Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to make posts on the weekly topics provided by the Hive Learners community. It has been quite an exciting journey, and I have grown as a writer and individual along the line. It has been a year since the first topic, and to celebrate, I put together five of my favorite entries, talking about the "why" behind them.
When I started on the block chain last year, I wasn't exactly sure what I would be doing. I wasn't sure about what "kind of posts" that I would be writing. And like most of any other newbie, I was going around searching for ideas in communities. In my search, I found one post on a topic by a user about "their favourite games as a child." A big wave of nostalgia swept heavily over me and I jumped in without any hesitation. That was the spark the lit the fire, and I haven't looked back since then.
This week again, we have another set of topics. And this post is about the first one; Top Five of the Year. It does sound pretty easy when you look at how simple it is until one takes the time to look at the gazillion posts they have made in a single community over the past year. With about 60 entries in this communtity, and looking over them, I knew that I was kidding myself when I first thought it was a piece of a cake. By the way, one can find all their posts in the Hive Learners community by using this link —> @username/hive-153850 —> by replacing username in the link with their username. And now, without further ado, let the countdown begin!
Fifth Place: My Cringey Perspective On Traveling
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Traveling and I are like 5 and 600. We are so far apart, meaning I don't like to get out of my comfortable space. It is not that I am introverted, but the thought of having to get into a vehicle and then journey through the perfect roads of Nigeria that are without potholes is exhausting enough.
However, the topic was about choosing between traveling alone in a private vehicle and traveling in a commercial one with other people. And, because, really, travel is unavoidable in these times—when there isn't a pandemic—I took the subject to my kitchen to carefully dissect it and churn out my cringey perspective on travel. In the post, I also talked about how I got slapped in the face by a thug, another cringeworthy story. Click here to find the full article.
Fourth Place: Money as an Enablement in Relationships
Ahah! The age-old argument about whether money can buy love never gets old. The topic in the community did stir up interesting conversations.
There are categorically two parties in this argument when it starts: the party that is for the notion that money can buy love, and the party that stands with the contrary, that money cannot buy love. I am afraid to tell you that I belong to the former. Before you stone me with the slippers in your hands already, please chill.
In the post, I argue that money cannot literally buy love, but it can make loving easier. You know the old saying, "Love is sweet, but sweeter with money." I talked about things like how money makes one attractive and how one can be more generous with money, which people like. Click here to find the full article.
Third Place: How I Spent $40 to Fix a $66 Cake
If you have ever ordered something from an online vendor and didn't get anything like what you ordered, then you can relate 100 percent to the Hive Learners topic, The Customer is Always Right.
We needed to make my mother's 50th birthday really special, and so we thought of getting an elaborate cake to commemorate it. We found this cake vendor through a friend of a friend who got a friend's recommendation. Yes, that's how the chain is. And then the cake she made was just not "it," and so we had to spend more to make it better.
It was a hilarious and memorable experience for us, and it fitted into my definition of the mantra "The Customer is Always Right"—customer satisfaction is what a business will thrive on, whatever kind it may be—because we will never patronize her ever again in this lifetime. Click here to find the full article.
Second Place: I Almost Lost the Love of My Life
I almost lost someone very dear to me, the love of my life, and it was a really traumatizing experience. It taught me valuable lessons that I will not forget until tomorrow. The topic "Fear" was the perfect avenue for me to express the pain and mental stress I went through.
However, my audience, upon reading this article, had their prepared sympathy vanish when what they found was unexpected. According to one, they were "weak" when they made the discovery. My painful experience turned out to be an anecdote. Click here to find the full article.
First Place: Wahala for Femi || Living With a Stereotypical Name
Speaking of anecdotes, if you have a stereotypical name, then you can relate to how people make assumptions about you based on your name. I have one, and I still have not rested since my christening day because of it.
In this post, my number one favorite, I shared about how people initially assume that I am the worst type of playboy and also a heartbreaker because there is a large percentage of people bearing the name "Femi" who are truly guilty of it. I, on the other hand, cannot even hurt a fly. Click here to find the full article.
Well, there we have it—my top posts of the year! I so much enjoyed putting this post together, as it took me down memory lane and also helped me reflect on how much I have grown just by being in this community. The community has helped me become more adventurous with my thoughts and more expressive in journaling them.
The community encourages engagement, and that's another thing I love about it. It is how I have made the many friends I have on Hive now, and our friendship has now transcended into other beautiful things.
It would be an utter injustice to conclude this post without the acknowledgement of the incredible leaders of the community and their steadfast input in keeping the community thriving and bubbling as always. Many accolades to them. Somebody should give each of them a bottle of beer!
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