• Where my Steem Journey began

In January 2018 I landed on Steemit and fell in love with it. One of my friends who was into the crypto currencies mentioned it to me because he knew I was into blogging. Steemit was exactly what I was looking for: a platform where I could write about anything that crossed my mind, a place where I could get feedback on my writing skills or my artworks, a network of people that opened to me and helped me understand how I can improve my skills. In a nutshell, it was for the first time when I actually experienced the feeling of being part of a community, even a virtual one.

• My initial challenges & how I overcame them

I must mention that I had no idea how to use Markdown but thanks to a a few Steemians, I learnt my way around it. Back then I was part of The Alliance, GirlPowerTeam and Buddy Up communities. It was enough to drop a question on their Discord channel and within a few minutes later one of their members offered the information required. It was surprising to see how willing everyone was to help newcomers and teach how to navigate their way in the Steemit ocean.

Although not many people read my posts in the beginning, I was not disappointed because the reason I was writing on Steemit had nothing to do with the financial incentives. You can read my initial post here. That was a plus which never made the main course for me. I was happy to be able to publish my posts on the same platform without switching from one account to another. Before Steemit, I was writing on four different platforms which was a bit annoying to keep up with in terms of format, content and rules.

• My Steem blockchain knowledge

Steemit offered me the first experience with the crypto world. I did not know much about crypto currencies at the time. I don't know much more now. Since I had lost the Bitcoin train, I thought it won't harm to get some Steem. At that time, Steem used to be higher and seeing the value of my account passing 1K felt like an achievement. Who wouldn't like to do something that he loves and get paid for it? Well, I kept on writing even the rewards went down significantly. I did it because I loved the feedback and engaging with different content creators from all over the world, seeing their points in certain issues and learning new things.

• My Steem favourites

In the two years of blogging on Steemit (with small breaks in between) I have used the Steemit and Steempeak front ends for my posts on poetry, travel, education, life, art, photography and my Lyme disease awareness campaign.

Some of the amazing accounts I stumbled upon the past two years and I do my best to read their posts whenever I log in are:
@tattoodjay, @dswigle, @soyrosa, @jaynie, @penderis, @papilloncharity, @blockcurator,@trincowski, @katrina-ariel, @lizelle, @bdmillergallery, @nickskywalker, @crosheille, @thekittygirl, @arbitrarykitten, @bigtom13, @apanamamama, @awakentolife,@c0ff33a, @jerrytsuseer, @gabrielatravels, @frejafri, @seadbeady,@brittandjosie, @bozz, @bengy, @nick-havey, @free-reign. These names are just what I could remember right now. I am sure I have missed many others. All these creative content creators have and still do inspire me to continue my journey here.

Many of those I used to follow have left the platform for one reason or another. Among them there were some amazing content creators that I learnt a lot from: @dreemsteem, @zen-art, @quillfire, @alexdory, @calumam, @wolfhart, @vegan.ninja, @laviniatherapist, @enchantedspirit, @rensoul17, @lynncoyle1, @insideoutlet, and so on...

• My golden nugget advice

Write from the heart. Be respectful. Be open to feedback even if it is negative. Spend some time on Discord if you want to bond more and get to know the people in the communities you follow. Read and comment as much as you can. Never be afraid to ask a question or for help.

• My Steem hood & its peeps

@steemitbloggers(PowerHouseCreatives), @steemitmamas, @steemquebec and @steemromania are some of the servers I go to whenever the time allows it. I know for sure that I will find something good and interesting to read in their channels or someone to have a nice chat with.