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It's time for the best magazine on Steemit! This week the @ecotrain continue to inspire and illuminate great ideas and topics. What wisdom we have both individually and collectively.. it simply blows me away! This weeks topics include: natural immunity, homesteading, nature, gratitude, anarchy, vegan recipes, health, gardening, healing, travel and more!

STAR POST OF THE WEEK

@stillgideon

RETURN .. Memories of Birya

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I grew up on stories of Israel. Of heroic battles fought and won against impossible odds.. of tiny, ill equipped ragtag armies of brave, idealistic young fighters claiming massive victories against huge armies of invading soldiers with much greater numbers and much more sophisticated and heavy weaponry.

I heard all about the first pioneering kibbutzniks.. the diggers and dreamers who left the cold and oppressive lands of Eastern Europe and Russia to build a new vision of small co-operative communities in which everything was shared equally.. where there was no money, no possessions, even (in some cases) no religion too (though they all happened to be Jewish)..In a barren and sunny land, they drained the swamps around the Sea of Galilee (many died of Malaria), lived in tents while planting the first crops which they would share among themselves, completely turning their backs on the corrupt and materialistic ways of modern society and starting the world anew in a new land of hope and promise. Where there were deserts, they made them bloom, I knew the story well.. it was my people's story...

@artemislives

Boost my libido AND my immune system? The Nigerian miracle medicine plant that grows like a weed in Thailand

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Bitter-Sweet is the hallmark of this amazing medicine plant. Vernonia amygdalina. And the "sweet" part is not only the serious libido boost it gives for both women and men. :) It's known around the world simply as Bitter Leaf. I had carefully cultivated cuttings of my herbal discovery to take to our new place, only to discover it already thriving in situ here in Mae Rim, Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.

Our old Thai landlady knew that it was a powerful medicine plant and pointed it out to me on one of our many fruit-discussion-walks through the garden her parents planted about 100 years ago. But she did not know it originates in Nigeria.

@senorcoconut

Airing out my Dirty Laundry... I've been a bad Steemian!!!

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Today I want to show you my homemade clothes line set up.

It all started when I helped a friend weld a little frame for a window air conditioner he was putting into a motorhome, and took a run to the dump to get rid of a bunch of junk he'd been collecting.

I knew I would be there a while so I brought my dirty laundry and four empty 5 gallon jugs (they have super delicious spring water!). We worked on and off, and I put my clothes in the washer (we had quite a bit, it took two giant loads). I don't really like using dryers and it was being used by soneone else else anyway.

Like a Kid in a Candy Store: A Treasure Story from the Dump

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We recently moved from the concrete jungle to the woods to live a life of freedom in a community setting homestead. We like permaculture, upcycling, art, music, traveling, things that make you feel good and creating a healthy environment for our great grand children and their kids.

Before moving onto our property I had been asked the question of how we had been preparing for this new lifestyle. In answer to that question, I mentioned something I had learned, a new concept (to me) called the 8 Forms of Capital.

@trucklife-family

I Am So Grateful To Be Wild

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Gratitude

It is so important to take the time to show and express your gratitude for all that you have in your life. To awake each day and be aware of what we have , to acknowledge everything that we have been through and done to get us to where we are today. To be aware of how lucky we are to have such an amazing home, to live on this earth that is so abundant. I personally have so much to be grateful for.

Anytime I hold or lead women circles, I like to begin with a circle of gratitude. Because being able to hear what others have to be grateful for is a thing of magic. It brings us together and It is such a powerful force that is send out into the world.

My Life As A Book-100 Days of Poetry Challenge: Day One Hundred (yes It is The end or only the beginning)

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My Life As A Book'

It is dark outside,
and I allow that darkness to creep in,
I sit on my childhood bed,
I feel the recognition begin,
I could lose myself inside my head.

If I close my eyes, I could return
I could open myself up
I could teach myself, I could re learn
I could strip back all of these protective layers
I could expose myself to that which caused me such pain
but my instinct tells me to hold back
to breathe deep and allow the past to rest, to restrain
from starting a new game,
is it from shame,
that I feel this way,
Why is it that I want to blame,
my indecisive mind, from sharing all,
so that I can be seen as being tame.

