The silver lining I failed to see in the minnowsupportproject

[source: @minnowsupport]

Joined steemit mid last month. My first post, I wouldn't call it a hit, it was at least a shot in the right direction, made over 20$, I thought to myself "I’M IN THE RIGHT PLACE". this was

HOPE (beta version)

---

I unpacked, set up my tent, aired my steemit flag, and got to work. On my next post, feeling very confident I tried to introduce a project I was working on, the outcome was a devastating $0.08. I checked to ensure my internet wasn't shitty, depriving me of upvotes or if the post was incomplete. It was none of the above. I laughed to myself, pulled out a new sheet, put out a new post…. $4. Things were getting blurry, is this the same platform or I’ve been transferred??

FRUSTRATION 1.0

---

Subsequent post only got worse. I quit … but I always quit, so I decided instead of quitting to just ;et you all know I was frustrated, I did a post on that, it paid out well (relatively well). I was cautious to think I was back on the platform I originally joined, my caution was justified on my next post ($0.06). It became glaring that steemit was playing some kinda mean joke on me

HOPE v2.0

---

The struggle went on frustratingly (but I was determined for the first time, not to give up). Then came a glimmer of hope, in the name of #minnowsupportproject birthed by @aggroed, @teamsteem, and @ausbitbank in conjuction with some other thoughtful fellows. The comprehensive mission, vision, and goal of this project can be found here by @minnowsupport.

I liked the idea of pooling resources, and learnt we had some big generous donor, the likes of @benjojo and the whole thing being managed by 7 witnesses. After joining the Discord channel : Peace, Abundance, and Liberty (PALnet). I had to open both a streemian and steemvoter account (which I previously had no idea existed). With all these in place I was back on track, started earning well on posts, my upvote count tripled. Success at last!

FRUSTRATION 2.0

---

But steemit was determined to win in its mean jokes against me, and as more people joined the channel (which seemed to me like a good thing initially), my reward started to drop, alongside my morale. Then I was back to low incomes, except that this time with high upvote count, but whats the point yeah??

As I did previously, just before I gave up on the MSP, I decided to make my frustration known on the channel, I thought I was ignored until I saw riding towards me from a distance in a glowing apparel @justinchase picked me up and showed me the light, the silver lining

The SILVER LINING

---

He reminded me how I wasn’t giving anything to get the “reduced additional income” I was getting, and enlightened me how the upvote counts (that I assumed was pointless) helps my posts to be more visible. In an attempt to appreciate him with an upvote, I saw his post which further showed me what I have been benefitting that I did not pay attention to:

• How MSP participants are offer to reviews for posts, give writing workshops, run contests, and award bounties for quality posts (some of which I have partaken)
• How MSP has been helping me create better cotent (by interaction with the others)
• How it ensures quality (cos garbage on there will be disposed)
• How the sponsors are working tirelessly to continuously improve the ways MSP can be more effective

It finally dawned on me that no matter how slow, #MSP is a vehicle taking me from minnow to whale status

I am grateful for these selfless sacrifices

I know there would probably be a FRUSTRATION 3.0, But my "HOPE-infiniti" has been deployed

God bless our dear planet earth, God bless Africa, God bless the Steemit comunity.
I am @ericdyce

[gif courtesy of @justcallmemyth]