Normally competitions or social initiatives on Hive run past me as I am not the most attentive person when it comes to these things, and when I see them I am often too late. Doing research for my Ph.D., sorting out my garden on a daily basis, and trying to find my way in this strange world, leaves me with sparse time to spend on Hive.

In any case, I recently saw that @riverflows tagged me in one of these challenges, the Creative Blogger Tag in which you need to answer two obligatory questions, and then five questions posed by the person tagging you - in this case, @riverflows. Thank you for the opportunity, and by posting this blog I accept the challenge! At the end, I will pose my five questions to those who I will be tagging! I add the image provided by @jongcl who started the challenge or initiative. You can also read more about it on their blog here.

I will list the questions here before I attempt to answer them.

The Two Obligatory Questions:

1. How do you add value to HIVE?
2. How would you make HIVE a better place?

My Five Questions (asked by @riverflows):

1. What is the one book that blew your mind? It doesn't have to be a favourite, just something really memorable.
2. If you were to take 5 items of food to a desert island on which you would be stuck for 5 years, what would they be?
3. Are you a dog or a cat person?
4. What's your very first memory from childhood?
5. What is the last song that was stuck in your head, that you love (not a horrible ear worm thanks!) or woke up to happily humming?

So, let me answer...

I will begin with the two obligatory ones:

1. How do you add value to HIVE?

This is a tough question to answer! Firstly, Hive helped me grow as a person. Since joining in 2017, my creative process and approach to life changed. Influenced by my studies on Ancient Greek Philosophers, especially Pyrrho of Elis, I have moved through various phases in my own life. I have not yet started any communities on Hive, and I am still finding my feet on the platform (after almost 4 years!) to see where I can help to add value. One night late I stumbled upon an article about The Herbal Hive a new community on Hive. This jump-started, so to say, my love and passion for herbalism and I feel that, collectively, sharing our information with everyone is a big step in adding value to Hive (or to Hivers who follow herbalism). That is, to create a space as a user for other users. As a philosopher and philosophical counsellor, I still hope to start a community for our deeper thinkers and add value in that sense.

2. How would you make HIVE a better place?

In addition to herbs and philosophy, I am also an avid artist and photographer. Helping out with curation, I aim to find new and established artists that sometimes get overlooked. In doing so, I hope to make Hive a better place for artists. The art world can be merciless and cruel, or it can be quiet and solitary. Trying to interact with some of the artists, I try to make Hive a better place for, especially, artists. There are some truly amazing artists out there that can share their work, thought processes and progress on Hive and, in doing so, add value to the Hive Art community.

And now for the 5 more personal ones:

1. What is the one book that blew your mind? It doesn't have to be a favourite, just something really memorable.

As a researcher, I love to read. So, choosing just one book is a very challenging activity. Plus, my reading interests stretch from "hardcore philosophy" (Derrida, Foucault, Sartre, Deleuze, and so on) to fiction (Stephen King!) and to literature in my own language Afrikaans. I own a mini library (thanks to various contacts I gained from many years at university and second-hand bookshops). But if I had to choose just one, I would need to choose Orhan Pamuk's The White Castle. After reading the book in 2015 it remains one of those books that you leave to read again because you want to read it almost with the same "new" eyes that you used to read it the first time. A very short book, it packs a punch in telling an awesome story that at once captivates you but also leaves you frustrated with questions and confusion.

2. If you were to take 5 items of food to a desert island on which you would be stuck for 5 years, what would they be?

I am a coffee and bread addict.

So, the first two items will be:

1. Coffee,
2. (Sourdough) Bread.
3. Olive oil,
4. Balsamic vinegar, and
5. Black pepper (and salt!)

As I am not that much of a sweet tooth, I will opt for things to go with the bread.

A very boring answer, but after baking bread last weekend and tasting it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, I exclaimed to the people around the table the following words: I can live on this for the rest of my life. So, I am basically owning up to those words now.

3. Are you a dog or a cat person?

Unfortunately, I am allergic to cats. So, I am a dog person! Sadly, my companion died of old age in 2015, but when I get the opportunity to get a new friend, I will!

(When life is stick, I would caption this image. This is my companion in 2015 cuddling a stick. Do not ask questions.)

4. What's your very first memory from childhood?

I struggle to remember what I did last week. My memory of my childhood is a chaotic mess. Trying to answer this question sent me down a wild goose chase for memories. One fond memory I have is of me kind of mesmerized by the bark peeling away from a birch tree on our property. I have no idea why this memory stuck, maybe the white tree trunk did not fit the general color of other tree trunks to my young mind. I always rubbed my hand against the peeling trunk, almost like the white tree trunk was painted white and now the paint is peeling off. Strange memory.

5. What is the last song that was stuck in your head, that you love (not a horrible ear worm thanks!) or woke up to happily humming?

This is a common question I get! But my music taste is just as varied as my reading taste. When I cook and when we drink beer, we love to listen to Jazz and Blues. When I work alone, I love to play lo-fi. Again, if I needed to choose one, I will have to go with Tool the band's Schism. As a youth, I was heavy into metal. Since moving away from metal, Tool stuck with me and the lyrics and strange music video of Schism just stayed with me.

I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them fall away
...
Pure intention juxtaposed will set two lovers souls in motion
...
Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any
Sense of compassion
Between supposed lovers/brothers

Tagging the Others and Posing Questions

Tagging

I am going to tag various people I think that would either do this or that I want to get to know better. Some are new to Hive, others are veterans. (NB NOTE: There is no obligation to join/do this challenge if you do not want to. It is just a fun post get to know other Hivers.) So I am tagging: @insaneworks; @anissignature; @tezzmax; @blackberryskunk; @yahia-lababidi; and @buckaroobaby.

The Rules

I am again using an image from the original post for the rules:

The Questions

As I tagged artists, poets, foodies, and gardeners (herbalists), I will try to make the questions as general as possible. If the question is very specific, I will ask it in such a way as to cover all the topics. Remember to answer the 2 obligatory questions first, and then the following 5 questions:

1. Who is your favorite artist/poet/chef/writer and why?
2. If you are cursed to only taste one thing for 5 years, what taste would you want to have for those 5 years?
3. How do you incorporate your art/cooking/gardening into your life? (Or, is your art/cooking/gardening your livelihood?)
4. What are some of your life goals and have you achieved some of them?
5. If you could have dinner with 5 people (passed away or alive), who would it be?

Enjoy!

As mentioned, there is no obligation to do this. It is just a fun way to get to know fellow Hivers (or is it Hiveans?). In any case, if you choose to do it, enjoy it!