Hello, my friends! Welcome to this edition of Mindful Life. I'll continue to use the format I've used in the last two curations because it feels comfortable and I think people enjoy it more anyway; in that spirit, I wanted to talk about the content that Natural Medicine promotes and that I curate in these columns, in the hope that it might offer other readers in the platform who aren't as interested in these topics, a perspective that they may find useful. I've already shared a bit of this insight in today's Daily Rune post, but in this post I'll expand it with the work of other authors to make a point.
What's Hive good for, really? Is it merely a token? A financial scheme? A social media platform? Have the people behind it, those responsible for its development and daily operation, seriously pondered that crucial question? Hard to say, I don't have access to their information nor can I speak about what motivates them. But I do encourage them and everyone to consider that, because it's the core of what we're doing here. And there's another question that immediately arises from that first one: what kind of content are we supposed to share here?
I know a lot of people see Yoga, Mindfulness, Herbalism and Spirituality with more than a fair share of skepticism, if not open disdain and rejection. Some may even think that this kind of content is useless, unhelpful and therefore a means to drain assets and the token's value. There may be many reasons for that. However, there's a considerable amount of users both interested and actively creating content about these topics. At any time, you can drop by our community or others that promote this content and you'll see no less than ten posts discussing deeply personal issues with various degrees of efficacy but often a remarkable level of honesty. These people keep sharing their intimate stories of overcoming anxiety and grief, or reflections regarding personal development and inner healing, which should make us wonder why they do it, because it's definitely not for the money. There are many other kinds of content that might be more appropriate from a payout perspective. Take this post by @kellyane, for instance, about her struggle with anxiety and how reading certain books started to help her heal, an excellent candidate for the Mental Health Awareness badge. Is she trying to get feedback from others? Is money her core motivation? It doesn't seem like it.
And what about this other post by @riverflows? This is her contribution to the Laughter Challenge currently active in the community, and it's a tremendously vulnerable, sensitive and lyrical piece where she opens up about her dad's passing and her relationship with laughter in general. If she were after the clicks, wouldn't she have so much more success talking about cryptos or politics or the virus? Why then does she choose to go so deep into her story and her emotions? It's certainly a weird choice of topic in that context, but the post's quality is undeniable.
Neither of these authors wrote their respective posts because of payouts or even seeking engagement. They wrote them because they needed the channel, they had something sitting in their chests and needed to let it out, and I believe that's what Hive offers, the very essence of its purpose and existence: a way to connect with others meaningfully and to express ourselves without restrictions or pressure. The tokens are just a bonus.
I remember when I first arrived here, the pointless frustration of not getting votes and then, the even greater frustration of getting downvoted. Although it's obviously awesome when one of my posts garners attention, I no longer care about such things like I used to. The work is sufficient for me, sharing is enough. Look at the wonderful words of encouragement and wisdom that we get to read in our community daily by the hands of authors like @pavanjr! In this post he tells us a beautiful story about a man who spent his life ignoring the simplest things around him and had to go through a true hell in order to realize their worth. Reading this is a pleasure not only because of the themes but also because of the presentation.
The way I see it, that's the value of this platform, the beauty of truthfully showing ourselves to people all over the world and the opportunity to forge strong bonds of kinship with others regardless of location, especially now that we're living through the same challenges, brought together by the same crisis. Hive is an expression of the boundless unity among us, and in that sense, meditation, alternative medicines and other mindful practices are far more important than market caps, political controversies of conspiracy theories. We have so many magnificent writers with such amazing stories to share, and among them a sizable number of teachers weighing in on the most profound aspects of reality, like @nomad-magus, who has been writing a very long series of posts about mastering relationships by recovering our heritage and ancient legacy of Divine Love. I don't think he does this because he wants money, a lot of his posts don't even get that many votes, so he's obviously being moved by something else entirely.
So I exhort everyone at all levels of access to reconsider your stances about this platform and its use. What are you looking for when you enter here? What have you obtained? I can assure you that I've enriched my life substantially with the reflections and dissertations I've read and curated here, and I'm certain that anyone can also benefit from them. Don't squander the true Gold that Hive can give you and others, embrace it, open your heart and your mind, let's actually build the networks that we need.
In every curation, we reward a user as 5% beneficiary. This week I chose @greenie.girl for her valuable work on self-awareness and mental health
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Earn LOTUS and HIVE rewards for sharing your natural health content on www.naturalmedicine.io. If you don't already have a HIVE account, you can sign up for FREE here. We support writers sharing about herbalism, TCM, yoga, meditation, vegan and other healthy diets, as well as earth centered practices such as foraging, permaculture and biodynamics - read more about us here!
