Someone outside of the world of crypto and blogging recently asked me why I post on Hive and LeoFinance. They couldn't understand the reason I put hours of my time into researching topics and creating content. It got me to thinking about how to unpack this to others not used to creating something where nothing existed before, so I thought carefully before I answered.

It certainly isn't about rewards because God knows I went a long time before those started coming in, so I'd say it's for two main reasons. The first reason why I blog and I think more important thing that drives me, is my need for a creative output.

As a child, I grew up with a stammer that mostly fell on the men in the family. My mother would not allow me to speak in public beyond my name and age so as not to shame her in front of her friends. My older sister would protectively speak for me if the conversation went beyond that. It took ten long years of daily speech practice to mitigate that and it was the hardest thing I've ever done.

Robbed of my natural voice, I fell into the world of books and began to write. I would carry a card around as a boy with my name age and what I wanted to be when I grew up, to show the persistent talkers if no one else was around. This sparked a desire to write as a way of expressing the thoughts I had inside me. I recall years ago reading about The Beatles and how George Harrison was stymied by John and Paul when he tried to contribute songs to their albums.

This resulted in a huge backlog of his music when The Beatles broke up which led to the triple album All Things Must Pass and others. I had the same desire to get things out, so blogging has become an enjoyable creative outlet for me. Hive allows me to get all of my thoughts out and really express myself as a content creator.

The second reason about why I blog has to do with the nature of the blockchain itself. This distributed ledger is a great way of putting yourself out there and having your writings last as long as the blockchain does.

Like Grandma, I could get run over by a Reindeer tomorrow, and it's nice to know that my work will continue to live on the blockchain. Heck, I could even imagine a family member contributing my thoughts to some sort of human-sounding AI bot as a way of comforting my loved ones. The dead returned to "life" in digital form.

It reminds me of authors who continue to have an impact long after they're gone. I've blogged about domestic violence for instance, and the thought that one of my posts could help someone, is a good reason to keep engaging, helping and sharing. If you passed tomorrow, what have you left behind? The echo of your existence will be felt by how you affected those you interacted with. The blockchain allows each of us to become a digital scribe, sharing our thoughts, emotions, and wisdom we've pickup along the way with generations to come. That's why I blog.