I first heard about Bitcoin around 2016, but I wasn't paying much attention; all I remember was you can propose in blockchain, which is quite romantic - I was in my early 20s and still learning how the matrix works.

A Little Background About Me

I quit my "fancy" but soul-crushing financial consulting job in 2018 and left where I was born, adventuring to see what the real world could offer.
After going through many restrictions in a communist country, I thought the Western world have more individual freedom. However, during my exploration, I discovered that other countries also have their own set of rules, so part of me still keep searching for more freedom in this increasingly unfree world.
One of the coolest things I learned is that diversifying your life in different countries can bypass many restrictions and minimize nation-states' interference. ( wait, this was me before finding out about natural law ) I even helped others to solve their banking problems by banking in other countries, which led me to realize that banks are also part of the systemโ€”it is not solving the real problem.

Ran into Crypto Scams in 2022

I started to run an Umbrel node in 2021, and I knew the basics about Bitcoin, but unfortunately, I didn't dig deeper; I got distracted by the crypto hype, it was quite fun at first, but then I realized:
1. It's not Solving My Problems
As a content creator, I thought NFT could be a useful tool to replace the current apps; I even gifted an NFT to my existing audience, which helped me understand this isn't a sustainable way to grow long-term but a model for dump and pump.
For anyone truly passionate about sharing, all you want is to focus on learning and creating, NOT wasting time on tokens.
2. There Isn't any Privacy
I started to wake up when they arrested the Tornado cash dev in the Netherlands, because of no privacy = no freedom.
3. Full of Noise and Ego-driven Actors
I found that many so-called web3 builders are inexperienced yet acting like a know-it-all, maybe this is only an ego game for many folks.
To conclude, the so-called crypto thing isn't solving my problem but keeps draining time and energy, so I gradually stay away from all the crypto, web3.0, and metaverse.

Lurking around Bitcoin Maxis

I refocused on Bitcoin and started to check out the so-called toxic maxis to see how toxic they are ๐Ÿ‘€ But surprisingly, I found myself reading not only many great content about Bitcoin but also health, privacy, and many topics I genuinely care about, and I really enjoy it! I feel like I stumbled across a hidden treasure - so many people are willing to share their first-hand experience and knowledge, isn't this exactly what the internet is for?
I then started to write content to share what I have learned and even built a site ( BTCis.fun ) to test out the fun tools - as you learn more by sharing.

More Time to Focus on Myself

Now that I stopped caring about all the shitcoin projects, I got more time for myself, which means more time to learn what I am curious about instead of wasting time on all the current things.
Actually, all I want is to be left alone and live my life instead of dealing with constant harassment, and I knew I had already found the tool I needed: Bitcoin - having 12 words in my head that no one can touch is so liberating!
Here is what happened afterwards:
1. I am Staying Away from Big Cities. I started to read many books about health last year, and to my understanding, all illnesses come from the mind; Being a peaceful and positive person is a good way to avoid getting sick.
And polluted air is one of the most ignored factors to cause health issues, so I moved to a small town closer to nature. Now I am grateful to be surrounded by kind people, real food, flowers, and singing birds.
2. I am Living a more Organic Life.
I threw out all the chemical household products and stopped using Fiat skincare, and guess what? My skin couldn't get any better. And I eat organic food only, directly purchased from local farmers.
I also started to ditch phones and work on my laptop only. Recently I have been experimenting with going out without phones, which made me wonder why we all voluntarily carry a tracker 24/7?
3. Bitcoin is Changing my Spending Habits.
Since most of my money is stored in Bitcoin, I don't want to waste my precious Bitcoin on stupid things anymore, so I buy necessary things only.
And I realised that the best products come from craftsmen, not some fancy marketing brands, so I started to find quiet masters; I even took some courses to learn some crafts, the feeling of making beautiful products with bare hands from raw materials is indescribable.

