I'm not sorry for giving you up!

I am sorry I was not given the tools to be a better mother.

I am sorry for all the pain and suffering you endured over the years. 

I'm not sorry for walking away, as I believe it would have been worse had I stayed!

I can not change the past.

I live in the present and look to the future.

Dwelling only prolongs the pain.

I'm not sorry for giving you tuff love.

Sometimes it's the only way to love.

I don't have all the answers,

I have my feelings, emotions and experiences!

I'm very happy that you were able to break the cycle,

able to raise your children.

I am sorry I was not able to be a part of your lives.

I'm sorry I missed out on so many memories.

I am not sorry I gave you life.

June 13 2022

opinions?

no thank you

i don't mean to be rude but

my mistakes are better than yours.

I’ve been swimming in the deep end lately.

My head is spinning in circles.

My heart had never been so hollow on the inside.

I need to catch my breath before I do anything else stupid.

My work of art is an escape from uniformity.

I felt safe with you for the time being.

At the end of the week, you cuddled me

When the sergeant had an off day at work and took it out on me.

I let you in like I did when I meet new people.

You were happy for me when I told you I finally found love.

I wanted nothing more than a friend’s reassurance that everything will be okay.

But you in particular were a land mine waiting to explode.

It’s dangerous territory where you’re from as a queer.

It’s dangerous territory where I lurk on the web.

It’s dangerous territory to build a world without receiving adequate training.

It’s dangerous territory to make friends with volatile people like you.

I can barely read script in Delphi without misinterpreting some if not most of its passages.

My art isn’t like what you’d expect to see in other do-it-yourself or high-profile projects.

The way I write, the way I archive, and the way I distribute information is my strongest suit.

There is no way I can fulfill my goal in life alone without the help of a team that knows its stuff.

You didn’t have to sugarcoat your advice to fix my problems

But you didn’t have to pull more than my teeth either.

You spoke to me as if I had to know every damn trick in the book.

You pointed out where I went wrong as if I didn’t already understand it.

I would have welcomed your advice if you watched your language.

I would have been more considerate if we joined forces as planned.

But being friendly with you in light of this is just out of question.

You can say that I’m high all you want, but it goes to show that you’re smaller than you think.

It’s dangerous territory where you’re from as a queer.

It’s dangerous territory where I lurk on the web.

It’s dangerous territory to build a world without receiving adequate training.

It’s dangerous territory to make friends with volatile people like you.

A vagabond told me this morning that I don’t learn much from success

And boy, I sure did learn a lot about your character more than what it takes to be top dog.

I might also let it slip that you exploded in my face because your little rant was all over the place.

In that case, riddle me this, who among the two of us really needs room for improvement?

Come on, take my hand.

There’s a stunning carnival

Right in front of us.

It lights up the night

Like a group of fireflies.

Don’t you see that we have

A chance to rule the night?

So what are you waiting for?

There’s lots to do.

So much to see.

Our hearts will guide us.

No point in holding back now.

We only live once.

We can’t waste this time away.

The night is so young,

But baby, so are we at heart.

The park is stunning.

It’s everything that

I dreamed of.

Why did I delay before?

Now that I’m grown up,

There’s no chains to hold me down.

Come on, take my hand.

The rest of our lives await!

Why are you so scared?

Is the rotating wheel barrel blocking our path?

Did the power outage cause your heart to beat so loud?

Intensive moments build up character and bravery.

Your fears are below you now.

The storm may have

Crashed the party,

But that’s not how I see it.

Being so close to danger

Puts what we’ve learned to the test.

So let’s stand our ground.

And not wait until tomorrow.

The park is stunning.

It’s everything that

I dreamed of.

Why did I delay before?

Now that I’m grown up,

There’s no chains to hold me down.

Come on, take my hand.

