hive-148441 community on Hive

Always surprised and happy with our finds [Esp/Eng].

jlufer — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 12:49:57 GMT

This is a cross post of @miprimerconcurso/always-surprised-and-happy-with by @jlufer.

The mushroom species Abigail found in the reserve this week are impressive. Beautiful photographs.

The Descent Into Perfection: What Black Swan Teaches Us About Artistic Passion and Self-Destruction

emmastudio — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 12:37:33 GMT

https://img.leopedia.io/DQmVKa6ckH3x74YUN83mreuHc1Cgu4o25WdSLfXyH47MqWA/cisnes.jpg Ksenia Solo in Black Swan (2010)

The boundary separating the pursuit of technical mastery from complete psychological unraveling is often terrifyingly thin. Released in 2010, Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan stands as a chilling, psychological portrait of artistic obsession, perfectionism, and the suffocating pressure of elite performance. Beyond its haunting score and visceral body horror, the film poses a unsettling question: how much of your mind and body are you willing to sacrifice to achieve transcendent perfection?

The narrative follows Nina Sayers, a dedicated, highly disciplined ballet dancer in a prestigious New York City company whose entire existence revolves around dance. Her chance at glory arrives when artistic director Thomas Leroy casts her as the lead in a new production of Swan Lake. Nina easily embodies the innocent, technically flawless White Swan, but struggles to unleash the dark, reckless, and seductive energy needed for the Black Swan. Under intense pressure from Leroy’s manipulative coaching, an overbearing mother, and her own crippling insecurity, Nina embarks on a desperate psychological quest to awaken her dark side.

As Nina pushes herself beyond her limits, the film depicts the terrifying nature of unyielding obsession. Nina systematically loses touch with reality, suffering from hallucinations, physical deterioration, and severe paranoia regarding her rival, Lily. Her commitment to the dual role transforms into a nightmare where her identity disintegrates under the weight of perfectionism. Black Swan illustrates how an obsession with flawless execution can fracture a person's psyche, replacing inner peace with an addictive, destructive pursuit of artistic transcendence.

The climax of Nina’s transformation unfolds on opening night, where real-life delirium and theatrical performance blur entirely. After hallucinating a violent confrontation backstage, Nina steps out onto the stage and delivers an electrifying, flawless performance as the Black Swan, fully surrendering to the chaotic freedom the role demanded. Yet, as the final curtain falls and the audience roars in applause, the terrifying truth of her sacrifice is revealed: in giving everything to the dance, she has mortally wounded herself, whispering her final words—"I was perfect."

Ultimately, Black Swan serves as a haunting meditation on the absolute price of perfection. Unlike traditional narratives of triumph through hard work, the film leaves viewers to contemplate whether Nina's ultimate artistic masterpiece was a victory of human dedication or a tragic surrender to madness and mortality.

References and Credits
Fox Searchlight Pictures / Protozoa Pictures (2010): Black Swan (Directed by Darren Aronofsky).

Thank you for reading the article! Thank you so much for all your support, and warm greetings to all the wonderful members of the Hive community!

Posted Using INLEO

A clear mind is like a jewel.

jakaria890 — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 12:21:24 GMT

There is a very deep meaning hidden in the saying that a clear mind is like a gem. The brain is the most important assA clear mind is like a gem.et in human life. Because the center of everything that a person thinks, understands, and decides is the brain. But if this brain is filled with unnecessary thoughts, jealousy, greed, pride, fear, doubt, and negative ideas, then that brain gradually becomes heavy.

Scr

https://img.leopedia.io/DQmSVRJtHGGZzDPRWXTrq4WnCmiD5Ad9Ap6EhMM5LNG8Ruj/1000091613.jpg

Then a person cannot think properly, cannot make the right decisions, and cannot build his life beautifully. But when the brain is clear, a person sees everything clearly, understands the difference between good and evil, can easily accept simple things, and tries to solve complex problems with patience. A clear mind means not only being good at studying, but also keeping one's thoughts clear, controlling one's feelings, and gaining the mental strength to move forward by accepting reality. This clarity illuminates a person's life. Just as light easily penetrates through a clear glass, good thoughts, knowledge, and wisdom easily penetrate a clear brain.

A clear mind is as precious as a gem because it makes a person beautiful from the inside. There are many people who are very ordinary from the outside but their thoughts are so clear that talking to them makes your heart feel good. They do not look down on anyone, they do not find fault with anyone unnecessarily. They know that people make mistakes all the time, so they learn to forgive, try to understand and be compassionate.

