Now picture someone not quite as old as you, who missed that first wave of internet excitement. They&#x27;ve never had that excitement, and they&#x27;re the ones graduating college and going west now. I went out straight after high school, moved from the East Coast, did my tour of duty. It&#x27;s weird because at that age I had no idea what kind of life I might want to live; what kind of lives were even available to live, really. And I didn&#x27;t have the same dreams you may have had, definitely not the same inspirations.<p>All the aspects of the OP&#x27;s writing that hit me like a gut punch now were absolutely bog standard to me. Only once I&#x27;d left (largely due to depression and burnout) did I realize how far that life is from the life I want to live.