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Yesterday I spent several hours anticipating the State Of Steem show hosted by @pennsif. We had several errands to run which would take most of the day, but at 3 pm our time, I was tuned in. I chauffeured my family around with my ear buds in, while taking it all in. Stacie D, @freedomtowrite, would give me directions to the next place and off we went. Check out [State Of Steem](https://steemit.com/steem/@pennsif/sosdailynewsnewsaboutthestateofsteem17january2019-61p0ysi38d)


I listened for a long time while @ned broke down the newest direction for steemit.com. I took in all of the ideas that were being passed around, both verbally and text when I could. It was nice to hear that the direction sounds a bit more solid.

Steemit.com is a wonderful idea with great opportunity. It is understandable that it needs to be constantly refined. The concept of securing revenue is one that is long over due.

There are many things that I heard that I also didn't understand. Perhaps it was the context in which a word was used, or developer lingo. I did however catch the emphasis on communities.

When I talk with others about the phrase communities, I sometimes get back different views. Some view it as a an idea, some a Dapp, some a group, and others say a group of groups.

When there are so many different views, we have to trust our guts. We have to move in a way that makes sense to us. We have to apply ourselves in a direction the feels correct. So no matter what all I may hear, I know what I believe.

The definition of community

> 1.   a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

I think this is a great definition. Having a particular characteristic in common is a very broad stroke. By this meaning, we are all a community because we might share the Steem blockchain.  

Another definition would be

> 2.  a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.

I like this one alot. I think it may be the word fellowship that stands out to me. I picture people coming together and laughing, sharing there lives, creating a beautiful reality.

Early this past summer I had a wonderful phone call with @steemcafe while he was visiting Russia. We talked for a couple of hours and an idea was born. The beginning of a community idea. Global Homestead Collective. I love homesteading.

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My beautiful wife and I call ourselves homesteaders. We believe in all manner of self reliance ,and skill building. We have taken back a mountain top and turned it into a thriving homestead, and now it is owned by an aspiring homesteader.

We have raised, cared for, and loved many animals. We have put in the back breaking, sweat dripping hours into a giant deep mulched garden. We have even built our own home with our own hands.

If there was ever a community that I identify with and love, it is the homesteading community. There is no clear guidelines to define homesteader, so I often use the term "self reliant individual". I see this as anyone that creates something with their own hands/skills for themselves or others.

The umbrella is large and the skills are many. It could be anything from fencing, cooking, sewing, hunting, permaculture, building , crafting etc. The skills are as unique as the individual executing it.

***

Steem is where we are based. I personally am on many social platforms. I want to reach as many people as possible, but Steem is the foundation.

Global Homestead Collective has a simple vision. To Unite, Educate, and Encourage self reliant individuals. We hope to Unite like minded people around the world in as many ways as we can. Through post sharing and comments, text chatting in discord, or even video interviews.

We hope to Educate through quality content and interactions. Promoting quality content within the platform that could benefit others. Another aspect of educating is connecting people directly. Sharing knowledge and skills one on one.

Encouraging comes through me like breathing. There are so many amazing people and amazing opportunities, everyone needs to hear about it. We hope to encourage others through our actions and our continued support.

As the idea of communities grows, so do the definitions. For me there is only one homesteading community. There may be many tribes, but one vision. 

As the community evolves, we grow with it. Global Homestead Collective has grown as a hub, or aggregate bringing many together to form a whole. While there may be isolated niches, we hope to bring them all together.
***

When I think about the State Of The Community...I think it is strong. We are doing our part to bring people together. To bring new users to the blockchain. To connect people with the niche they are looking for. To provide opportunities for people to get involved.

Currently GHSC is in the process of creating a self reliance based website on the Steem blockchain. A place to gather information, people, and ideas. To provide others an opportunity to create, share, and earn from their ideas.

We look forward to completing this project and opening an avenue for self reliant content. No more sorting through the various postd about random topics, but all tags and topics are focused toward the homesteading/ self reliant community.

Currently, GHSC is using it's delegated Steem Power to give back. Through promoting posts 100%, upvoting quality self reliant content. We gladly accept delegations to @ghscollective for community support.

Increased Steem Power has also opened the window for vote selling through Smartsteem.com. This provides a continued stream of return as well.

Through vote selling and post payouts, the rewards continue to increase. We give 75% of all rewards directly to the community. Either through direct transfer, or promoting a member's post using Smartsteem. 

While upvoting may spread the love all over, we are hoping to have a major impact. If we freely get, and then freely give, perhaps it will continue to trickle into the community.

We have seen several uses for these transfers. Some have powered up. Some have given it to others to power up. Some have even used it to support others through peer to peer purchasing via homesteaderscoop.com. When the price of steem rises, these transfers may turn into solar panels, generators, and even food. The possibilities are endless.

@sagescrub has designed a beautiful marketplace for homesteaders to sell their goods directly from their property. There are several options including Steem, SBD, and now Paypal.

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We had a great talk the other day, @sagescrub and I, about the homesteading community. He is where the idea of tribes came from. I was explaining that I love people and making the connections with everyone. I described the connections as a neural net. Connections that are made in the brain to transfer energy quicker. He said yes, like tribal connections. There are many more tribes than I have talked about here, and I look forward to connecting with them all. If you are involved in some sort of eco friendly self reliant type community please connect with me through the comments or on discord!
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One thing that life has taught me is to make something grow you can't keep tearing it apart. I am determined to see the success of the homesteading community in the modern era. While the world is going faster and faster, there are still those that like to slow down and do for themselves. With the continued development of the blockchain technology, we can bring our worlds together. 
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To continue to grow my skill set, Stacie D and I will be settling into a small farm house in Michigan next week. There is a family there with a small farm, and they need a farm hand. While I am able to bring some skills to the table, I am excited about learning new ones. The opportunity for our family to help another family is what it is all about.

Helping, loving, connecting.

Be well.

~The Yeti

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