Two years ago today, I was overseas for Christmas with my wife’s family, jet-lagged and awake at 3:30am, when our friend nostr:npub18ams6ewn5aj2n3wt2qawzglx9mr4nzksxhvrdc4gzrecw7n5tvjqctp424 shared a link to Nostr with plebs on the Twitter #stackchain.

That day, I began to see the world in purple 💜

I downloaded a very early version of Damus. Not only had nostr:npub1xtscya34g58tk0z605fvr788k263gsu6cy9x0mhnm87echrgufzsevkk5s not yet invented zaps (we simply pasted Lightning invoices, racing each other to pay it the fastest), but images wouldn’t even render in a client. (Again, you’d post a link and then leave the client to view the image in a browser). A few screenshots below capture the early days of Damus 🤙

It’s been an awe-inspiring heart-warming two years. I have learned so much, made new friends, submitted my first PR, and zapped the hell out of anything that moves. It’s been amazing to see the speed and quality of development by our many developers, and I continue being blown away by everyone’s contributions here. It’s also been demonstrated that most people, when given the opportunity to socialize in an online space that hasn’t been conditioned by typical toxic incentive structures, are genuinely decent, thoughtful, well-meaning people, even when they disagree. I always believed this, but Twitter can make you doubt it sometimes…

Nostr has come so far, so fast, from a handful of bare-bones clients to dozens or hundreds of apps, clients, projects, integrations, events, meetups, and more. It’s downright impressive.

Spending time on this protocol, hanging out with you all, being part of this movement, has enriched and expanded my life in a way I never expected, but feel so grateful to have found.

Screenshots below to show some old nostr:npub18m76awca3y37hkvuneavuw6pjj4525fw90necxmadrvjg0sdy6qsngq955 styling, including my profile-picture-less self trying to figure out a Lightning address, hitting the perfect follower count (nice), a comparison of privacy priorities between Damus and Twitter, and evidence of my consistently positive sentiment toward Nostr.

Thank you, Nostriches. Happy Christmas Eve 🎄 and Pura Vida 🤙

#grownostr #plebchain #introductions

Introducing #hilltribe children in to Nostr in the mountains of Northern Thailand with the nostr:npub1ejn774qahqmgjsfajawy7634unk88y26yktvwuzp9kfgdeejx9mqdm97a5 team.

https://m.primal.net/Mvhz.mov