^{Where is my mind? Where? Where is my mind?} Is it down here?

Nope.

That's probably false advertising.

^{I doubt this episode will be dramatic.}

I lost that spark! And it's bugging me.

I have a terrible headache and feel like I can't do a goddamn thing right today. Tried several times to produce some of that eye candy a few of you out there, from all over the world, enjoy. Probably hit that fancy red 'x' that closes the app about five times.

I feel so tiny!

^{But I'm not sure that's bugging me.}

More people are downvoting now. I've always used the damn things. Never to be a prick though!
^{It bugs me when folks are accused of being nasty people for curating content.}

Often my account name would be nice and high on the voter list after downvoting. Often after upvoting, again my account name would sit nice and high on the voter list. So what I'm noticing, these past few days, is the fact people with more than 27000 SP are actually voting again, because my name isn't up as high as it used to be. That's good to see, so I can't complain, though it does kinda suck that I can't feel like a bigshot anymore...
^{I'm just kidding.}

I have a funny story about downvotes.

Yes, in the past I'd use downvotes, occasionally. So I expected, at some point, someone from the past would want to retaliate, just to be a prick, even though I never used my downvotes to be a prick.

Some simply don't like being called out on their bullshit, like being an art fraud, plagiarist, or a lazy copy/paste commando. That's normal. Any shoplifter, for instance, even with video evidence, will act innocent and claim the one apprehending them is the bad guy. That's just how the shady brain works. Lies are easy, if you're a liar.

Just like being honest is easy, when you can handle the pain of truth.

So anyway...

^{I noticed I received a downvote.}

I saw the name, remembered this individual, and knew right away the downvote only existed as a little poke. He just wanted to get me all triggered and upset.
^{Didn't work.}

I think the post lost about sixteen cents.

He was probably thinking:

Payback's a bitch! Moohoo hahahahahahhaha!

So I pulled up his information on Steemworld, just to have a look and see if he's going on a downvote rampage or if it was just an isolated incident.

What I discovered was hilarious!

I was the only one he downvoted. Not even five minutes after he gave me that little poke, one of his copy/paste, low effort, overly promoted shit posts was on the receiving end of a downvote that knocked it down about 16 bucks.

So I chuckled to myself and thanked the universe for that one. Instant karma, they say.

And no, I had nothing to do with it. I looked through his mentions and shortly before he downvoted me, someone had reported him for bidbot abuse so that whale pounced. It's all on the blockchain.

On an unrelated note...

This also happened:

That's the funniest downvote I have ever received.
^{And once again I found myself doing the 'LOL' stuff.}

It makes more sense within the context of my previous post.

Speaking of which.

^{And maybe this does bug me, a bit.}

That previous post, at the time of this writing, was sitting in the fifth slot under the 'art' tag trending tab on Steemit, and taking up slot 72 overall. It should be number one!
^{Just kidding.}

After struggling for however long taking the 100% organic approach, it is so goddamn refreshing to see some positive change.

Normally I'd publish my daily post, see the usual amount of votes come in, enjoy the comment section with you folks as you visit, then the post would die, so I'd go back to the drawing board to get busy on my next unpopular and no chance of going viral by default post.

So what changed?

^{Uhm. Have you been living under a rock?}

On many occasions in the past, in posts and as well as comments, I had explained, to the best of my ability, what I expected to see, in time, once that hardfork went into effect.

I had predicted that yes indeed, I'd see a decrease in rewards due to the fact 50% is less than 75%, but I had explained how I suspected the overall post value would eventually increase, leading to myself, as a content producer, earning more after receiving 50% than I would with a 75% cut due to the increase of eager curators willing to vote again.

To me, back then when I'd say it, it felt like common sense. Now I'm seeing it actually happen. As I stated earlier, I'm seeing more names on those voter lists out there. More people are curating and, it's still early. These changes haven't even been in effect for a full week yet, so at this point I feel comfortable saying it is only going to improve.
^{I'm not kidding.}

But you know what really bugs me?!

^{Am I even allowed to say this?}

With all of these naysayers around preaching their doom and gloom, am I even allowed to mention my observations?

Is it okay to say something good?

Can I say these things without being called names? Am I allowed to mention these things without feeling like I'm going to be attacked by a horde of paranoid and delusional conspiracy theorists who will claim I work for Ned or say I must be part of some mystical Steem inner circle illuminati Rockefeller whatever the fucks CIA agent ass kisser?

You can't simply produce content and get votes! It must be something else! You're a circle jerker probably! It's not what you do it's who you know! It's only because you were here early! Sockpuppets! Yadda yadda fucking yadda I'm annoying and I've been saying STEEM is dead for three years twenty times every single goddamn fucking day and it's still alive for some reason but there's no possible way I can be wrong so I will waste my life until I get my way and then nothing will be here so I can't even say I told you so and now I don't know what the fuck I'm doing because I never thought that far ahead!

Whoa!

^{Sorry. I think I'm experiencing flashbacks.}

If there's a point I'm trying to make, it's probably something like: I can accept the fact there have been problems and at the same time take a moment to acknowledge the progression towards something better.

I'm seeing small changes, and it's early. I expect things to improve, over time, and of course, in time, there might be new problems we'll have to tackle. Isn't that life?

Since I'm out so much actually looking, I'm noticing nearly every time someone wants to acknowledge the good, report new positive developments, or attempt to encourage others to contribute to a productive environment meant to stimulate growth — they are being shot down by some of the same naysayers who have been consistently wrong, for years.

And that bugs me.

They don't seem to understand that when they make bogus claims, and pretend to be there to defend minnows or noobs, whatever, it's actually them doing the damage and scaring people away. They're new. They don't know these same people have been acting like that for months, if not years.

Downvotes have existed for over three years. Those who use them abusively have always been a tiny minority.

They said people will stop commenting now because we can't upvote comments as much. Nothing changed, people still comment, and I'd like to take a moment to thank you folks for stopping in to my place and acknowledging my existence. That means a lot to me.
^{Seriously. It does. Thank you.}

They said everyone will quit. I'm still here and I'm seeing a lot of people trying to be pumped up and ready for the next set of challenges. In three years I haven't seen development exceed current rates and I feel we've passed that too big to fail stage long ago. Things are moving along nicely now and you'd need to be wearing some thick blinders in order to not be able to see it.

Those wearing the blinders bug me.

I could go on and on and on.

^{But I think it's time to shut up.}

I'll close by mentioning how I've always felt we're all on the same playing field, playing by the same set of rules. I'm seeing improvements and certainly don't want to come across like I'm rubbing it in. If things are getting better for me, then I feel I'm not alone. Others should be seeing improvements, gradually, and as more catch on, more and more will see improvements.

It is still quite early though, so I'm not saying, "It's fixed!"

With three years of experience, I'll notice the small things.

Of course, much like anywhere else, this platform isn't designed to be a free lunch. Effort and consistency are important, especially now, since more eyeballs are coming back to the platform to look. I've chosen one of most difficult roads to travel here. Since day one, keeping folks interested and growing the following organically has been one of the most challenging experiences of my life, and I didn't spend a lot of my life being a vegetable, I've seen some shit in my day.

So don't be afraid to work hard and impress yourself.

Anyway!

^{That's enough of that.}

And I still have a nasty headache.

Have a nice day.

Credits:All art and images seen here were produced digitally, by me.
_{"Sorry for the shit post! I'll try harder next time!"}

^{© 2019 @NoNamesLeftToUse.  All rights reserved.}