My Biggest Takeaways

1.We are Born Free.
I learned about Flag Theory when I was nomading around, which lays out some formulas for being free. I followed it and did some trial and error, but it turned out that flag theory does only great in theory and comes with its problems.
But as I kept digging, I realized that we are actually born free and do not need anything but the TRUTH. ( massive thanks to @Darthcoin introducing me to natural law )
2. Real Freedom Comes from Self-responsibility.
Democracy or communism are essentially the same; if you truly want freedom, you want to be left alone and deal with things yourself, which includes consequences for bad decisions.
But freedom is not the end goal, the real goal is to have free time and free mind to explore our potentialities, and Bitcoin enables us to do that.
_
I thought I'd use a new pseudonym to share these, but all my past experiences convinced me more about Bitcoin. And I was really quiet here, mostly due to being busy learning and relearning, but I noticed that do lack some women's voices here, and here I am - Time for me to give back.
Bitcoin changed me a lot, but whom I met during the journey of learning Bitcoin changed me the most. I hope my story can encourage more people to share and learn.
Impressive journey. Are you still working in finance? Or focusing on building?
I think a lot of us are on a similar simpler path. I moved to South America late last year, less so for flag theory, and more for peace of mind and to live in a more โ€˜realโ€™ world. Feels much healthier being around people with a slower pace of life & more open minds. Curious if youโ€™ve sought out any communities or like minded people in your area?
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P.S. You should post content like this on Nostr. Just added your npub
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Ugh, I shared a link there, but I should have posted long-form content instead.
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No, not anymore, I don't want to waste time on these fiat scams, and now I am building a fun project to bridge Bitcoin with real-world goods.
Curious if you've sought out any communities or like minded people in your area?
Unfortunately, not much luck so far, and that's why I share online so to meet like-minded hackers ๐Ÿ‘€
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But as I kept digging, I realized that we are actually born free and do not need anything but the TRUTH. ( massive thanks to Darthcoin introducing me to natural law )
You think this is cool - go read Mere Christianity by CS Lewis if you haven't already. Not a bait and switch or anything. If I'm passionate about anything, it's this exact TRUTH you're referring to, and bitcoin is a fragment of it. It'll at least be an interesting read.
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Thanks, let me look it up.
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โ€œI even took some courses to learn some crafts, the feeling of making beautiful products with bare hands from raw materials is indescribable.โ€
Great post, thank you, definitely share some links about learning to build things !
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Hi Natalia! One of my granddaughter's name is Natalia! Nice name! Just wondering, do you live in China and are free to travel in other countries? Thanks!
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Thanks; I don't live in China, and I am free to travel - I have been exploring around during 2018-2022, from east to west.
I travelled less and started to focus on self-discovery and learning skills from last year.
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Great! Congrats!
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I am happy to share more hacks I found later, stay tuned for more. ๐Ÿค“
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Amazing story! Thanks for sharing. Bookmarked.
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learnt a lot from you.๐Ÿซก
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That's a good story. Also striving for it and moving smoothly. Way to go)
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Great post! Thanks
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I thank you for many great posts too ๐Ÿค“
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Great post have some sats ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘
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Thanks, more sats more great posts haha โ™ป๏ธ
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๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘
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The "crypto" industry to me is like as if someone discovered a very specific drug (Bitcoin) that cures every type of cancer, and then other people come in and say, "okay that's great and all, but can I use this drug to draw cute kittens in my coloring book???" and then everyone starts flocking to the alternate drug that doesn't cure cancer but maybe has the potential for drawing pictures.
Really? That's what's important to you? We discover the hardest form of money ever, and it's easily transferrable, ownable without any permission, and people obsess over some irrelevant crap like NFTs, ICOs, Ordinals, and other bullshit "feature" of their rugpull coin.
It's almost ironic that a system designed to be unscammable, would attract the most scammy people and tactics in the world.
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You are literally describing natural medicine and modern ones ๐Ÿ‘€
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Currently, we are in difficult times. Governments are surveillanceing citizens and want to introduce CBDC, most of the top companies we use every day are collecting data about us and selling it. Currently, we and our data have become money. Bitcoin is a great answer of us citizens to CBDCs introduced by governments.
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Great post!
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Great post! I hope more people follow your example.
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I am sure many humble plebs are just being lowkey and quiet.
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