Two Years on Hive! my thoughts of Human Creativity and the Future of Calendula Craft

This weekend I am celebrating two years since I started this blog on Hive. It has been such a journey of self discovery and creativity! I actually have been on Hive a bit longer than two years, I believe I originally joined under the user name Libra.Gardener in 2021 but, didn't really fully understand the platform way back then.

It was two years ago that I got more serious about being a writer and creating meaningful content to share with everyone. It was only a month or two before that that my hubby helped me come up with the name Calendula Craft and I am so grateful for that stroke of genius on his behalf.

I use that title on a variety of different social media but, Hive remains my center. Why? well, it is the feedback I get from my fellow Hivers! You are all so encouraging and positive and I am eternally grateful. When I started this journey two years ago I was struggling to maintain my English writing skills and was extremely camera shy. Now, while I do not always show my face in each and every post, I am dedicated to keep AI imagery out of my work, only using pictures of myself or taken by myself and words that come straight from my own creativity.

This is so important to me, that creativity stays human. Now Instagram has a feature that allows Meta AI to write your comments for you. Like ... are we really getting that lazy that we can't even type out a few simple words on our own?

I thought machines were supposed to facilitate our work so that we would have more time for creativity but, sadly, I see a lot of artists being replaced by AI rather than supported by them.

I don't personally engage with posts that have AI images as their cover art but, I get it, I am really fortunate to live in a beautiful place and have to time & drive to frame even simple camera-phone images in a aesthetically pleasing way. Not every has that time/energy and I do thanks to the bit of funding I receive from Hive.

I am truly grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts, herbal recipes, and pages from my notebooks with you all. And I vow that my writing and art will stay human as long as I live!