@riverflows

🌳 The Elder: 🌿A Reminder to Respect Earth's Bounty and a Winter Solstice Musing 💚

As we hit midwinter here, the northern folk enjoy midsummer. Whilst I might long for the long daylight hours and sun on my face, I’m also relishing the value of darkness and hibernation time, a turning inwards and a chance to reflect. The three elder trees on the edges of my garden are bare of leaves, but are still so potent in their presence, and their medicine carries me through the winter months. I am thinking of them alot as I approach midwinter.

Elderberry Cold Syrup Boil elderberries in water for 5 – 1 0 minutes. To preserve, add honey 1 part to elderberry juice 10 parts. Add another part of brandy or apple cider vinegar to help preserve and bottle. Take 1 tsp daily to boost the immune system.

🍞 Cold Faces, Warm Bread: Saturday Smiles 🍞

It's a freezing 10 degrees where I live right now, and I've just come in to have a homebrewed stout in front of the fire and sort out the sourdough bread. It's been a fabulous day of pottering - doing seemingly mundane chores but ones that lifted the fog that's been hanging over me all week.

There's something about doing things that just make life better in simple ways, when no one is pressuring you to do them. No demands, just following my whim and fancy as I potter around the house and garden.

The Trees Saved My Heart: 🌿 The Wisdom of Tree Ogham 🌿

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When I first moved to England I literally felt uprooted, as I had been violently torn from my Australian country and its eucaplyt oiled air and trees that sprung majestically from ancient soils in this continent so far removed from Europe.
Whilst being pulled toward ancestral lands in Britain and having wrapped my limbs around my true love, an Englishman of the woods and valleys, I needed a way to connect. Immediately I was drawn to the sacredness of the trees there, having heard of dryads or tree spirits that dwelt there.

When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all - Hermann Hesse

@solarsupermama

Gratitude Challenge Day 5: Writing for Life

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I have been nominated for the Gratitude Challenge by the lovely @trucklife-family, who is one of my most favorite people on all of steemit. If you haven’t checked out her posts, you are absolutely missing out. She is an incredibly heart-filled, loving mama who is all about encouraging us to love and appreciate ourselves and our amazing, beautiful bodies. Yes, I’m going to keep that paragraph for all seven days!

When I was in high school, my favorite teacher of all time told me I was a really good writer. I guess I always figured I was pretty good at writing papers and that kind of thing. I have been off and on about keeping a journal. I have never really felt that I needed to write or actually considered myself a writer. I actually never thought of myself as a particularly creative person. Then along came Steemit.

Gratitude Challenge Day 4: Hello, My Name is Mama

I took a two day break to post on ecoTrain and tribesteemup question. Even one post a day is a stretch. All y’all posting two or three posts a day have somehow petitioned the universe for extra hours in the day. I am absolutely certain of it. ANYWAY! On day one of the challenge I talked about my Glad Heart list that I add to every day with things that make my heart glad. Rarely a day goes by that I don’t mention some general or specific gratitude for one or more of my children or just for the unimaginable privilege of being a mom.

I am so profoundly glad to be a mom. It is without a question the most love-filled and also incredibly challenging part of my life.
I mean, really, though, how could anyone not love these pumpkin butts?!

What's an Anarchist Anyway?

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What does Anarchy mean to you?

I suppose my first exposure to anarchy, if you can call it that, was from friends who were into punk in the late 80's and early 90's. It basically amounted to "stick it to the man." That was about as far as I got. I decided at that juncture in my life that anarchy would never work because, well, people are assholes. I figured chaos would ensue, and I didn't understand anything about what anarchy really was or the deep and rich history of anarchy because, duh, they don't teach that stuff in school.

@vegan.niinja

Maca Pancakes and Maca Ice-Cream!

Today a short post and 2 small recipes! I just had to share this with you guys, as those pancakes are amazing and if someone is looking for simple Sunday pancake inspiration, this is the one to go for!

