone treated it like a cash cow, I was one of the very few people who advocated for quality content. Not because I have a very noble heart, but because I believed it's the only sustainable way. Whatever value I extract, I should at least put an equivalent or more value into the chain. How naive of me. I should have farmed it while I still could.

They say that reaching a reputation of 70 is considered an achievement. The previous categorization puts you in a guru level when to acquire that number. But there was a time when you can cheat your way up. They say that the number doesn't represent anything now because the reputation system is broken. Not me. I still considered that as an achievement because I haven't cheated on my way up. I worked hard for it and I'm proud of the level I have now here in Hive.

The Change of Lifestyle

I couldn't imagine what my life would be without Hive. Maybe I'm still watching K-drama or installed TikTok, I don't know. Right now, my closest friends are on Hive. My friends in real life are now blogging here under my guidance. What's great about Hive is that I made friends from all around the world. Just lurk on OCD Discord Channel and you'll be amazed by the interaction.

I tweeted sometime in April that my earnings in Hive were more than my salary in my day job. It was a big help when we were not able to work for two months due to the pandemic. It's not as big now, mainly because I don't post as often as before, but it's still a big help in my finances. I don't withdraw as often as I want to because I'm hodling for the future. It's my long term commitment to Hive. If you're a newbie, increase your influence on the chain. Power up at least a portion of your liquid earnings. This is the best time to accumulate HIVE. When it moons, you'll definitely have more than what you have now.

I was testing my new phone sometime last week. I was able to buy a new phone because of my Hive savings. Who would have thought I could buy a new phone at this time? I'm not even active as before, but I'm blessed to have some support. I would say it's easier to get noticed and be supported now than before. Just be authentic and share your passion, and then people will recognize it.

More than monetary rewards, Hive is an outlet of my suppressed emotions. People tend to underestimate the effects of pursuing your passion and doing what you really love. It's understandable to pursue those things that could fetch us more money, but there will be a time when a certain level of toxicity is reached. It will be a poison that will slowly eat us from the inside. Having a form of expression that will balance those negative emotions is truly needed. For me, it was travel. Since I can't do that in this pandemic, the next best thing was Hive.

Future Projections

I'm happy that the Filipino community is doing well here and I want to be one of the reasons for its continuing growth. I want to have an influence on where this community is heading. I will still continue promoting my country through my travel posts. I will still probably hustle like I did today, but I think it's necessary so I won't complain.

I'm already guiding a few Hivers and it's a fulfilment to have an influence over their Hive experience. I will be very happy to see that they will also guide their own recruits one day.

_{Image from @whoaretheyph. Courtesy of @iamyohann.}

It feels good to be able to help. I hope to see more authentic and amazing projects like @iamyohann's #WhoAreTheyPhilippines. For more information about the project, please check out @whoaretheyph and help in any way you can. Every time I see my username out there, I always feel a sense of fulfilment and joy, knowing that I was able to help some deserving people.

Alright, that's all for this post. All I want is for Hive to thrive and I will be able to witness people's lives changed because of this platform. See you when Hive goes to the moon or see you when Hive submerges to the ocean. Wherever this will lead us, I hope we will still be together.

_{Image from Hi from Hive. Courtesy of @doze and @livinguktaiwan.}

Kim Ybañez

_{Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits secluded destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines) and the rest of the world even if he's still a poor corporate slave with tons of bills to pay and two siblings to support in college.}

_{If you like his content, don't forget to upvote and leave a comment to show some love. You can also reblog if you want to. Also, don't forget to follow him to be updated with his latest posts.}