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What wonderful words, how good that in difficult times there are wise people like you. Unfortunately the plan to decentralize is far away, we still have many injustices and it may take some time to get out of this hole. Especially if in the largest accounts there are too many differences or absurd little wars. I sincerely hope that HIVE will get out of the hole and we can fulfill the promise of de-centralization, freedom of expression and inclusion.
Thank you very much for this beautiful article, my friend. Thank you for the mention. blessings! :D
Thank you for your kind words as always, brother. Yes, let's hope for the expansion of this platform, and if it can't be done for any reason, then we shall have to keep trying somewhere else. Excellent post, man!
Absolutely beautiful editorial. I appreciate your inclusion of my post though I'm a bit embarrassed to be included. There's so much great content on HIVE and it amazes me the depth of human feeling that can be so eloquently expressed here.
I had to mention your post because of the feelings involved, thank you for sharing that, for this comment and for the support!
I'm dumbfounded that people would think posts about health are a pointless waste of the tokens value??? Hive is after all a blogging platform. Communities like yours actually add value, not take away. If hive were only for cryptobros, then it's little more than a circle jerk with no hope for mass adoption.
Thanks so much for this vote of confidence. It is human nature for people to bring their own biases about interests to the platform - sadly when value is involved, it can cause some issues around what is 'valuable' and what isn't.
So true. I like to think the wellness community on HIVE creates a space for those who value this kind of content, and it's lovely to see that many appreciate it.
!ENGAGE 50
Absolutely. There was a time I never would have imagined my parents using Facebook. Now, it's embedded in our society like a tick. I think the larger crypto community needs to be open minded about the idea of "value." Because frankly, know one has a clue until it happens. In my short time on Hive I can see that the wellness community is going to be what appeals to the masses. It will attract the type of affluent user who comes for wellness, and stays for what's happening under the hood.
I'm definitely grateful for your voice and presence in the world @riverflows. As for value- it's the perceived value of intangible things such as thoughts, words and art that drive the evolution of technology, philosophy and carry for sociologically into the evolution of entire societies. We are all just small parts of much bigger things. Thanks again for you contributions to this unique and highly valuable community of free, uninhibited minds.
Thanks so much. Sadly, I am leaving, as I am disillusioned with how certain accounts dictate what others should do, despite it being touted as a free space. It's exhausting. It's been a wonderful ride, but it's time to move on. Much love.
Sorry to hear that. Your voice will be missed.
Yes, if the people behind the platform can't adapt their views, Hive is never going to flourish into what it could be. Fortunately, even if Hive fails, new platforms will continue to rise and each one, I'm sure, will be better than the last. I also think that you're quite right about wellness being a major attractor for the expansion of these kinds of projects. Thank you for your comments and your support!
This is a masterpiece. 👏
Wow, thank you! Much obliged!
Thanks!
Oh my Goodness, I am astounded by your generosity. I haven't even written much here. Thank you so much. You will never know what this actually means to me.. not just the rewards, the gesture itself. It has once again strengthened my faith and belief in humanity.
I like the content you've been sharing and I think it deserves more support and attention, so I'm glad to do a small part for that to happen.
Excellent article certainly beyond the economic retribution that may exist, Hive gives us an opportunity to grow by sharing our life experiences and our thoughts and ideas. I think that beyond what it means to get into the blockchain is about sharing with people with whom you would never have met if this platform did not exist, this community is a meeting place for everyone where cultures come together and we can learn more every day.
Beautifully said and, of course, I agree wholeheartedly! Thank you for your comment!
Hey @naturalmedicine let's work with @actifit @challengedac and @puml and @foodieshive and get a system for counting calories and reporting EVERYTYUNG we eat so we can get ai and heakthcate data on people's bodies to improve health with some lazy automated methods using curators and pay people hive to loose weight and show their scale numbers and food they eat using simple posts from ecency and dapplr or dbuzz
Posted using Dapplr
Hahahahahahahahahahahahhahahaha...xd
An interesting idea!
So have you at some point wondered why you're not receiving all post rewards of this post you wrote? Did someone out there accept that if you have authors writing through your account that's been getting autovotes in forever it's okay to take a cut just for owning the account and the community? Did someone out there promote Hive as a place where you as a writer and content creator can get rewards but cheat your way passed genuine curation/activity, just go through an already established account and get a cut while the main account gets a cut for doing nothing and you're both okay with it because without each other you wouldn't get anything? Did someone tell you that downvotes instantly mean they disagree with the content or the niche or the author? Did you stop to reconsider the history of the account downvoting you and its other downvotes at all or just tunnel-vision your way into your own opinion of why that happened and decide to write this post questioning what Hive is to people and the downvoters?
