Hey everyone,
I honestly wasn't sure if I'd ever write one of these again. But here I am, sitting in front of my screen, typing this out and feeling a strange mix of nostalgia and nervousness — like showing up to a party where you used to know everyone, hoping some familiar faces are still around.
Let me introduce myself again, just in case. I joined Steem back in 2017, when the whole thing felt like this wild, exciting experiment that nobody really knew where it was going. Over the years I published more than 700 posts and somehow managed to build a small community around my content — over 1,500 followers at my peak. That still amazes me, honestly. People from all over the world reading what I wrote. It was something I genuinely loved.
So what happened? Why did I disappear?
The short version: I got scammed. Phishing attack. Someone got access to my account and drained everything I had earned — at the time it was worth over $1,200. Years of work, votes, curation rewards — gone in what felt like minutes. I won't pretend it didn't hurt, because it really did. Not just the money (though yeah, that stung), but the feeling of violation. This place had felt like mine, and suddenly it didn't anymore.
After that, I just... stepped away. I needed to. I didn't have the energy to start over, and every time I thought about logging back in, that bitter feeling came back. So I stayed away. One month turned into a year. A year turned into nine.
But lately I've been thinking about this place again. About what I actually enjoyed here — the writing, the conversations in the comments, the feeling of contributing something to a community that cared about ideas. And I realized I miss that. Simple as that.
I also see that things have evolved. Steem became Hive, the ecosystem kept building, and somehow the spirit of the thing — real people sharing real content — seems to still be alive. That gives me hope.
So I'm back. Or at least I'm trying to be back.
What can you expect from me going forward? Mostly things I genuinely find interesting:
I'm not coming back with big promises or a content calendar. I'm just coming back as myself, hoping that's enough.
If you were around back in the Steem days and remember me — hi again, I missed you. And if you're new and stumbled across this post — welcome, I hope my content gives you a reason to stick around.
Thanks for reading. It genuinely means a lot.
— Ariel 🙌