Here some health benefits of maca that I found searching on the internet:

Note: The whole article with the benefits of maca is from http://www.vegkitchen.com/nutrition/maca-root

Birthday Berry Cheesecake - ART - PHOTOGRAPHY - LIFE -Motherhood

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Hi darlings! Today I want to share some thoughts on being a mom, and also show you the birthday cake I made for my son who turned 2 this week.

My Berry Cheesecake recipe can be found here

I am full of gratitude towards being a mom. My love for my child is reaching new levels each day I watch him grow. He turned 2 years this week. 2 years on this earth, 2 years or love, growing and development. But it all started about 10 months before he was born. I believe that each child chooses his or her parents. We choose the parents that will give us the start we need in our lives on this earth. No matter what we experience, this is what we need in order to develop as soals. We incarnate in a human form to be able to experience feelings, separation, pain, and suffering. We are here to realize who we are.

@celestialcow

Steemit Iron-Chef round 3: Tropical Mini Garlic Flat Breads

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I haven't been eating Garlic over the last few months, onion as well because I had been having an upset tummy after eating them. Whilst I was still buying garlic I had quite a few cloves that sprouted. I took the larger looking pieces and planted them in 1.5L plastic bottles, I wanted to see if I could grow them in in these containers, as I had a lot of plastic bottles and not much space on my balcony. The lack of space stunted their growth a bit but even so after about 6 full months, they were just about ready. I couldn't wait any longer to harvest them, they are a bit young but really fresh flavored and sweet, I'm happy with that because after all these months of not eating garlic, I didn't want anything too pungent. I was also very surprised to see the garlic wrapper red, it looks so beautiful and tempting.

What's your free food? Fusion Meal inspiration w/ foraged wild asparagus

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The wild asparagus season is long gone, and these were the last few that I managed to grab in early May. I totally forgot I had made this dish and taken photos, until I was sorting through some files on my computer from this day. I was a bit nostalgic because looking back foraging for asparagus is like Easter egg hunting for vegans. Finding each one is a magical moment. Grabbing the food right from nature and learning how to find these little candy stick connects you to the whole life cycle of your food. I have a greater respect for the plant itself. And so happy that its possible to get free wild food so close to where I live makes me thankful for my new life.

@nainaztengra

How capable we are of destroying our Nature

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Let me show you 2 pictures today to realize what we humans are capable of doing.
Universe has given us all the beauty and in return we have given back all the possible ugliness we can....

This is a view of the Arabian Sea in Muscat. I absolutely adore this country for the way it takes care of nature and its surrounding.

A view of the Arabian Sea in Mumbai. We have done all possible thing to pollute the Sea. In Mumbai the drainage water is pumped out in to the sea. Though water is treated before dumping into the sea , color of the drainage water still remain blackish. The other factor to determine the color of the water is also the sand, and Mumbai has brown soil and that's also one of the reason for the color of the water mixed with the pollutant compounds as there is a smell also in the water.

Yippeee.....It's travel time back home 💗💗💗

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Travelling is always fun for me and specially when it's travelling back home. I enjoy the enviornment at the Airport you come across so many different emotions. When I look at people there I feel everyone is eagerly waiting to get to their destination. People may be going for a holiday, or back home or business travels but it's like everyone has a purpose to be at that place.....

For me after a long break of 3 months away from home finally time to travel back home. It's gonna be a very short trip of 5 days but it's still going to be fun getting time to catch up with my best buddies. The other best part for me travelling at this time is breaking away from the heat of 45 to 50 degrees temperature.

@mountainjewel

Grow Food Not Lawns: A Vision for Suburban America

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I've spent the last few days in a suburban neighborhood. You know! The kind that are spreading out all over America!
The thing I always think about when I'm in spaces like this is ALL OF THE WASTED SPACE.

When I was growing up, I lived in a neighborhood like this and when I traveled throughout the United States, I saw neighborhoods like this everywhere! You can see them from airplanes, by highways, EVERYWHERE! They're taking over America. Where I grew up, for example, farmland sold off more and more each year so that developers could come in and make homes where food (corn and soybeans, but that's another story) was growing!

Is Happiness A Fish You Can Catch?

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I was just sitting in the bathtub and as often happens when my mind settles and I relax, I start to remember things I haven't thought of for a while. I love being in warm water as it eases any tensions I may be carrying and in that release, again, my mind starts to open up.

