Had a long phone call with a friend yesterday. They've taken a break from Nostr and social media to focus on personal and family matters - which I think is a smart move sometimes. He's an artist I met on Nostr, and he was telling me how burnt out they've been feeling from posting. They weren't getting much engagement on his work, and more importantly, he wasn’t forming the meaningful connections he hoped for. “Twenty-five cent zaps just don’t cut it,” he said. What he really wants are deeper relationships - ones that might even lead to real-world meetups, like the one we had a few months back when I visited him on a trip. That was a great time and one of the few solid connections to come out of the platform.

Our conversation covered a lot: life goals, friendships, value, art, design, the future, Bitcoin. From what he shared, I got the sense he might be struggling with his own sense of worth - at times looking down on himself, and at other times holding himself to impossible standards. I shared with him something that’s helped me: having a simple routine, even just once a week, to share or work on something meaningful. You don’t have to post every day. That pressure can lead to burnout fast. I compared it to how I drive - with cruise control on 95% of the time. Just flow. Don’t overthink it. Life is going to have its ups and downs, but part of the journey is learning when to push and when to ease off the gas.

We talked for over two hours. He thanked me for listening and said, “You’re a cool fuckin dude,” which meant a lot. I’ve always found that listening closely to people teaches you something - not just about them, but about yourself too. At the end of the day, I think that’s the real takeaway: meaningful, personal connections are the most important thing we can pursue. Everything else flows from that.