The brains of such people are clear. Because there is no hatred there, there is no fire of revenge, there is no wall of pride, but there is peace, humility, gratitude and a positive outlook. These qualities not only make people good people but also make them successful in life because the brain of a person who is clear does not break down under pressure, does not see problems as enemies, but accepts them as lessons. And failure is not the end but a new beginning, so it can be said that a clear mind means a strong brain and a strong brain helps people to move forward through the difficult path of life.

Some simple habits are very important to create a clear brain. For example, reading good books regularly, spending time with nature, talking less, listening more, writing down your feelings, practicing gratitude, and spending at least some time alone every day. These habits clear people's thoughts, calm their minds, and make their outlook on life positive. In addition, regular prayer, meditation, or prayer stabilizes people from within. Because in this, people understand their mistakes, learn to accept their limitations, and learn to trust in the Creator.

Scr

https://img.leopedia.io/DQmdSK9y9VVWLNkSeQ62zKAUfkFZDGvFsN8etDXGZauVTc6/1000091614.jpg

When people learn to trust, their fear decreases, anxiety decreases, and unnecessary pressure does not accumulate in the brain. Then they do not worry unnecessarily about small things, but learn to see the big picture. They understand the main purpose of life. And they understand that it is not possible to control everything, so instead of worrying about what they do not have, they should be grateful for what they have.

Finally, it can be said that a clear brain is truly a gem. Because it makes people not only intelligent but also humane. This gem cannot be bought with money, it cannot be taught in schools and colleges. It is created through experience, self-awareness, patience and conscious practice. A person whose brain is clear can love people, forgive himself and make every moment of life meaningful. He knows that happiness does not mean only laughter.

There is learning in sorrow, there is strength in failure and there is hope in waiting. This realization changes human lives. So if we really want a beautiful, peaceful and meaningful life, then the first thing we need is a clear brain. Because this brain will show us the way, give us light and shine like a real gem even in the darkness.

Posted Using INLEO

Sábados de Reflexiones #9 | El valor de las conversaciones analógicas · Words without Screens [EN/ES]

leydilaura — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 09:09:48 GMT

Source / Fuente Pixabay

Hello, GEMS friends.

Some conversations begin without any particular plan and end up lasting much longer than we expected. It can happen while sitting in the living room, having coffee, walking somewhere quiet, or simply sharing some time with someone we care about. Nothing extraordinary has to happen. Sometimes it is enough to start talking about one thing and let one idea lead to another.

Hola, amigos de GEMS.

Hay conversaciones que empiezan sin ningún plan y terminan durando mucho más de lo que imaginábamos. Puede ser sentados en la sala, tomando un café, caminando por algún lugar tranquilo o simplemente compartiendo un rato con alguien querido. No hace falta que ocurra algo extraordinario. A veces basta con empezar hablando de cualquier cosa y dejar que una idea lleve a otra.

I especially like those conversations in which the phone is simply forgotten on the table. Not because there is anything wrong with using it, but because for a while it stops being important. Nobody is checking for a notification, wondering who wrote, or looking at what is happening online. The person in front of us manages to have our full attention, and that completely changes the way we listen.

Me gustan especialmente esas conversaciones en las que el teléfono queda olvidado sobre una mesa. No porque haya nada malo en utilizarlo, sino porque durante un rato deja de ser importante. Nadie está pendiente de una notificación, de quién escribió o de qué está ocurriendo en internet. La persona que tenemos delante consigue ocupar toda nuestra atención, y eso cambia completamente la manera en que escuchamos.

I think we have learned to listen in a slightly strange way. Many times, someone starts telling us something and, while they are speaking, we are already thinking about what we are going to say. If they tell us about a problem, we start looking for a solution. If they mention something that also happened to us, we immediately think about our own story. We may even be waiting for a pause so we can jump in. We hear the words, but we are not always listening to what is behind them.

Creo que hemos aprendido a escuchar de una forma un poco extraña. Muchas veces alguien comienza a contarnos algo y, mientras habla, nosotros ya estamos pensando en qué vamos a responder. Si nos cuenta un problema, buscamos una solución. Si menciona algo que también nos pasó, pensamos inmediatamente en nuestra propia historia. Incluso podemos estar esperando una pausa para intervenir. Estamos oyendo las palabras, pero no siempre estamos escuchando lo que hay detrás de ellas.

Really listening requires something that sounds simple and yet we do not always practice: waiting. Letting the other person finish a sentence, even when we think we already know what they are going to say. Not interrupting to tell a similar story. Not immediately turning their experience into an opportunity to talk about our own. Sometimes all a person needs is to be able to finish saying what they feel.