My mind wandered to the subject of happiness. I was brought back to one specific period in my life where I felt a lot of happiness. It caused me to wonder:
When have I experienced true happiness in my life?

I am thankful there are many memories of experiences when I have felt pure open happiness, yet there is one type of happiness that came to the forefront of my mind just now.

@stortebeker

Preparing for the Earthship Build - Milling Lumber

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Honestly, I thought that by now I would be posting about the ongoing Earthship build, pounding tires, and what-not. As it turns out, the Regional District of Nanaimo has still not issued a building permit, and contrary to the info I’d had, that means that no work on the project can be done, including on the foundation. However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t a number of other important jobs that should be completed to facilitate the upcoming tasks. Having pretty much completed the shower and the kitchen for the volunteers, this means milling lumber.

When I came to Tony’s property two years ago, it was specifically the lumber mill that attracted me here, as I consider it a wise and progressive attitude to cut all your lumber right here on site, especially after having to cut down some of these massive trees to make space for the building site. Back then we didn’t have a chance to mill as much and as regularly as I had hoped, which I discussed in a previous article. The machine kept breaking down, and even Tony was new to it, so we had to tackle the learning curve together. This time it is completely different: if everything is in place, we can easily mill a good number of large logs, as it was the case today. So, since the saw-mill is the cornerstone to this Earthship build of a different kind, here’s another run-down on how trees are converted into structural lumber of all types and sizes.

@wombloom

DIY Super simple fireplace/grill in the garden. Gratefulness challenge day#4

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DIY Super simple fireplace/grill in the garden.

I have wanted a fire place in my garden for some time now, because I love to sit by the fire at night, it just makes me feel so alive, maybe because it alights te fire within. 😊 I had a fire bowl but it rusted so badly it broke. I've been dreaming of a round fire place, but the one I made turned out square, because I happened upon some free tile from a neighbour that he was getting rid of. The big square tile he gave me seemed perfect for the bottom of a fire place, I saw possibilities!

Gratitude challenge, day #3 Friendship with animals

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If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. Chief Seattle

This little brown munchkin cat is one of my best friends. I love him very much, even though he's not even my cat. He is my neighbours cat, but he likes to hang out with me too, especially when the neighbour is out, their stove is not on and the weather is dreary, then he comes to sit close to my stove for some warmth and company.

@eco-alex

ECOTRAIN QUESTION OF THE WEEK TIE UP POST: What Does It Mean To Own Your Emotions?

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This week's QOTW is the first of a trilogy of questions relating to emotions. Oh yes, we've all heard of them, we all have them, and yet they can be the most least understood aspect of our humanness. We aren't born with a rule book about how to understand, manage and work with our emotions, and most of us aren't taught about it by our parents or even at school.

Understanding our emotions can mean the difference between living life in a state of anger, depression, hate and jealousy OR knowing how to have healthy, loving and intimate relationships with all the people in our lives. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were able to avoid so many unnecessary conflicts, whether they be about trivial things like flushing the toilet, pickup up our socks, or the very important things such as how to discipline our children or how we relate to each other. This week we make a start on understanding our emotions by answering the very simple question of :

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO OWN OUR EMOTIONS?

Gratitude and Positivity Challenge Day 1: Steemit!

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Today is my first day of the gratitude and positivity challenge. I have chosen to take up this challenge because gratitude is such a powerful and transformative emotion. This morning I was hanging out with some wild horses, many of them were very friendly and one even nuzzled me whilst I petted it. As I walked back home I met another horse that was quite shy and little scared of me, and wouldn't let me approach it. So I crouched down and made friendly horsey noises as it looked on into the distance. Then i started saying some words to it, and one of those words was thank you. The very moment I thanked this horse just for being there, it immediately looked toward me and held my gaze. I could feel that she was very receptive to this, it was no co-incidence. Our feelings of gratitude are so powerful, and can change us and the world around us.

PAY IT FORWARD MINNOW SUPPORT PROJECT WEEK #4: 40 MINNOWS SUPPORTED!

