This post marks the 1000th post I've made since joining January 5th of this year. The post part can be misleading however as the system counts comments as posts too. Although to be fair, my comments at times can be quite lengthy and are longer than many others posts.

For my own edification I thought I would make a breakdown of several of the numbers before waxing philosophically to close out. So here are the numbers I've collected.

Out of 1000 posts there are:

• 83 actual posts.

• 917 comments.

Based on my spreadsheet I keep for taxes my holdings are accounted for in the following:

My total stake: 154,808.751 BP

I bought 91,496.691 of that stake. So over the course of 1000 posts coupled with voting rewards and vest increases to stop it from eroding from inflation I've earned 63,312.06 Blurt.

That' quite a phenomenal amount of earning over the course of just under 8 months. That would average out to 7914 Blurt per month in earnings.

Obviously there are many variables that affect what one earns such as

• Investment of money

• Connections built with others

• Quality of interaction

to name some of the more important variables.

But just the same, it shows just what can be possible. Many earn less, several earn more.

I thank all of the fine people I've built connections with since joining here. My success has manifested due to their kindness and fellowship.

A few observations now as I wax philosophical.

I notice there are many here who whether knowingly or not only vote for me if I voted for their latest post. While it's a fact we are all to do as we wish with our stake, I believe such a view is shortsighted. It seems to me that it reveals a misunderstanding of the full scope of what Blurt represents.

It reveals that the mentality of many comes from the mindset of an author seeking publishing rewards with little focus on the consumer side of the equation. Which is a faulty reasoning for several reasons.

1- If we wish Blurt to be a place where we enjoy the publications we enjoy, where people who perform great acts on the lives of their neighbors etc we will support them regardless of whether they return such gestures directly. A law of nature is what one supports and nurtures, one will see grow. So from a consumer view, it just makes sense to support those who may not reciprocate so we can see Blurt grow into what we wish to see.

2- Based on the economic structure here, one watches their own stake grow when we support another regardless of if they reciprocate or not. It's from curation rewards.

This next aspect is probably one the majority misses. It has to do with watching the larger picture with yourself outside of the immediate circle.

3- Chances are great that if you enjoy author A, so do author/curators B & C. Now lets suppose you upvote author A regularly, but they rarely upvote you. But you enjoy their work, or hold them in such esteem you continue voting them anyways. True curation that places direct remuneration as the focus for author A without expectation of a return gesture.

Now lets suppose that author A does enjoy the work of authors B & C (they just aren't into what you write about, and that's ok). There's a likely chance that authors B & C WILL enjoy what you write about and perhaps upvote you sometimes to maybe a lot of times.

So while you may not be seeing directly a quid pro quo from author A, in a roundabout way your unreciprocated support will still find its way to you. Because accounts B & C will grow from the support of A, and they in turn will grow theoretically in their support for you as in the example above.

Of course, it also makes sense to support those you enjoy even if NONE of the others who directly support them ever find your sharing here compelling. Because as I mentioned, what we fund and cultivate grows.

It's a shame really that so many in these social vote systems forget its ok to be a consumer and settle for curation rewards, a growth that in itself sets this ahead of every other social platform.

There are a few people I support regularly here, who rarely vote for me. I enjoy their writings, or I enjoy their actions as a person so much it is an honor to support them, and all of the above i just mentioned also comes into play without their reciprocation. How AWESOME is that?

I wish to share one last part from my 1000 posts here. It is a breakdown of my votes in my almost 8 months here, using an outgoign vote calculator that Michaelangelo made for us.

https://steem.uber.space/blurt/outgoing-votes/?Acc=practicalthought&Anzahl=2851

According to the tool, I've cast 2851 votes. 172 different authors have received a vote from me. My top 15 based on something called an r% is:

1- rycharde

2- offgridlife

3- freakeao

4- elkezaksek

5- cryptopie

6- vickyguevara

7- blessed-girl

8- logiczombie

9- practicalthought

10- jacobgadikian

11- double-u

12- michelangelo3

13- andy4475

14- angelica7

15- looking

16- mineopoly

17- singa

18- steemibu351

19- funtraveller

20- yehey

That list surprises me a little. It would look different for sure if it was structured by amount of votes instead of %.

However just the same, I can see where this could get have been more skewed as 3 in my top 10 have stopped posting for the most part. And yes, I miss their presence here.

I'm going to wrap this up now. It's been a great first 1000 posts, and I look forward to the second 1000 posts holding a lot more awesome than the first. Here is a great song to wrap up to, called

Green Grass and High Tides by the Outlaws. The lyrics reminds me of Blurts potential, so will add them here so you can read along as the song plays.

In a place you only dream of
Where your soul is always free
Silver stages, golden curtains
Filled my head, plain as can be
As a rainbow grew around the sun
All my stars of love who died
Came from somewhere beyond the scene you see
These lovely people played just for me
Now if I let you see this place
Where stories all ring true
Will you let me past your face
To see what's really you
It's not for me I ask these questions
As though I were a king
For you have to love, believe and feel
Before the burst of tambourines take you there
Green grass and high tides forever
Castles of stone souls and glory
Lost faces say we adore you
As kings and queens bow and play for you
Those who don't believe me
Find your souls and set them free
Those who do, believe and love
This time will be your key
Time and time again I've thanked them
For a piece of mind
They helped me find myself
Amongst the music and the rhyme
That enchants you there
Green grass and high tides forever
Castles of stone souls and glory
Lost faces say we adore you
As kings and queens bow and play for you
Yeah, they play just for you