I wanted to write this post for reasons that are twofold. It is a break from my deep philosophical ramblings that go on for thousands of words with a character count larger than the dollar value of some medium sized nations.
Firstly it details a revelation I had over the last week which suggests I have conquered at least one of my self limiting beliefs and kicked a little residual fear to the kerb
Secondly it is to tell you all about a very cool, caring community member here who has a little something happening that you may just be interested in. There will be a tonne of engagement on offer too... If you know me you will know this appeals to me massively.
So let me set the scene and for once I will finish reasonably soon and let you out of class early, Dear Reader.
Since I returned to the Blockchain a few weeks ago after realising how much I was missing writing, engaging and the friends I have made over the past couple of years and deciding a prolonged spell of poor health would keep me from my goals no longer, I've been on a mission.
I decided to seek out engagement and corners of the Blockchain that were busy with fun, active people, connections and new friends to be made. Oh man, have I been finding them and when I tell you it's been a blast I am not kidding.
If you are familiar with my blog you may well know that I am fairly active with many of the members I met in the Hive Engagement league run by the fabulous Asher, @abh12345 find the latest post HERE! If you like fun, engagement and maybe even a prize or two this is the place you need to be involved, it's also nice to know how active you are in the top 100 Hive engagement champions each week.
I also absolutely love the weekend engagement contest run by one of the coolest dudes I have ever met on the blockchain @galenkp The real prize for taking part is the engagement and the fun and friendships to be made in the comment sections of one of the most insane weekend engagement topics you have ever stumbled across. However there was also a prize in the last round of 160 Hive - Best of both worlds, right? Go check out the previous contest HERE and be sure to stopby for the next round on Friday. It gets a little crazy and serious entries are not really the order of the day.
Whilst taking part in Galen's contest, I was tipped off by another awesome engagey, community minded person @bashadow about another contest with a chance for mass engagement. This fit the bill of exactly what I was looking for and I was abso-frikkin-lutely delighted to find it was run by another amazing engager I had lost touch with from the engagement league back in the days of that Steemy place.
@melinda010100 runs a fabulous comment contest based on the most creative comments submitted to explain what is really happening in a photograph featuring some feathered friends acting in ways that could be open to various interpretations, staggeringly enough it is called the Feathered Friends comment contest check out this weeks round HERE
Which brings me round to the topic of this post that I haven't even really addressed yet... I'm nothing if not consistent, right?
So I entered the firsts weeks contest and had a lot of fun writing my piece, more than a comment tbh I chose to give my interpretation of the two pigeons in the photo for that week as Mafioso types bullying the neighbourhood cats and evading the rat-cartel at all costs... Fast forward to week 2 and I decided to really write a cool piece that would challenge me but also give me a lot of fun in the process.
I am going to share the entry for last week below as it ended up providing me with a revelation I did not foresee. Hre was the entry which ultimately won first place netting me 10 Hive in to the bargain, having fun, finding quality engagment, meeting new friends and winning some Hive, talk about a win/win/win scenario.
How could I resist writing a story about Henrietta, picture by Melinda again.
Henrietta was sick of it!
The suffocating insistence of her parents that she knock constantly, ceaselessly and mercilessly for her poor sore beak. For what? She asked herself.
"You're a woodpecker, you peck at trees creating a knock... It's what you are expected to do"
Henrietta mocked her Father's monotone single faceted argument.
"My Father was a knocker, my Father's Father was a knocker ALL of our ancestors were knockers, Grandfather Walter on your Mother's side was a champion knocker 3 years running!"
Henrietta had other plans, she knew exactly what she wanted from her life. She wasn't going to waste her time, walloping her beak against a tree just to do what was expected from her for the sake of the family name.
"Knock like this" she said "Peck like that" mocking her knocking tutor from when she was just a chick, the bombastic Ms Tippytap. She knocked exaggeratedly like a bizarre parody of one of those 1970's headbanging heavy metal stars. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes as she contemplated a life being less than she knew she could be.
"Oh your Fathers just thinking of you my dear, he wants you to have an easy life, being different isn't any fun, you know!" Said her Mother Hortensia. You know something, my Mother always had a saying for times like these:
"No matter how much he tries a sparrow will never be a canary"
Henrietta was always bemused at her Mothers efforts to be helpful. She really loved her parents so much and wouldn't want to do anything to make them disappointed in her. Suddenly a plan struck her and she smiled knowingly.
She would invite them round to her place and prepare them a nice meal, normally she would go with something simple like mealworm but this time it was to be something very special. She prepared Bombyx Mori and Bombyx Mandarina served on a bed of white mulberry leaves. Silk moths and silk worms were her Fathers absolute favourite delicacy in the entire world.
The evening arrived and her parents were finished eating and with no small measure of trepidation, she realised it was now or never actually she also realised if she didn't take the leap now it would probably be never!
Henrietta stood in front of her parents and cleared her throat importantly. Henry and Hortensia shuffled nervously and wondered what was to come... Henrietta opened her beak wide and started to sing the opening strains from her Father's favourite operatic aria, the most beautiful, spellbinding sound filled the air, the hair on both her parents necks stood on end as they realised with heart-swelling pride that their Daughter Henrietta was destined to be a star...
The moral of the story? Oh I'm glad you asked Dear Reader: A sparrow must never try to be a canary...
I shared that with you for several reasons. I had a lot of fun writing it and I think you can probably see why, I came up with a moral that I loved, they often make the best, most satisfying type of stories in my opinion. It had a fun vibe throughout. Melinda wasn't exactly looking for a full story but the passion for the tale grabbed me and I followed.