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Welcome to week 4 of the minnow support project update. If you haven't spotted us before let me explain what this is about, and why it is really something special. There is quite a lot of debate on Steemit about voting bots, and I have written quite a bit about this topic. In an effort to turn the whole paradigm of bots into something much more beneficial to Steemit and all its users I have created the Minnow Support Project, which leverages the profits made from bids on the @ecotrain voting bot to pay it forward to minnows who get little support and cannot or do not want to use voting bots themselves.

One of the criticisms about voting bots is that they tend to centralise the returns of bids to delegators, which means that minnows are forced to pay for votes, and most of the reward pool ends up in the wallets of fewer and fewer people. I am happy to say that the @ecotrain voting bot is something altogether different! The reason why is simple! Firstly, my biggest delegators are now committed to receiving just 35% of the rewards from bids made on the @ecotrain voting bot. They are sending half of their 65% ROI to me each week to pay forward to minnows.

@thegreens

Appreciation! We are appreciating Steemians who are making the world a better place and supporting other Steemians to make the World a better Place!

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Today, we are inspired to appreciate Steemians who are supporting other Steemians and Steeamians who are contributing to make the World a better Place!

It’s been about 3 months that we have been very active on Steemit but for 3 months on steemit, we’ve met people whom you can take more than a life time to find. We’ve been on Facebook and other social networking platforms for more than 7 years and in as much as they have helped us in one way or another, our 03 months on Steemit have been exceptionally inspiring, great, supportive and the caliber of people we have connected with on Steemit are people who give hope, inspire, nurture, network, and support you to achieve your dreams of making the world a better place.

@holisticmom

Love Has The Power To Heal The World ~ Day 7 Gratitude & Positivity

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I have reached the final day of my #7daypositivitychallenge. I really want to thank @riverflows for being an awesome friend and nominating me for this. I'm surprised at how this seven day journey has evolved. I have learnt that this isn't just limited to the challenge and will continue to find things to be thankful and grateful for each day.

What does it mean to give and receive LOVE? What does it mean to BE LOVE and BE LOVED?...

There are many different interpretations, based on our own experiences. What one perceives as love may be completely different to another but I think we can all agree on the feeling that LOVE brings into our world.
Perhaps the root of gratitude and positivity comes from the feelings we receive.
You know that warm fuzzy feeling. The little area around our solar plexus where our intuition or gut feeling comes from feels at home and at ease, well fed if you will. Which is why love is associated with a heart because it is in that area of our bodies where we really and truly feel it. We feel safe and open enough to reciprocate those feelings shown to us.

What's The Buzz? ~ Gratitude and Positivity Day 6

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I was sat outside this morning contemplating life... yes seriously we've had some bad news and I was just trying to process it. I'm not going to get into that here because that's not what this post is about and more importantly it's what I found when I was sitting that inspired my gratitude post today.

The bees were going about their daily pollen collection on the lavender plant by my front door and it was on the grass just next to them where I sat. Watching these beautiful little stripey insects going about their work, the hum of their buzz was rather musical. Bees need pollen and the plants need bees in order to produce their seeds to carry on the next generation. As I'm sure most of you all know, recent studies have shown that bee populations are in decline. Insecticides containing dangerous neonicotinoids are sprayed on crops around the world. These deadly poisons are mass produced by companies such as Bayer and Monsanto are clearly wreaking havoc on the natural order of things. We need to do something about it. So here's my list of how we can help the bees.

@thelaundrylady

Tips for Growing Blueberries Successfully

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When people ask me what they should plant first in the garden, I always ask, "Do you like blueberries?" and if the answer is yes, I tell them to plant blueberry bushes first. Blueberries are not only delicious, they are full of antioxidants. Blueberry bushes have beautiful bright red fall colors making them lovely ornamental bushes in an edible landscape. And as a bonus, blueberry bushes are long lived perennials that can survive up to sixty years!

Important Factors to Growing Blueberry Successfully
The key to blueberry growing success is to pick the right cultivars for your climate. The cultivars include Northern Highbush, Southern HighBush, Half-High Hybrids, and Rabbiteyes. I am in Southeastern Oklahoma with hot & humid summers and fairly mild winters, so I have the Rabbiteyes (Vaccinium Ashei) cultivar for my area.