Escuchar de verdad requiere algo que parece sencillo y, sin embargo, no siempre practicamos: esperar. Dejar que la otra persona termine una frase, incluso cuando creemos saber lo que va a decir. No interrumpir para contar algo parecido. No convertir inmediatamente su experiencia en una oportunidad para hablar de la nuestra. A veces lo único que alguien necesita es poder terminar de decir lo que siente.

And not everything someone tells us needs a solution either. There are moments when a person talks because they need to put their thoughts in order out loud. Maybe they are not looking for advice or a perfect answer. Maybe they simply need to feel that someone is there and that, for a few minutes, they can speak without having to compete with a screen, a notification, or another conversation happening at the same time.

Y tampoco todo lo que nos cuentan necesita una solución. Hay momentos en los que una persona habla porque necesita ordenar sus pensamientos en voz alta. Quizás no está buscando un consejo ni una respuesta perfecta. Quizás solamente necesita sentir que alguien está ahí y que, por unos minutos, puede hablar sin tener que competir con una pantalla, una notificación o una conversación paralela.

I also like the pauses that exist in face-to-face conversations. Those little silences in which nobody feels that they have to answer immediately. We can think, look at the other person, take a sip of coffee and continue. On the internet, we are used to responding quickly, reacting quickly and giving our opinion quickly. A conversation in person can have a completely different rhythm.

Read the full post

I have a little series of new drawings here) 🎨✨

elenasteem — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 07:38:39 GMT

I have a little series of new drawings here) 🎨✨
I drew a crocodile 🐊, a llama, a giraffe 🦒, and a monkey 🙈
My four drawings are done.
I didn’t spend much time working on these drawings. This style isn’t difficult for me.
I really love drawing animals. I used to draw people, but they don’t turn out as beautiful and cute as animals. I already have a lot of drawings of animals.
I’ve created a series of drawings like this, and I’ll show you more drawings in this style later.
I draw using Paint Tool SAI—the first version of the program.
I enjoy creating digital art. I’ve been drawing for a long time, and I don’t plan on stopping. It’s a part of my life. It’s my favorite profession. I’m an animal artist, and I’m very happy to be an artist.

Art and Creativity Journal: Genuinely and Authentically Hand Made!

alchemystones — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 06:38:48 GMT

Among the conversations I was having with some of my fellow vendors at this past weekend's festival was the invariable discussion about the infiltration of AI into the art market.

Now, our booth was in a long row of vendor tents and we also had "neighbors" backing up to us, so we overheard a few conversations in the course of our day there. More than a few times the issue of AI came up.

This was particularly true for the people in the tent immediately to our right, who were selling some beautiful natural photography that had minor digital manipulations.

I have noticed this has become an escalating issue, even though I can remember being asked if my designs were computer generated and were basically stickers or transfers on rocks... going back as far as 2015, as well as during the years we had a brick and mortar gallery.

Of course, all of my mandala painted stones are 100% free hand painted. There are no stickers, no transfers, no digital assist, no AI involved and the design is actually built "live" (no pre-planning) as I start working on a blank stone.

But the marketplace is changing.

I talked to a fellow artist — whom I have known for many years — and he said he was trying a new sales venue in Everett, WA. He went to this alleged "Maker's Market" three times... at the end of which he had enjoyed very few sales, and remarked that most of this market was in fact not about handmade goods but about cheap imports being resold in the guise of being the handmade work of artists.

Very disappointing... but clearly the event organizer had decided to turn a blind eye, all in service of collecting a few more booth fees.

Similarly, I am increasingly seeing the influx of AI on some of the online sales venues we have used — and continue to use — for Alchemy Stones. And instead of selling an actual physical product the artwork is being sold as a "digital download."

Maybe I'm getting very old fashioned here, but having a digital download is definitely not the same as having a piece of art that was actually created fully by hand by an artist, and then had a human signature added when its make was satisfied that the work met their quality and creative requirements.

It will be quite interesting to see whether AI and "synthetic" art is going to start putting in an appearance at any of the holiday markets we'll be attending in a couple of months!

I really hope the answer is no...

Thanks for stopping by!

Thank You!

If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!

Because I am trying to make some semblance of income — a part time living, even — I now add this footer to all my posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to take a further look at my work, and perhaps consider supporting independent art.

Thank you, in advance, for your consideration and support!

My Alchemy Stones Patreon appeal

Alchemy Stones web site and blog

Alchemy Stones Etsy Store

Alchemy Stones on Facebook

Alchemy Stones on Instagram

Alchemy Stones on Twitter/X

Regardless, your upvotes and comments are always appreciated!

