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There used to be a time when I thought that if I were posed a problem and were given some writing materials, it would take me less than an hour to at least gain ground in positing a solution.
In spite of everything an ever-dwindling part of me still feels this way.
I used to believe that every problem was just waiting for an answer.
Perhaps I still do.
And yet here I am wallowing and ever-dying.
Perhaps I should start to regard myself as a problem that needs solving?
Might this bring me a step closer to getting back on track?
It might - but this time is different.
I have been through periods of deep dissatisfaction with both myself and this World I endure.
What is different is that before I took steps through that hopelessness to get to a less hopeless place.
This time for at least three months I have made no headway. All I see is a barren landscape of more hopelessness.
I have fallen to video-game addiction.
Sadly, I seek to justify my very existence through a modicum of success within something that I know to be objectively intangible. To be good and respected within a fake environment. And yet neither of those are true. Any moment I feel that I might be making a breakthrough - I get knocked right down into the 'scrub-zone' - and wail, mostly internally but not always so. I guess there is only so much anguish that a person can hold within before some seeps out. Or maybe its entitlement. I don't know...
Yes I'm "fine". Its just another day in my miserable life. Its like drowning in a blend of 1 part honey, 3 parts cheap chilli powder and 6 parts plaster of Paris - or something like that...
And the video game addiction was the symptom - not the cause. It certainly marked a tipping point - but I was simply functional before - also starved for a modicum of approval.
...
Others have success.
Others have happiness.
The opposite has been not only true of me - but seems to be seared into my very DNA.
And, worse, I feel entitlement creeping in - the bitterness of a life squandered creeping into my personality. I have been tempted to lash out and that disturbs me. Entitlement can be such a toxic and ugly thing.
Writing this feels like an oozing wound. It feels ugly - a representation of what I've become - and in a sense there is nothing but shadows. Shadows all around - and mounting anger, primarily but not exclusively at myself.
I'll be clear. I've benefited from Qurator when I was inclined to create content. My main comment was uninformed surprise - as well as a disagreement with the tone of the message.
Imagine if a charity started going around plastering papers on peoples houses thanking them for living and that that the charity looks forward to their first donation. ;c) This is different but the peer pressure aspect remains the same.
I really am not trying to stir trouble and I can assure you that I doubt that I'll benefit much from Qurator in the coming weeks unless I truly am making a recovery.
However, if I may suggest it, since QT0 is causing such a stir - might I make the following suggestions:
1 - Once in a very blue moon - send 0.001SBD to some of the QT0 users who have posted at least once in the previous period. Have that message read 'Qurator remembers you and remains committed to helping you thrive! Don't forget that getting more rewards on your posts is easy! Check our latest daily qurator post for more information'
2 - Include a small paragraph near the beginning of every Daily Qurator post post linking to an informative post about how to get into tiers - and have that post or a linked post get into the pros and cons and hows of the different ways of contributing to Qurator.
3 - Consider providing a little room for persons (like myself) who may contribute over the long term but may not post in that same period.
Such could take various forms - but perhaps each tier provides 'Qurator points'.
You have set a price on how much a tier is worth. But the tricky part is evaluating votes against such. Such involves the most administrative costs.
One possibility here is to release monthly reports to all members of the total worth of their up-votes of Qurator (there are tools that do this - and I get the impression that the Qurator devs have the means to query the Steem blockchain).
Such reports could take various forms - and it is 'also' possible to enhance the previous suggestion by making such be personal in the form of a transfer note (You could make the frequency of such reports depend on tiers with the rarest at QT0 being once every 3 months - if that user is active - and maybe once a year if not (in case they return).
Qurator Points:
The simplest way to go about such is to say that Qurator Points translate to a post vote. The more Qurator Points a person has accumulated the heavier the vote - and the heavier the vote the more the drain on the Qurator Points total.
So - a person could theoretically upvote for 3 months and slowly gain Qurator Points (and other means such as delegation and Steem payments also involve a fixed Qurator Points increase for the period - hence the whole equivalency thing) without posting anything - and then when they 'do' post - they gain a healthy upvote from Qurator even if they didn't upvote Qurator that week.
Such is a proposed rebalance (and the tweeking and specifics need to be thought through). Do with such, what you will.