Introvert Talks - 4 Years On Hive

"Introvert Talks" is meant to be a new initiative or theme, where I myself as an introvert, just talk about reflections and thoughts about my life, or maybe share more personal stuff. :)

This is my weekly post under this "Introvert Talks" theme and let's see where it takes me and us.

I joined Hive in Sep 2021, which means it's my 4th anniversary this month!

When I first started back then, it was really something very novel and I didn't really know what Hive was all about. It's pretty unbelievable that I found the motivation to learn, and also found the perseverance and interest to stay for 4 long years.

Hobby or Job

Very often, I see people discussing whether people on Hive see this as a hobby or a job. There is no right or wrong answer of course, but personally, it has always been a hobby to me.

I mean, firstly, I do have a day job, which pays me enough to settle my living expenses, my mortgage, and also to indulge in some "luxuries" once in a while, like travelling. Secondly, my "earnings" on Hive aren't that spectacular, and don't look anything like a decent income, at least from based on where I live. I looked at the amounts in my Hive wallet, and even adding all the miscellanous assets (from Hive Engine, Splinterlands, etc), it's probably not more than 4,000 USD earned over 4 years. That's about 1,000 USD per year. Putting that number into perspective, the median income over here in Singapore is probably around 50,000 USD a year. Anyway, I guess one can argue that unlike a full time job, I don't spend 8 hours a day on Hive. And that's precisely also the reason why I see it as a hobby.

I guess, another factor could be the price of Hive as well. If Hive was at its all time highs, the number that I would be looking at in my Hive wallet would probably be much higher than 4,000 USD as well.

Finding My Own Rhythm

Over the years, I think I have gradually found my own rhythm on my Hive journey. Inevitably, there was a lot of trial and error, and I picked some invaluable lessons. There's just too much to say, but perhaps I will try to summarise using the "Start, Stop, Continue" framework.

• Start/Do More: I will start to explore new communities, and spend more time on engagement. After accumulating some Hive Power over the years, I feel that I am now more able to do more voting for posts I like.

• Stop/Do Less: I will be more careful about Hive projects and Layer 2 tokens. Most tokens have lost value over time and I have lost a fair bit as well. I will also spend less time on Hive Gaming because I am trying to manage my time better (versus real life commitments), and games can potentially take up a lot of time. I spent quite some time picking up games like Crownrend and Neon Strike previously, but unfortunately, they have shut down. Right now, I still play a bit of Splinterlands occasionally.

• Continue: I will continue to write about stuff that I find interesting, e.g. my travels, my reflections about life in general, and Splinterlands content. I used to write more posts, mostly on a daily basis, but these days, I prefer to slow down the pace of publishing new posts and instead spend more time to read and comments on other posts.

Alright, that's all I have for this reflections post! Ending this post with photo of an refreshing dessert I just had - Matcha Osmanthus Kakigori. It's matcha shaved ice, with osmanthus, which was very delicious! Cheers to many good (and green) years on Hive ahead!