Amstel! I miss him.
What a great story. My path to hive was similar. I'd heard about steem(it) on FB in 2018, just when I was getting very frustrated on FB at the fear and hate expressed there! (I wonder if it's still like that - I left in 2021) My story differs in that it took me several months to make my first penny lol. I don't know why I persisted, but I'm very glad I did.
gave me nearly everything I wished for in a very short period of time.
Did the stars align (as you suggest), or was it that you had blossomed into a fuller version of yourself?
We miss him so much! There's seldom a day that goes by that we don' talk about him.
The platform was instrumental to so many of us early adopters. I pop onto Steemit from time to time and it just makes me sad. We made the right choice to leave, that's for sure.
Maybe it was a little of both? I'm not sure. Whatever it was I'm thrilled it happened. : )