Hello, Acidyo. This will be a long reply, but please bear with me.
First of all, allow me to thank you sincerely for the work that you do in keeping Hive functioning. I'm just a content creator and curator, so I don't know the scope of that work nor do I understand what it entails from a technical perspective, but the fact that everything runs smoothly with only minor inconveniences speaks of your dedication and that of others who work behind the curtain.
I questioned whether I should reply here because Hive is basically my livelihood and I know that if you or any other whale decided to hold my words against me or took them personally, you could simply chase me away. This may sound silly to you, but it's the general feeling among relatively new users. However, I think it's important to address this situation and if it later brings consequences that make my permanence here untenable, so be it.
I'll speak as both an outsider and an insider: outsider because I'm not truly involved in this issue that you're referring to and I don't necessarily share the views, ideas and convictions of those who are. An insider because, as an Admin of this community and part of the curation team, I've been observing these developments intimately from within.
When I first joined NM, I was given a series of guidelines on how to curate, the percentages that I should put in the curations and why they were like that. Since this community and its associated token were built by the people who wrote those guidelines, I took them to heart, it's their project after all. Moreover, it's important that you know, all of the decisions made regarding rewards, challenges or the current transition were consulted with all members of the team, modified with recommendations and agreed upon unanimously.
You ask about the history of downvoters. I don't have access to that information and if it's gathered and disaggregated somewhere that I can consult at my level, I would gladly review it if necessary. However, the leaders and other members of the team also have their own stories and they've written extensively about them here, you can check any of their profiles for reference. They're currently going through extremely difficult times in their personal lives which they've shared with us timely and effectively, and which have unfortunately been exacerbated by this incident. This is a large part of why the recent decisions that you've found disagreeable were made. Your disapproval, and that of others in the platform, were anticipated, but the team has been well briefed at all times.
I'm sure that you're also stressed out at your level and I imagine that your position forces you to deal with these issues regularly. Again, I'm quite ignorant about the inner mechanics of the platform, that's why I scarcely mention them in this post. In fact, as I stated here, I don't share the general view about downvotes, I've grown used to them. Although it's awesome to see my content upvoted big, I just accept the payouts that I get, low or high. They're a circumstance to me, I can't control it so I don't get worked up about it. I'm here for the content, the financial aspect is what it is.
Finally, I wanted to point out that I didn't write any of this at the behest of anyone, it was my own initiative. I hope this is useful to clarify this situation and my individual position about it. I also hope that you'll take the perspectives that I offer in the post and in this comment seriously. Once more, thank you for your work and your concern for the wellbeing of the Hive population at large.
Since the discussion started between @acidyo and @riverflows in the comments, I just want to say publicly that I really appreciate both of you and the communities you've built, and you know me well enough to know I'm not kissing ass when I say that. But I can't take a side here because I don't think this is a black and white issue and these are the kind of questions a society has to ponder in order to improve, and as small as we are, we are like a little society.
I'd get annoyed or angry at downvotes. It doesn't feel good, especially when we are too weak to have the same impact. At the same time, I don't think @acidyo has shown any sign that he is attacking our community, and has given pretty reasonable and in-depth explanations for why he downvoted. He hasn't decimated the community account with countless downvotes or encouraged others to gang up. The post rewards are still very high, consistently. My point is, I don't want NM community or any individuals to feel overly threatened by this.
@acidyo may be single biggest benefactor of hive minnows and dolphins who make quality content. He isn't always nice, but he's been very consistent in helping out people who are undervalued here.
I think the issue all comes down to power and our relationship with it. It's frustrating to see others opinions being able to shape the ecosystem more than we can. It feels unfair. It's a frustrating part of living in the world economy and it's frustrating about Hive too. A lot of us can't imagine any way to amass that power, and so we make use of the tools we have available. We don't always want to have to wait for whales to come and upvote us to be able to reward others.
On the other hand, I think @acidyo is actually looking at this more holistically, about what's good for the Hive ecosystem, and setting standards for the behavior of communities in general. I have to respect that, especially with all he has done for the platform and for many many users. We don't need to take it so personally, and I'm glad we have some whales willing to explain their behaviors in such depth and offer some suggestions. NM is one of the most well-rewarded communities out there, so that's why we end up facing this kind of issue.
I can only hope that Hive has a wider variety of decent whales and orcas in the future so that power is more distributed, it'll make issues like this smoother and easier to come to consensus on or to agree to disagree on.
Anyways, I hope the NM community can let this go for now.