The highlight is you

Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.

- Marcus Tullius Cicero -

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I didn't believe for a moment it would hold my interest for very long; my dislike of social media was strong and I had no reason to think that this blockchain, whatever that was, would be any more engaging. However, after six months of holding it at arms-length I finally embraced it: June 13 2017. I wrote my posts, read and commented upon other people's and yes, it happened; I began to enjoy myself. _{im src}

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I always look back over the year around late December and take stock. It helps round it out, tick off achievements and to get positioned for the next to come. This is a real-life thing and I've applied it to Hive also - I love history and I feel there's much to be learned by evaluating my own before setting goals and plans to move forward in real life and hive.

This isn't a post in which I'm going to talk about Hive-goals although I'll admit to having the goal of a reputation score of 80 by the end of this year - I'm at 79.90 currently so I may miss the mark unfortunately. It's ok, I'll deal with it.

No, this is a post about my reflections back upon 2021 on Hive and what I feel is the main highlight of the year for me. I was asked harangued into this post by @snook but in truth I'm happy to highlight my, umm...Highlight because it means a great deal to me.

You

My highlight for 2021 is the amazing relationships I have found, or who have found me, over the year.

This is not to say the relationships I have made over the last four years are not also valuable, they are, it's just that a few I made this year have come to mean a great deal, and come at the right time.

You know, someone drops into a post with a comment that reaches in and takes hold, captivates or compels. Have you had that happen? Or a post sticks its leg out at the last moment as I'm going by and trips me over. After the tumble into the words written there, and my own comment left for the author, sometimes something occurs, a chemical reaction or some magic interwebs wizardry and: Connected.

I'm usually perceptive when it comes to people although also struggle to find relevance in many of them - It's (possibly) not a reflection of those individuals, just a by-product of my past I suppose.

I am introverted, meaning I don't need many people around me to feel engaged; I can find enjoyment in solitude. However no man is an island and as such I enjoy a little social interaction and this year I've run into a few that are so captivating that I'd have an almost mesmeric experience when interacting, reading their posts or commenting backwards and forwards.

Have you ever watched a fire until it burns so low that it becomes just a few glowing embers within a pile of cooling ash? I do a lot of camping and spend a lot of time in the wilderness so I've done so - usually whilst gazing overhead at the canopy of hundreds of thousands of stars. It's a beautiful moment. However when a person's inner-flame burns low it's not so beautiful, especially for the person whose flame has become an ember.

But the beauty of humanity is that there's many of us and sometimes a connection happens resulting in the brightening of a low-burning or extinguished soul. The connection causes a flame to burst into being and that human shines once more - Isn't it wondrous that there's people out there who can rekindle the inner-spirit of another? I think it is.

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So, that's my hive highlight for 2021 - My highlight is you and if you are the you, you'll know you're the you.