What exactly are you trying to accomplish here?

Yesterday, I posted about my internet connection failing and that I would go to work today to deliver a client training, to make sure the connection was stable. Funnily, after spending the day prepping and then starting the evening delivery due to time zone differences, their VPN failed and we couldn't hold the session - so now, after already organizing to take the day off tomorrow to recoup some hours, instead I will attempt to deliver the training again.

Not the end of the world, but annoying, because I also wrote about the challenges of schedules being shifted and a set of contractors that we weren't expecting for two weeks called today and said, we will be there in 20 minutes. Well, the work actually will now start tomorrow, but that means that after I finally got home from work, I had to completely clear about 50 metres of thick and diversified hedge, which took me four hours and it still isn't done, so will have to continue on tomorrow (that was an organized day off) before I deliver.

This is my life and probably isn't interesting to you - but it is interesting to me - because this is my life. However, while I know that this isn't necessarily interesting, I try to make it so.

What people often don't consider is that regardless of topic, we can be interested in all kinds of things and the more we invest ourselves into the story, the more interesting it becomes. Because of this, we can find values in our interest that won't exist if we are disinterested.

For example, the picture above was taken by my neighbor from on top of his roof and looks across to the nearby lake, which you can see in the background. The house in the center of the picture belongs to my friends, the house on the left edge has been poorly maintained and will likely be bulldozed and on the right edge, you can look into my bedroom window - well, it will be my bedroom window 60 years after this picture was taken, just as my neighbor was completing his own house next door with his wife, the house they still live in today.

This is pretty cool to see for me at least, but perhaps it is kind of interesting for you also - even though not in the same way as it is for me. Maybe it makes you think of your own house's history, perhaps where you grew up or maybe where you would spend your summers - but it likely brings something to mind and what comes to your mind, is interesting to you.

You make a post interesting or not based upon how you think about it. Some people find interesting things everywhere, some people don't. Whether it is down to lack of openness, imagination, curiosity or some other factor, it doesn't really matter - our interest or boredom is born from ourselves, not in the subjects we consume.

Having said that, I do have a goal each day with what I deliver and that is to deliver what is interesting to me in a way that it will be at least somewhat interesting to you. The reason is that while not pandering to the audience, I think it is pretty cool to be able to deliver what is interesting to me in a way that is interesting to you - and even though you might not be directly interested in the topic, the way it is delivered provides something of value to you to the point that perhaps tomorrow, you will stop by and have another read of something you aren't interested in, because, you find it interesting.

I know, that kind of doesn't make sense. However, what I have found over the years and through the thousands of posts I have created and the tens of thousands of comments I have received and replied to, is that people are largely "topic agnostic" when it comes to what they find interesting, although the topics they are knowledgeable or invested into in some way, such as Hive content, will see greater engagement. But in general, if people are open to discussion, they will comment on any topic they find interesting, which could be based on many things, but also affected by personal relationships, as creating relationships is a type of social investment and builds social capital.

As said, I have a goal each day to develop, create and deliver something interesting to the community - I also look to create "the best post" of the day and even though this isn't actually the objective goal, I want to be able to submit at least one thing a day that people feel they got something out of, that the time spent reading and commenting was worth it to them in some way. I don't always hit my marks, but as a content creator, I want to be on your priority list of "must reads" each day - after all, I am authoring these for your benefit as well as mine.

And again, this is something that I hope people really consider as a fantastically cool part of Hive, is that we are all able to do something that benefits us, by doing something that benefits the community too - and for those who are either lucky or curious enough, it is possible to make it not only valuable, but also interesting for everyone concerned.

What is often the issue in this equation is again us, because often we want to do what is interesting for us, but don't think much about how we deliver that to the audience in a way that is interesting for them. This isn't about compromise, it is about creativity - and if you are actually serious about presenting your interests to an audience and bringing value, you will find ways to make it interesting for the audience. It might not be the way you would want it delivered yourself, but you are already indulging in the subject you have chosen, so be inclusive in the value generation and consider your audience too.

Now, while this might be a completely uninteresting post for you, someone else might take a few lines from here and consider them in relation to what is interesting to them - it could be that they will onboard some ideas and approach their own posts differently or, it could be that they start rummaging through draws to find their own old photos from the past to reconnect with - it doesn't really matter - but somewhere in these 1300 words, most people with some kind of imagination will find something interesting enough to think upon and run with.

The main goal of my posts each day is not only to make my interests somehow interesting for you, or to add value to your life - but when you walk away and go on about your day, you are just a fraction better off, a little stronger, faster and more able to cope with your world. I do this each day because I believe that if we can each continually improve just a little bit, we can improve a lot over time and a lot of people improving makes for a community that can solve large issues together.

The landscape has changed a great deal in the 60 years since the photo above was taken, but one thing has remained unchanged - the area is full of people doing their best in the world they have as the people they are, trying to make ends meet, raise decent children and live a life that interests them. There will be varied outcomes house to house, but everyone is making an attempt.

This wasn't likely the best post of the day on Hive, or maybe not even my best post of the day - but tomorrow I will try again. There is always tomorrow, but we have to do it today.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]