Ditto that - only TEXAS is the state known for BIG, just fyi. :)
Kansas is where Dorothy wanted to go home to. And thank you @veryspider for all your @curie time, and all else that you do. Typically anyone who does a lot for one project is also doing lots for other projects.
@justineh, others have already assured you that you ARE a creator, not just a behind-the-scenes supporter and promoter. I'm all too aware of how toxic, demoralizing, and mentally draining the negative feedback (troll attack) or LACK of feedback (being overlooked) and all the politicking can be. So I've just hunkered down and made it a policy to do less, to volunteer less, though I still manage to spend a ludicrous amount of my time at Steemit.
You really nail it, every paragraph, so I'll pick just one to highlight:

But then I forgot that Steem is a social platform and I post here .. and sometimes trolls follow me, and people dislike me for what I’ve “done” or what they think I’ve done, or perhaps because the tone of my text is apparently triggering .. and people who I bring here have to see all that too.

I've persuaded some fellow authors to try Steemit, and they all left. Already published authors don't have time for all this - they're busy writing. In solitude.

THANK YOU for all you do here and take heart - all the comments on this post should be a sign you've been doing better than you think! Time to shift the narrative and tell yourself you're doing great, and anyone who disagrees can go find someone else to criticize.