Hive community spotlight #11: Interview with @brisby

It's another beautiful Sunday. It is always my happy day because the weekdays and even till Saturdays I always get exhausted for doing a lot of things. But I call Sunday a refreshing day, so I'm happy this is another beautiful Sunday!

So with this, I'm excited to welcome y'all to our stage, the 11th edition of the hive community spotlight! And I am super excited to tell you who is on stage...@brisby.
Brisby is one of the best users I've encountered on hive. I really love her enthusiasm, it is contagious , and interviewing her was among the best things that happened to me on hive hehe.

Oh let me keep the talk short and let's move straight to the interview section.
I assure you this is going to be the best interview you'll read so far hehehe....

Meet Brisby: a self-proclaimed "nut" with a penchant for stumbling upon unexpected adventures. From a hesitant beginning to becoming an integral part of multiple thriving communities

Stay tuned!

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you first got involved with Hive?

Brisby: I'm a nut who hopes to figure out how to fit 36 hours into a day.

My friend Omra-Sky told me about the prior chain (before the hardforking over to Hive) and recommended I give it a go since I enjoy writing.

Joining would give me the opportunity to carry on annoying my friend with random questions and comments relating to absolutely nothing relevant in life outside of work. So, though I rarely participate in social media outside of liking memes or donating to a cause, I dove in.

Which meant that I had to learn what the heck a blockchain was. Which led to figuring out crypto and what stipulations my freaking state had in place to be able to do anything with it. Which led to hours of watching fainting goat videos.

It took me about two months to squirrel back around to actually creating an account and putting up a post.

What motivated you to become a member of the Hive community, and what keeps you engaged with the platform?

Brisby: Does random wandering and an inclination to trip and fall into things count as motivation?

Mariannewest’s Freewriting prompts snagged my attention and were fun to do (though I rarely stuck to the ‘five minute’ guideline). After a few months, I’d been lucky enough to make some amazing friends who were legitimate friends, not just acquaintances with similar interests and goals.

It takes me a long time to warm up to people. A LONG time. Star Wars movies were written, filmed, released and torn apart by critics before I would feel comfortable exchanging more than standard pleasantries and the like. But there I was, chatting regularly with others and seeking them out instead of my standard joy in not ‘peopleing’’. I place all the blame on Whatisnew, Snook, Simgirl, Deirdyweirdy, F3nix, and Marcoriccardi for being too damn likable.

That led to helping the Freewrite House with delivering prompts for a time. Then a few friends from that group created another community, Bananafish, and invited me to participate. Again, I met a few more people who deserved to be referred to with the best ‘F’ word, ‘friend’. My paw points to Agmoore and Calluna for being too charming to resist.

A year and half down the line from there, another community that I’d heard about, The Alliance, held a discord party for New Year’s. I scurried in so that I could ring in another year with the wondertastical Kittygirl, and ended up with MORE actual friends.
No, there was not any kool-aid. Eventually though, there WERE cookies.

The Alliance’s founder and leader, Enginewitty, happened to be traveling up near me soon after and swung by to meet me (and because I offered up chocolate-chip cookies).

I flat out told him that he wouldn’t want to have me as a member of his community since I was pretty sporadic with my blogging and had no intention of changing anytime soon. He countered my statement by welcoming me into the Fam. (Which was done while I was driving him out to see some old barns and by some sort of divine intervention, we didn’t crash.)

From there, the sweeteriffic Saffisara and I hit it off and marathoned conversations that unearthed the fact that somehow, though not related to each other in any way, we’re sisters. Naughty and bonkers siblings through and through and we get to have even more fun together with running the Alliance and Family Tree Splinterlands Guilds.

While getting to know others in The Alliance, I met the tireless Ren and Brittandjosie, who had begun an initiative, Hey Have Ya Met, to help newcomers to the platform learn the ropes and have an introduction to the community. For a short time, I lent my assistance with greeting newbies and directing them to the best places to find answers to their questions.

Life threw a few spanners into the fray that ate into my freetime, which had me take a pretty huge step back from engaging on the level that I used to. Though, thanks to all of the friends and family that I’ve found here, I’ll never fully stop.

You're known for your positive energy and engaging personality on Hive. How do you maintain that positivity, especially during challenging times?

Brisby: Okay, who told? 🤣 I don’t feel that I’m particularly positive. I have a love of snark too ingrained into my bones for the word ‘positive’ to fit.

I constantly remind myself that there is absolutely nothing more that can be done outside of doing the best that I can when challenges rear their fugly heads. Results have varied. I’ve failed, spectacularly, many times and probably will again next week.

Beating myself up over those failures has never solved a thing. Ever. It’s done nothing but waste my time that could have been spent baking. Or taking a bath. Or listening to George Carlin and laughing until I snort louder than a pig. Or eating what I baked after taking a bath while watching a few videos of fainting goats before I settle in for a George Carlin marathon.

Challenging times will pass and there aren’t any rules anywhere saying that we can’t take or make what happiness we can in any situation.

What are some of your favorite topics to write about or engage with on Hive?

Brisby: Pretty much anything that isn’t about crypto. Except for when I come across a crypto focused post that has some actual personality and thoughtful insight thrown in.

Are there any particular Hive community initiatives or projects that you're passionate about?

Brisby: Much love to The Alliance, of course. It ought to be illegal for so many great people who will BE THERE with a friendly ear and a caring heart to be in one place. The Freewrite Community, The Terminal and their Hey Have Ya Met initiative are also absolutely invaluable.

Oh, and for those that have an appreciation for crypto and token whatnots, Enginewitty’s PIMP (Paper in My Pocket) is fun, though I tend to be chained to my desk during the Wednesday Discord so I miss out.

And definitely NISM, which an Augmented Reality game created by Enginewitty. Full of lore and interesting organisms to interact with, this game is one that I’m getting really excited to try out after getting a peek at the artwork and features.

Can you share a memorable moment or achievement you've experienced during your time on Hive?

Brisby: The BEST fun was always in the comments. Time and again, one reply to a friend's post led to a days long chain of people chiming in with silly remarks, hilarious memes and gifs, and sometimes full on stories solely for the JOY of making each other laugh.

What advice would you give to newcomers joining Hive, based on your own experiences and journey?

Brisby: Give and have respect. Appreciate the fact that people on Hive come from all walks of life, all over the world, and with different perspectives than you. What feels obvious to you is not so for someone else.

Oh, and please don’t write something similar to, “I like your post, my friend. Follow me and upvote me back, my friend.” Write about SOMETHING in the post you liked. Or something you didn’t like. Hell, tell me you think grass is stupid. Anything is better than a hollow comment that is copied and pasted as many times as someone can.

Finally, is there anyone else you suggest should be interviewed for our Hive community spotlight?

Brisby: Jamerussell is an incredible man with a great sense of humor who has assisted so many people over the years.

Thank you so much, @brisby for giving me your time and for allowing me to Interview you! You have a very kind heart and you have shared very great tips! It was nice seeing all the people that were part of your journey on hive. Keep being you!🌺

I thank @saffisara for this suggestion, @thekittygirl for her huge help in finding the interviewee.
I noticed that everyone in @thealliance family have the same heart, they are such wonderful people and I've experienced it first hand hehe...Thank you @enginewitty for what you're doing! 🤗