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Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?

Hello there! How did you find this? If you have stumbled into this post, it means you are curious to know about me, where I came from and where I am now. This is going to be a long post so buckle in.

My real name is Eric Scott Smith. I am (currently) 28 years old. I first stumbled upon gaia.com in 2007ish when my girlfriend at the time was way into anime and she introduced me to the site. I signed up and her and I would chat in rallies in towns when we weren't together. My first username was "ninja bojangles" or something like that. I was such a noob! I remember wandering around asking for donations so I could buy some fire sword. Wow. Crazy. After that girl and I broke up, I continued logging in the site though I began to cosplay as different characters from the Naruto series. I don't remember who I was at first. I think I was a generic ninja character and I always had kunais and ninja stars on my character. In real life, I was I was really getting into Naruto for the first time. I remember watching the first episode of Naruto Shippuuden and loving it. it consumed my life. I would come home from school, watch an episode or two, and immediately log into gaiaonline. I made some amazing friends on here. The saddest part is that I don't remember many of their names or usernames. If you venture into my other journal posts, you will see screenshots of all the people I used to hang out with over the years. Some of them I will never forget. iLord Orochimaru, Thotsune Miku, iCursed Sasuke, Nada Kyo, iNarutoxManga, Itachi no Danna, just to name a few! We would spend hours just chatting, cosplaying, posting, creating art, heaven knows what else! In real life I was a huge nerd. I was in marching band and was the brass captain. I had a few select friends and we were very close but my gaia life would take up so much of my free time. I used to mail in a couple of dollars for a few months to recieve the weekly (or monthly?) gift boxes. Later on, I entered in the cosplay arena for cosplaying as Jiryaia and won first place! I felt overjoyed that I was achieving some sort of recognition on this site. It was around this time that I began cosplaying as the character Pein. I loved the guy. It must have been because I was a brooding teenager or whatever but I really enjoyed this edgy character. I find this so crazy to admit now, but I even dated a girl from across the US who cosplayed as Konan on gaiaonline. Kendra, wherever you are, I hope you are doing well. I don't even know where half of the people I met on here ended up or if they will ever stumble upon this post. I really hope so. Even if they dont know it, they all made a huge impact on my life. Many of them even shared their phone numbers or skype with me and we chatted and got to know each other. Good times. I felt like I had established myself as the "unofficial Pein of gaia" even if I didn't really care for that sort of thing. I had a close group of cosplaying friends and they meant so much to me.

In January of 2010 I decided to take some time away from the US and go on a mission trip for my church. I spent 2 years in the country of Uruguay where I didn't have much access to the internet. Saying good bye to my friends on here was so hard and I remember legitimately crying for some time. I was 19 at the time so it's weird to think that I was so emotional for this site. I left the site and didnt log in for another 3+ years. I don't remember when I first came back online, but when I did, so many of my old friends had left! or maybe changed their usernames, I'll never know. Some even stayed behind and had sent me messages. I responded to some and didnt hear back from several. I must have spent 3+ hours going through my old posts and messages just basking in what was gaiaonline for me. It's so crazy to think of how much time had passed. Recently, I logged into gaia towns and went to what used to be cosplay town. It was deserted with no one there. It made me sad. It looks as if this site is on its downward decline. There aren't as many users as there used to be. I don't know what will happen. I just wanted to write down my thoughts for what my experience was like and how it impacted my life. Even though I was an awkward, shy, nerdy kid in High School, I always found myself coming on here and forgetting the world around me. It helped me find an escape from the world. Just look through my screen shots and art in my journal and you will see snapshots of my time and experience on gaiaonline. I treasure those moments both silly and serious.

Now it is 2019. More than 10 years have passed since my first log in. I don't know when my last one will be. I have been married for 4 years and have never been happier. I live with my sweetheart in Southern California in Anaheim and I am currently attending Southern California University of Health Science and I am nearly halfway through my program to become a doctor of chiropractic. I love this line of work. I love working with and helping others. I always have. I hope that everyone I have had the pleasure of getting to know on here is having a great and successful life. If you have ever interacted with me on here and would like to get in touch with me, please don't hesitate. I would love to hear from you.
My email address is: ericscottsmithdc@gmail.com
Peace and God bless.

-Eric
(Pein Rikudo)