I am going to let you in to a secret regarding the other reason I shared it with you now. I gotta be honest, it is one that, even now I am slightly embarrassed to admit. I was proud of it as I read it back. I know there's nothing really wrong with that BUT it's not really in my nature to admit that.
There is a more sinister reason though and it comes from an insidious place, a place that resides within most of us to some degree.
If I tell you I am proud of it and put my work out there for you to see, to peruse to judge and you think it is terrible, my poor ego is on the line, right?
I risk being exposed as an amateur who thinks he did a good job but actually did a poor/mediocre one. When this happens regarding something we put our heart in to it can be crushing.
Now if you have read any of my success/self improvement posts, you know I would tell you Dear Reader, if you asked or if I was offering advice...
Your own opinion is the only one that really counts. The fun and accomplishment you feel is more important than any external thoughts or critique.
Ah! We humans are strange creatures though aren't we? I will wager we outperform any of Melinda's feathered friends when it comes to being a touch strange, after all when did you last hear a bird hold his song inside just in case the world didn't think it was a high enough standard? ((Henrietta doesn't count by the way!))
Here is my REAL confession... Lean a little closer I am going to talk quietly, this is just between you and I, right?
I love words, phrases and story telling and have always secretly wanted to write, I guess that's why I am here in the first place. I mean fiction though. I have always wanted to tell stories that have the ability to move a person, excite them, intrigue them and entertain them. I am terrified of my poor grasp of punctuation though and this has always stopped me in my tracks and sent a cold shiver down my spine when I think about it.
I seem to have a mental-block when it comes to learning the oh-so-important rules though, it's strange as I am normally a pretty effective learner. I suspect this is a manifestation of a subconscious fear mechanism designed to protect me from failure.
Just one problem with that picture though, it also protects me from potential joy, fulfillment and satisfaction too.
So as I read my short story back I made a promise to myself, I am going to try my hand at a children's story. Yes of course I felt the trepidation as the thought pervaded my mind. I don't just mean on the blockchain, I am actually going to try and create something worthy of being published.
What's the worst that can happen, huh?
It just goes to show you, when you walk the corridors of the blockchain and share a metaphorical coffee with friends in the comment sections, who knows what big ideas you may be struck with?
If you hear a call to action, to try something new and exciting, go do it, step out of your comfort zone and try turning your hand to it, who knows, you might just enjoy it!
Thank YOU for taking the time to read my post and if you're one of those amazing people who like to hit the comments section... Then I doubly thank YOU!
Either way I want you to know that you are apreciated!
Keep taking the time to connect with eachother both here and in the so-called real world and try and look after eachother, because as you already know...
Hi @stevenwood,
Thank you for participating in the #teamuk curated tag. We have upvoted your quality content.
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Children don't understand punctuation either so a good choice for a first book. I don't understand punctuation much either, I just write how I would read something.
Haha. Maybe I should stick to strictly under 5's :D
Yes I write pretty much how I would talk if having a conversation when I'm here, you know what I mean, lots of !!! and ??? and run on sentences that last anywhere from 15 to 250 words...
One day I may learn, but unlikely it will be today!
Thanks for stopping by my friend, always good to see you :D
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Do not miss the last post from @hivebuzz:
I could not be more pleased that the Feathered Friends Comment Contest was the inspiration that you needed to pursue your idea of writing a children's book! I love Henrietta's story and am so looking forward to seeing your children's book published.
I learned HOW to use proper punctuation, but for the most part have put it aside because it doesn't always fit with the way I talk. I see my comments as more of a conversation than as writing for English class.
I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this week's comment writing contest, although I've just created a new rule that the same person can't win two weeks in a row! 😁 Thanks for your generous donation to the prize fund!
Absolutely agree! That is also the advice I give people who join the platform, I always think people will forgive a few spelling mistakes and misplaced commas from a person who is friendly and has something to say.
Good call Melinda. I always assume when I donate to a prize-fund I will not be included in the pool of people in the running to win it as it looks a bit conflicofinteresty Lol. I'm certain people would know you are not that kind of person, but all the same, it is good insulation against the same.
Haven't got to stopby to make my, just for fun entry yet, I have had rather a strange life-spell for a week or so. I will try and get by very, very soon. If I have missed it, I will look out for the next prompt.
Take good care my friend, have an awesome week :)
Conflictofinteresty! That would be a million dollar word. 😂 The comment contest post pays out tomorrow, so it will be ending soon. I'm wondering if this would work as a random every once in a while contest, instead of every week. What I would really like to do is a contest that encourages comments on the posts that people enter into the Feathered Friends Community. Sometimes my comment is the only one they get and I want to figure out a way to get the entire community involved in supporting each other. Things to think about.
I'm rubbish at writing but would like to improve it, most of my posts are pretty simple factual did this boring monologue of my life - not very interesting but I am what I am. Writing can be fun and free your mind though, it's a great way to let of steem - just put your emotions down in text or even let you creativity go wild. And this for me is what is important about the Hive Blockchain - it should be a creative melting pot where people can just pour out whatever they need to let out.
Hey mate, the #weekend-engagement topic for this week is not far away...Weird item to describe...Wrong answers only of course. Hope you'll have a go.
That is a fantastic goal, @stevenwood.. to try to write a children's story. Congratulations on your decision, and I am certainly looking forward to reading snippets of it! Good luck!🥰🌺🤙