Thank you for supporting independent art & creativity!

2026.10.02 AS-TXT-408/378

La Oveja Hambrienta / The Hungry Sheep

marpa — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 05:25:00 GMT

Un ser pequeño
entra a la cocina con misterio,
parece un insecto,
es blanco y con un ojo chueco.

Se aproxima a la zanahoria,
que está en la mesa sola,
con fuerza la toma
y la menea sin zozobra.

A tiny creature
enters the kitchen mysteriously,
it looks like an insect,
it’s white and has a crooked eye.

It approaches the carrot,
which is sitting alone on the table,
grabs it firmly
and shakes it without hesitation.

Suelta un trozo de zanahoria naranja,
pequeño y de forma agraciada,
se aleja del lugar sin decir nada;
nadie entiende lo que pasa.

Regresa con un pedazo de cilantro
y lo pone en el trozo con cuidado
parece una zanahoria con tallo
quedó más linda de lo que hubiera imaginado.

She drops an orange colored piece,
small and elegantly shaped,
and walks away without saying a word;
no one understands what’s happening.

She returns with a sprig of cilantro
and gently places it on top of the slice;
it looks like a carrot with a stem,
it’s even prettier than she could have imagined.

Aquel insecto se va a buscar,
un amigo que hambriento está
es una oveja de las que en el pesebre hay
y que quiere algo para cenar.

La oveja se come la mini zanahoria
incluso las hojas devora,
tras la cena se siente grandiosa
y los dos se van sin hambre y con gloria.

That insect goes off to find
a friend who’s hungry,
one of the sheep in the manger
who wants something for dinner.

The sheep eats the mini carrot
and even devours the leaves;
after dinner, she feels great,
and the two of them leave, full and happy.

![InShot_20230630_124621147.gif](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/marpa/EoAfYKqkd84fmD8iEEbc9Es3YuzFg1JTfQ4Hw7VLmJMMx3Db3HdE4WL8Y1yyd2Ms4vL.gif)

https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/marpa/EoK7FNYodbo4ApikZoJdGTmF7reV4DKVpECiXa4A4yop1zj5GtE2YtB6zbvrRuR7Um2.jpg

Créditos Stopmotion y cuento original de Margarita Palomino. Colombia, septiembre de 2026

Some Misconceptions about GEMS community

bluemist — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 16:03:45 GMT

Its been more than a month now since inception of GEMS community. We are thrilled to see the postive feedback from users and glad to see it contributing towards Hive ecosystem as a whole.

In this short span of time, we have became the no. 1 community with highest count of Active Posters and Interactions than any other community. This is the only community which supports all kinds of languages and not restricted to English only.

There are many aspect of building any blockchain foundation and in our case they consists of stakeholders, developers, curators and authors. Some people might be focused on developing one thing and completely stagnant in other. Our main motive behind formation of this community was to recognize undervalued authors and posts. Its has only been a month and I am happy with current trending of GEMS community because we don't get to see same names on trending again and again. There are only few who care to highlight more unique and undervalued posts. I believe this is another one of our objective completed because rewards distribution is more diversified.

![C3TZR1g81UNaPs7vzNXHueW5ZM76DSHWEY7onmfLxcK2iNg1no3aWSriF8RceS89tRBQdkecpWaQStNNhc2krnYzBE9qZ8uk69sX5TDMFLU99vLuHQTjnLv.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemist/FX3vOgMP-C3TZR1g81UNaPs7vzNXHueW5ZM76DSHWEY7onmfLxcK2iNg1no3aWSriF8RceS89tRBQdkecpWaQStNNhc2krnYzBE9qZ8uk69sX5TDMFLU99vLuHQTjnLv.png) Credit: @divine-sound

Some major misconceptions are still lurking in community about GEMS and I would like to address them:

Do current supporters of GEMS only curate within community only?

The short is NO. I have witnessed with start of 2020 all the major curation initiatives were announcing to form their own community. With the announcment of GEMS community, we explicitly mentioned that our curation support will not remain restricted to one community only and infact we were the first one to support mutiple communities from the very start.

The major supporters of GEMS @appreciator, @rocky1 and @upmewhale regularly curate in other communities and at times we are supporting more outside the community.

I have been personally more focused on newcomers and there are only few initiatives who focus on new or undervalued authors leading to more user retention. I do regularly check recommendations by @theterminal and onboarded more than 15 users in collobaration with @rutablockchain.

Do you automatically get upvoted if you post in GEMS?