The rest of our lives await!

in what dark recesses of torture remain

exists a dreaded seed for us to obtain

to keep us sane and deliver us from evil

so goes the creed of an everlasting people

unending doubt resonates to be

impermanance rooted in an everlasting dream

scarcity of hope glimmering in dusk

prevention of fortune in a world of luck

forever told from stories past

eerily reminiscent of perpetual task

systems of new destroyed wisdom once known

for all apart of a world unsown

grimmace and malice plagued once more

in dire times that conjured vile scorn

but it was hope that was given once last chance

now grows a tree from the seed of our past

The storm has settled after a long summer.

The skies are clear, but the damage has been done.

I am charred, left abandoned in the ashes.

The humiliation during the wildfire led to my death.

The world I knew and loved disowned me.

But a baby bird had risen out of the ashes.

Despite its weak body, the newborn helped me onto my feet.

It led me away to start anew in a foreign world.

After all that had happened that led to this fire,

I know now that my old name is nothing but a memory

Left to be scorned by bloodthirsty eels.

Be free, young phoenix. Fly away and keep your voice close.

They'll be coming for you when they discover you're still alive.

It is better to let them think that you are dead

than attempt to kill yourself putting up a fruitless fight.

They can deceive the world all they like, but karma has its ways.

They will always be overshadowed by a much more unified flock.

But for now, I walk alone with no one but the baby bird perched on my shoulder.

I see a bit of my old life in it, but it possesses the need to change;

A quality that the world I left behind is too blind to see.

Be free, young phoenix. Fly away and keep your voice close.

They'll be coming for you when they discover you're still alive.

It is better to let them think that you are dead

than attempt to kill yourself putting up a fruitless fight.

By the time the bloodthirsty eels see me again, it will already be too late.

Their lack of intelligence is what I have to thank for getting me to where

I am needed most the whole time I have slaved away.

Too bad that they'll never know that I am not the poor unfortunate soul that I used to be.

The winter has arrived and the joys of Christmas Day have given the baby bird strength

To regain the fire that I have long-admired since I was no less than eight years of age.

The new year is around the corner and it is more than ready to spread its wings and fly

Like it did four years ago. It amazes me to see how kids grow up so fast.

Be free, young phoenix. Fly away and keep your voice close.

They'll be coming for you when they discover you're still alive.

It is better to let them think that you are dead

than attempt to kill yourself putting up a fruitless fight.

It is no longer our battle anyway for our destiny lies far away from this mom-and-pop.

Photo credits - xupler.com

As an app developer, it is super annoying and frustrating if your newly launched app doesn’t work immediately and skyrocket as among the top installed apps. However, this doesn’t mean that you lower your developing expectations, as acquiring users to your new app is a seemingly bumpy ride. Similarly, retaining those who have already downloaded your app for the first few days as the hype fades might be difficult.

When faced with such, growth hacks do work wonders for your mobile app. The hack covers every aspect ranging from customer acquisition, retention and engagement. To retain and engage your customers, you ought to get them through the first step. For most developers, this is the most challenging part.

Note that the initial traction is by far much the basis of success for your mobile app. Getting early traction determines the market fit for the mobile app. It helps developers understand what your customers engage within your app and the updates required to bring more users onboard.

To achieve enormous downloads and app usage, consider the following tested and proven growth hacks.

1.    Create a superb landing page

Most users often read the about section of the app before making a download decision. Therefore, you need to make your app landing page convincing and compelling enough. The landing page should encompass a brief description of the app, how it works, and interesting feature highlights. Be specific when doing this and include some call to action pointers. Use tools such as Wisita, Impact, and Unbounce to do this.

2.    Invest in its design

The design of the app is what turns off many people. Users easily cancel the downloading a poorly designed app. Therefore, invest heavily on having high-end features, workflow, and a perfect user-interface. Tools like Apptimize may come in handy in this step.

3.    Collect Emails

In every step of your design, you meet people who either sign in from the landing page or meet them in person. Well, take advantage of this and collect their email addresses, update them with your leads and send them new features updates, tips, tricks and offers presented. Tools like Sumo and MailChimp can streamline this process to help you get to your target audience quickly.

4.    Work on reviews

Just before launching your mobile app formally, have it reviewed by various websites. The reviews will not only drive in massive exposure and a big follower base but will also highlight some aspects that correcting them will enhance the app. Websites such as AppAddict and AppApes can review iOS mobile apps while Android Central and Android App Labs can review your android apps.

