Another big difference from most people's journey is I studied economics at Trinity College Dublin. I didn't even know I had been brainwashed. I was a lefty European-San Francisco progressive through and through. I had no idea I had been ideologically captured. Shout outs to nostr:npub15vzuezfxscdamew8rwakl5u5hdxw5mh47huxgq4jf879e6cvugsqjck4um and nostr:npub1a2cww4kn9wqte4ry70vyfwqyqvpswksna27rtxd8vty6c74era8sdcw83a for helping me to get edumecated.

I was outraged by the 2008 financial crisis and the banks' bailouts, and I was an active participant in Occupy Wall Street. In 2009, I wish I had found the Bitcoin white paper rather than the Occupy Movement!

Needless to say, Bitcoin has changed my life and how I understand economics. Discovering Austrian economics and libertarian philosophy through my Bitcoin journey has profoundly changed me.

Today, I am blessed to live life inspired by a Bitcoin mindset:

I own my business, my house, and Bitcoin. That is all. Shout out to nostr:npub15dqlghlewk84wz3pkqqvzl2w2w36f97g89ljds8x6c094nlu02vqjllm5m and nostr:npub1cn4t4cd78nm900qc2hhqte5aa8c9njm6qkfzw95tszufwcwtcnsq7g3vle for inspiring me.

I make sure I am a net producer and live within my means. Shout out to nostr:npub1s5yq6wadwrxde4lhfs56gn64hwzuhnfa6r9mj476r5s4hkunzgzqrs6q7z for making me feel like I was going crazy by integrating the importance of continuing to give more value than I extract. Changed my whole mindset about what it means to retire, etc.,

These days, I dream of providing my wisdom and skills as a couples therapist and relationship expert to Bitcoiners. Bitcoiners are people, too, goddammit!

For the last 14 years, I have primarily served as a relationship expert to Silicon Valley's movers and shakers. I had to be good at something—couples therapy is my area of mastery/competence! And I love it. So, I am here for bitcoiners who could do with help figuring out how to make love and relationships work. Good luck trying to implement your right to divine individual sovereignty in your relationship!

I am also shifting my focus to giving my expertise and wisdom to my local community here in Hawaii. Spending the dollars I earn from the mainland here is not enough. I have to do more to help people here in Oahu. Shout out to nostr:npub14mcddvsjsflnhgw7vxykz0ndfqj0rq04v7cjq5nnc95ftld0pv3shcfrlx; what you do in Bedford is inspiring.

My big crazy dream is to educate local Hawaii residents who have been priced out of paradise about Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the equivalent of the 21st-century version of 18th-century Hawaii, Manhattan, and Miami Beach property. Hawaiians could buy Bitcoin right now from under the noses of the elites that took their sovereignty from them, hold the Bitcoin for a decade, and be in a position to get their land back or keep their Bitcoin forever.

If anyone here in Hawaii has ideas on how to spread this idea to the local community, please let me know.

A long introduction - but this is like my own coming out as a Bitcoiner - so I am primarily writing this for myself. If it is too long, I respect your right to keep scrolling. ;)

Mahalo!

Figs

#introductions

You can call me BJW. I live/work for myself in the Twin Cities area of MN as a web tech and small-time urban homesteader (I garden, can-preserve foods, make jerky (http://mailboxmeat.com).

Interests:

I like urban hiking/walking in milder weather. My favorite seasons are fall and winter, since my ancestry is heavily Scandinavian & anything warmer than 75 F, you can catch me inside, howbowdat. I collect vinyl records, and TV/movies on my local cloud server for my own enjoyment. My musical tastes vary widely. Everything from mid-century jazz , classic rock, and old r&b/soul are my fave genres. I think my most-played artists are Steely Dan, Amy Winehouse, Gorillaz, and 1950s-60s-era Herbie Hancock. I read a lot of different stuff, but prefer to stick to nonfiction. But when I do fiction, it's most often historical fiction.

Career:

My job is currently heavily-interent-dependent (web hosting/server/back end websites) but if I could quit all that to work at making food for people in a completely non-fiat-loop and just do tech stuff when I feel like it, that's my dream. https://ketolish.us is where I post my recipes and my first cookbook is also available there.

Goals:

Eventually, I'd love to completely unbank myself, but I remain tethered while I figure it all out. If I could get my butcher to accept btc, I'd have it made for my jerky biz. For now, I accept payments online via fiat until I can find suppliers convenient for me.

De-Googling myself was something I started digging into years ago and in the process, I learned to move from stock Android to LineageOS in 2018, and then to GrapheneOS in 2021, where I've stayed put. I now offer phone de-Googling as a service, but can also teach it.

Agorism/Anarchism community:

I created & maintain a small local anarchist/agorist group off-shoot of the Twin Cities Freedom Cell & we are working on more get-togethers to meet, network, and skillshare all things outside the systems in areas like: communications, finance, and self-suffiency. The main site is at https://tcfreedomcell.com. We have an agora market summer thru fall, if you're in the area and want to shop local: https://tcfreedomcell.com/market

My Content:

I will often share recipes, music, and tech/privacy stuff. My latest project is this nostr thing and when I'm not busy working or trying to get other goals achieved, this is where I'll be putting my focus instead of twitter (while trying to get my tweeps over here, as well). I also love seeing/sharing silly pics/GIFs/videos of cats and animals...one of the small bright spots in my day that makes me laugh.