@aware007

The Voyage Home: Health Boot Camp

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HEALTH BOOT CAMP

A Rude Awakening with a Very Happy Ending

This post is a primer for related upcoming articles in The Voyage Home series. Be prepared because it's brash, in your face, and controversial to be sure. Some will gasp, some will cry "horse shit", some who've done a little digging will look on with a raised eyebrow, while others who've dug deepermay let slip a knowing grin.

For those completely unfamiliar with any of this, you'll wanna grab a chair. I'll wait... Alright, I think that probably way more folks here on Steemit are aware of how we've been lied to (about just about everything) than the bulk of the masses. I think this because it stands to reason that, given that we've chosen to participate on a blockchain platform, most of us have specific reasons to have done this, such as not having to worry about censorship. So I think that readers here tend to be more aware than what is otherwise typical. And speaking of lies, are you ready for your first whopper?

@afifa

Children wellness at school

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Like every year , the beginning of the new school year involves pupils, teachers and parents in a common path of relationships, projects, activities aimed at achieving the educational and cognitive objectives that the educational institution has set itself.

The school has always been an environment full of incentives and opportunities for the integral growth of the personality of young teenagers, a bridge that connects education and training to the world of work and life choices for the professional future. Teachers' work is developed through an educational program that includes: objectives, methods, contents, evaluation. These nodal points depend on each other and define the cognitive path of the activities that are scheduled from time to time.

@hopehuggs

Love is a Double Edged Sword. Wise Usage Recommended

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Is The Very Act of Helping People Selfish?
I’m a great believer in love, but you have to be aware it is a double-edged sword and rarely as ‘pure’ as it seems. Well not in my experience anyway. More than once bitten, twice shy you could say. You might say I have had a dose of realism in the last few months. The only pure love I have felt is the love from a cherished pet (and for and from my children - better add that in there haha). But…

A lot of my daily actions are based on my love of helping people. It is not necessarily about love of these people, but I can empathize as I know what it is like to feel utterly alone and helpless and having no-one there to help. And having a spark of hope would have helped me immensely in some low times.

@ecoinstant

HOMESTEAD CAPTION CONTEST! 50 STEEM - SBI SHARES UP FOR GRABS! MULTIPLE WINNERS! ¡TAMBIEN RÍO EN ESPAÑOL!

Welcome one and all to the event of the Summer! For many months I have been considering a breakout contest where I could expand my circle of followers and my connections here upon the blockchain. I started with the Pander to Me! contest and even a secret contest rewarding the best commenters.

I want to connect with you all as I continue to open my soul onto the Steem Blockchain!

Since the last contest, I have selected the six best comments, comments that made me laugh, smile and think, and have rewarded them with a share in Steem Basic Income, currently one of my favorite upvote projects on the platform.

@rainbowrachel

My Life Abroad: The Chiangmai Chronicles - Vol 1 _ Thai Massages and Self-Love

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Hello, hello, beautiful Steemian! I hope you are having a glorious day thus far! Just being alive, and able to be here on the Internet right now is already so much to be grateful for. Thank you for stopping by to share some of your valuable time with me!

Since starting my blog here on Steemit, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my past life back in the USA, and my journey to getting where I am today. Because of all that reflecting, I’ve realized just how much has changed over the past few years, and how many things in my current life I often take for granted. Many of my day-to-day experiences, which were once so amazing and unbelievable to me, have now become so “normal” to me. But they are actually so vastly different than my life back in the USA, and I want to take some time to reflect and appreciate these aspects of my current life.

@ecoTrain

Supporting People Who Help
Make The World A Better Place

Discover previous ecoTrain magazines at @ecoTrain

DRIVER
@eco-alex

VIP'S / CURATORS / DELEGATORS
@amitgiat
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@hopehuggs
@kalima
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@nainaztengra
@omdemian
@sashagenji
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@wwf

PASSENGERS
@afifa
@aware007
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@omdemian
@rainbowrachel
@riverflows
@sashagenji
@senorcoconut
@schoonercreek
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@stortebeker
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@trucklife-family
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@zen-art

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