5.    Blogging

Starting a blog provides another opportunity to explain your app further. From the blog, a potential customer will get the app insights, tips and tricks. You should also provide a 24/7 customer support from the blog for users to report the problems they encounter with the app. Blogs are priceless content outlets that get users onboard and converts them to loyal app users. It also enhances internal and external mobile app SEO.

6.    Create a homepage tutorial

It is overly important to have a simple video detailing your mobile app. There are several tools including Powtoon, Raw Shorts and WeVideo you can use to create this. When doing this, be as much personal as possible to tell a story about your app that users will easily relate to. In the tutorial, explain how users will benefit from the app, explaining its feature highlights and unique components.

7.    Use promo codes

Regardless of whether you are launching the app or have already launched it, promotional codes are ideal for both new and existing users. They not only entice new users but also encourage existing users to interact with the app more often, aiming to utilize their codes. For instance, display ads on various relevant websites, enticing users to try the app for free, or with a discounted code.

8.    Cross promote the app

App developers seldom have only one mobile app. If so, you definitely know somebody who develops mobile applications. Therefore, promote your new app through old apps. You can also bring complementing applications on board to promote your app. For example, photo and video editing apps can easily complement each other.

9.    Have a rewarding referral program

If you want to know exactly how this works, take an example of how Uber did it. Instead of giving incentives yourself, let the app users refer to their friends for a reward. For Uber’s case, it offered discounts to users who refer their friends. Uber gave a common promo code where users get a huge discount if they refer users and their referral promo code gets used.

10.  Leverage YouTube

There are several ways you can take advantage of YouTube as an app developer that doesn’t involve making a video or uploading series of videos on YouTube. For starters, YouTube has several established content creators who own channels with massive subscribers.

That said, this hack involves identifying, getting in touch and capitalizing on these people for mutual benefits. Talk to such YouTubers, requesting them to feature your mobile app in their content. That could be a recipe for massive traction. Analytics addon for YouTube might help you on that.

11.  Use directories

Directories such as Craigslist and Yelp can come in handy in boosting your recently launched mobile app. To leverage on it, created associated app advertisements, submit to such directories, and classified sections of some popular industry and mainstream publications.

This growth hack is industry specific. Therefore, find directories that are specific to your industry. For instance, Tripadvisor is a good choice for a travel industry related app. Such websites have high keyword rankings that potential users looking for such keywords can be directed to your app instantly.

12.  Launch on Android first

If you review the background of most currently popular apps, they began their journey by launching on Android devices first before moving to iOS. The main reason behind that is it reduces the cost per installation by approximately 60%. That implies that it is pretty easier and much cheaper to get your first Android user.

Photo credits - 60secondmarketer.com

Secondly, Google Play allows app developers to publish changes in their apps within hours compared to App Store that takes few days. From this, note that you can cheaply and easily acquire users, run tests, gather data and make changes to your app with Android. You can fix bugs, make changes and improve the app quickly compared to App Store.

Final Thoughts

Each of the hacks mentioned above can get your mobile app growth to explode instantly. However, what ultimately determines its usage are the specifics of the mobile app. When putting each of these growth hacks into use, ensure that you set goals, analyze and compare results using various metric analyzers. That helps to evaluate what’s working and what doesn’t. Additionally, here's a list of marketing tools for Twitter to get you started.

They say. “you’ve got nothing to give, if you give yourself nothing”

That’s the point of it.

There’s really nothing.

We are neither here, nor there.

There’s really no one.

We’re all just electrical expressions of life

Moving in time space

Breathing in air

Buckets of water

Cataclysms of emotion

Which is why I still care

Why I still want to show you…

every peace of me

I still want to give myself to you…

effortlessly

I still want to know you

with every moment that I breathe

You are who I am to be

You are who I choose

You are the one, the only one

You, my divinity, are the truth in me

I've spent moments in the mirror...

Staring into my soul-windows

Remembering what matters most

It's time to continue on course

I am a holistic, interdependent, force