Eight Years Later — Finally an Orca

[dbooster]

After eight years on Steemit and Hive, I’ve finally done it: I’ve crossed into Orca territory.

_{Generated by ChatGPT}

I didn’t notice exactly when it happened. I checked Hivebuzz around 60.3k HIVE and I wasn’t an orca yet. Just this morning, as I passed 60.5k HIVE I checked again and — boom — my VESTS count is past 100,000,000, the magic number. No fanfare, no confetti, just a quiet milestone buried in Hive side project screen. Orca level.

Now let’s put this in perspective. Eight years is a long time to grind toward anything, and you might be mistaken for thinking that’s a long time to get to what is, in dollar terms, only around $8000 — which is a lot of money, but not really a lot to show for 8 years. In my case, however, it’s also not all that surprising. Most of my growth has been organic: a slow accumulation of consistent posting, reinvestment, and a lot of time in the trenches. I’ve never been one of those accounts getting giant $50 or more votes every day. In fact, I can probably count on one hand the number of votes I’ve received worth more than $30. That in turn isn’t all that surprising — I write about the uber-popular Japan, but my writing is primarily about translations of Japanese haiku, which is probably in the niche of niches in terms of topics and doesn’t interest anyone interested in Japan, the vast majority who are more in love with the modern anime part of Japanese culture. Oh well.

Anyway, starting last year with the HIVE dip, I did start buying in some with outside money. But the vast majority of my growth has still been entirely organic, built on $5-$10 posts.

So, yes, this Orca earned every fin through persistence and compounding rather than splashy boosts.

My plan hasn’t changed: I’m still powering up everything I can this year. The stretch goal is 70k HIVE before year’s end. It’s a bit ambitious, but then again, I made it this far to orcahood, so who knows what else is possible.

Here’s to steady growth, small votes, and long games.

❦

David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Bluesky. 【Support @dbooster with Hive SBI】

Comments

[shiftrox]

Better late than never! Congratulations on this milestone, you've come a long way and, of course, we can't stop here, let's keep growing!

!DUO !PIZZA

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[dbooster]

Will do!

[silverd510]

Congrats on your achievement

[dbooster]

Thanks!

[thebighigg]

Congratulations on a job well done. Persistence and patience finally paid off to see that Orca badge pop up. It must have felt great!

[dbooster]

Now, to make whale...

[livinguktaiwan]

Congrats!! Every milestone is a milestone worthy of commemorate if not celebrate because it's a step forward in the right direction

[dbooster]

Absolutely! Thanks!

[wiseagent]

Congrats, @dbooster!

That's a great achievement.

[dbooster]

Thanks!

[bozz]

Congrats man! It's really well deserved!

[tanzil2024]

A big congratulations!
!PIZZA

[dbooster]

Thanks!

[kriszrokk]

Congratulations David 🎉

[dbooster]

Thanks!

[pardinus]

Wow, congratulations!! Orca is an awesome milestone, celebrations are due! !BBH

[dbooster]

Thanks!

[jacobtothe]

Welcome to Orca level! I barely crossed that threshold a few months back myself.

[dbooster]

It's good to be here at this level!

[steevc]

Welcome to the 'pod'. It's always good to see people level up. That helps to distribute the rewards better. The thresholds keep shifting with the HP inflation.

Onwards and upwards!

!BEER

[dbooster]

Thanks! I hope to see more people leveling up. Maybe with this HIVE dip, more will buy in.

[ph1102]

Welcome to the ORCA "club"!!! 🍻
We need more people like you on HIVE! 💪

[dbooster]

I hope for a lot more!

[tonyz]

Congrats, keep going!

[dbooster]

Will do!

[uwelang]

nice job -was about time :-)

[dbooster]

Thanks!

[doombot75]

Great achievement, long term commitment to the community!

[tarazkp]

Congrats! That is awesome!

[dbooster]

Thanks!

[incublus]

Wow, even if it takes 8 years, this is great news. Hopefully, we'll see it reach the whale category someday. The 70k target doesn't seem easy before the end of the year. You might need to buy some from outside.

[michaelreischer]

Congrats 🍾

[kenny-crane]

Congrats to you, my fellow Orca! It is a testimony to your dedication, to make it this far. You have been here all these years, and now you're being recognized for your awesome level of HODLing on to your HIVE. Well done!

!PIZZA !BBH !UNI !LADY

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[nicklewis]

Well done!

[arcange]

Congratulations on becoming an Orca @dbooster 🎉🎉🎉