It's funny when you think about where children used to meet new friends. It's either at school, in the playground or whatever place that parents take their kids. Nowadays, a lot of children meet new people online. Okay, so that's not always a good thing, considering predators and all. But, the point I'm trying to get to is that when it comes down to it, aren't we all children at heart?

Well, a lot of people have childish brains and other people refuse to embrace their inner child, so for the purpose of this discussion, let's just leave them be. For those who fall under the delightful category that I mentioned, doesn't Steemit feel like a place where we could just play around and try new things? A sandbox, if you will, of ideas that would otherwise just go unrewarded.

Here, we get to meet new people of different colors, shapes and sizes. Everyone adds a different flavor to our growing hodgepodge, and everyone comes from different backgrounds, which always makes interactions interesting.

Sure, there are tons of other places on the internet that offer us the luxury of meeting people from all over the world, but Steemit offers us a place where we could express ourselves freely.

I joined up more than two years ago, and was an avid commenter when I first started, mostly because I had a lot of time on my hands. The people I interacted with as my "peers" have grown into monstrous whales and dominant dolphins, commanding the seas of Steemit with their every post. I could've risen through the ranks by abusing auto-voters and trails by posting stuff that I consider shit, but instead I chose to stick to my guns and go the more honorable route.

I'm now a two-year old minnow. But, I digress.

When I was spending copious amounts of time on Steemit, I used to write post-long comments on other people's posts. My thinking behind that is that I wanted to honor the writer by devoting my time and attention to pay respects for the effort and time they poured writing their well thought-out posts. My votes were crap (still is), so that's the least I could do.

Anyway, while most users just ended up ignoring my comments or replying a short-worded thanks to something I wrote for more than ten minutes, my comments didn't slip by everyone. Eventually, a comment of mine caught the eye of a newbie with the handle @dreemit

It was a comment on someone else's post, but it was enough for her to see how much effort I pour on everything I do. Her reply led me to her own profile, and eventually to her ongoing fiction series, entitled The Playground Series. (Season Two is up, I recommend you to go check it out)

Little did I know that that interaction in the comments section of someone else's post would lead to a friendship that transcends distance. To be honest, I didn't really expect it would go on strong to this very day!

Dreem On

I don't normally dedicate an entire post to another Steemian, but this is a special case. A month or so ago, I received a mysterious letter from a guy in a motorcycle who just dropped a notice on my gate. It felt like a summons, and it instructed me to go to the post office. Doing a quick search on Google, I discovered there were five different post offices near where we live, so I decided to go to the one located behind City Hall.

What welcomed me was a maelstrom of unhelpful busybodies, all scrambling around and chatting on about whatever nonesense that busybodies talk about. Certainly nothing concerning their work, because all I was asking was where I could find the person in the notice.

After feeling around their sorry excuse of a mail room, I stumbled upon a package almost as big as my head. It felt like... a book. I was puzzled. The only book I've ordered in the past year was the debut novel of my good friend @dreemit. I've spent months eagerly awaiting its arrival, yet my brain couldn't quite comprehend that it was finally in my grasp.

It truly feels like I'm holding someone's dream that has been brought to life. I can't quite describe how magnificent it is. Even now, I'm lost for words.

I've started writing this post the moment I got my hands on the book, but I stopped midway because the words elude me. It's only now that I realize that it's because words alone aren't enough to give just to the emotion. A mix of pride, gratitude and sheer happiness for another person's accomplishment.

So, I gave up trying and just leaned in to my surrender. This post is a celebration of @dreemit, and I just wanted to be able to post this before Christmas.

To my sis who doesn't miss (any target she sets her eyes on). Always keep on dreaming and believing! The world needs more dreamers like you, and anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend!

One day, it'll be me beside you in a photo!

I didn't have time to make a proper holiday post, so I guess this qualifies as that haha! I hope everyone had a happy holiday!