What you and other whales are doing for this community is something I dreamed of for many years on Steem, and now Hive. I always hated bots and auto votes and everything automation related. I know it can be exhausting to do it all manually, but for sure it is rewarding and as you mentioned it's not wasted time as you really learn stuff. At least I do...
Oh and I also fully agree with you that every community member has something to offer, not including occasional spammers and scammers of course. I came to this community with the same goals, intention and attitude as I did with Steem almost three years ago and that's content creation, my best possible. Be it blog posts, comments or occasional shit posts, I share what's the best of me for that day and I try doing it daily. That's what I bring to the table... and I highly appreciate your curation on my posts.
Thanks, have a good day and roar loud!