Definitely not, we manually curate all the posts and every post is upvoted after 5 minutes and sometimes after few hours. Its funny to see that some people still accuse us of curation snipping but irony is, I see them using delegated stake as trail vote to increase curation rewards on personal account. They just curation-snipe popular authors at 3 miutes and still call it curation.

There is no curation snipping happening at all even if we upvote outside the community(you can verify the stats for yourself on Beeme).

Are bid-bots still active on Hive?

There are no bid-bots on Hive. I don't know about others but I do know that @appreciator, @rocky1 and @upmewhale are not acting as bid-bots on Hive.

That's right, you can't put blame on bid-bots anymore but we should work together to build towards Hive blockchain.

Does every post get the support in GEMS?

No, some people are under false impression that if you post in GEMS then this is it. We manually curate each and every post, spam posts do not get any attention. There are few basic rules and if you follow them then there is a high chance that you might get supported but there is no 100% assurance for it.

Engagement Support

There is not much of traffic on Hive yet but this is just a start. Comments rewards significantly dropped after HF22. We will encourage users to engage more with others, so there is chance for your comment to get some support.

Its been one hell of a ride so far and I am sure you might be enjoying recent spike in price due to listing on Houbi and MXC. I want to congratulate you all on this wonderful development and we still have long way to go.

![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemist/2UgTH6jm-U5dr4WYXqUUREKkqGJNN8x6jFNyMr2y.gif)

That is it for now, hoping to see you around more on Hive and I hope I have cleared up all of your major misconceptions.

![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bluemist/ghw3Q6aa-7ohP4GDMGPrU6KTuuW27Tq6en5JYHcVeXL6fAJ1RujUw3NULjf8Ndi8hgZ9Y3z6BGNSsjCseVzDFNuHk9nonU9xTTA6GPDs8RjA5.gif) Credit: @doze

New Chain - New Logo - New Beginnings

gems-community — Sat, 21 Mar 2020 08:58:54 GMT

First of all congratulations on successful launch of Hive. It has only been possible by group effort of true decentralized community. We should let go of past grudges and move forward in building the community together.

Just for brief intro, GEMS is a curation support community formed by @appreciator, @rocky1 and @upmewhale. Many people were keen to know will GEMS community will be active on Hive or not? As everyone knows by now that community is not one specific place and we'll go and support wherever the community is. This will be a gradual change and users will slowly start to shift towards best community.

The main objective of GEMS will remain the same, to focus more on user retention by providing support to undervalued deserving content. This support will not be limited to GEMS community only. We have already been supporting other cool initiatives and will continue to do that.

We would love to speedup on-boarding process and you can contact us anytime in this regard. Do subscribe to this community to see GEMS of the HIVE community and future updates:

https://hive.blog/trending/hive-148441

Join GEMS discord

The new community logo is designed by @zaxan and he has done a wonderful job. All the beneficiary rewards from post will go to him.

HIVE ON! https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/690692388040998962/690699376925999214/Hive1.gif Credits @derangedvisions

A community for ALL - GEMS

gems-community — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 12:18:12 GMT

![thanksgiving-featured-910x620.jpeg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZLmBRC1YW1bmYFKGFVdvzAvKrhptdeqeowEeanHcGdW8/thanksgiving-featured-910x620.jpeg) [](https://venturewell.org/wp-content/uploads/thanksgiving-featured-910x620.jpeg)

This is collective curation support community formed by @appreciator, @rocky1 and @upmewhale. The primary objective of this community to highlight GEMS of community which normally go un-noticed.

You can post your genuine and creative content in this community to get more visibility. You can't post directly in multiple communities right now. Cross-posting is the only solution available right now by SteemPeak which allows you to cross-post in multiple communities. For more details, you can checkout following post by SteemPeak.
Introducing the "Community Cross Posting" Feature

If you want to onboard your friends or family and they are still waiting in queue for account verification process then you can contact us in discord for more speedy process of account creation.

There are no strict rules at all to share your content in this community or tag requirement for now. We do expect you to refrain from plagiarism and stick to basic Steem community values.

We'll be focusing more on content published in this community but it does not mean that curation is restricted to this community only. You might have already seen our unofficial support to other curation initiatives and support groups on blockchain and that will continue as usual.

Engagement

Number of comments on posts significantly dropped after HF 22 because of change in reward curve. We'll try to encourage users to engage more with other users in comments, lively engagement in comments will also be upvoted.

Keep in Touch

Do subscribe to this community to see GEMS of the community:

https://steemit.com/trending/hive-148441

You can also join our discord to hangout and engage more with community
Join GEMS discord