It hurts because I care.

NFT are the hobby I never knew I needed. Culture, art, community, entertainment, technology, and finance. Finance is just one element of NFT but sometimes it is omnipresent and all-encompassing. For a subset of the space that's all that matters.

That part can't hurt me anymore. I've been up and down the roller coaster. It's a volatile asset that's high-risk, high-return. Invest only what you can afford and stomach to lose. And be prepared to miss life-changing chances by a hair. You get used to it.

It's different for me with art. The financial aspect isn't why I collect art, but it's also more difficult to let go of art I missed. I'm not planning on making money from the art I collect, but there is always new art that I want. More art than I can afford. So if I want to continue to collect I have to sell other art I like. And I have to continuously evaluate: Do I like this piece more than the other 10 pieces I could get for it? Is the market a little too hot right now and I should exit into eth to be able to buy more later? What if I never have the chance to get back in? How do taxes fit into the picture? What if eth rises?

I appreciate the art and I appreciate the artist and don't want to distract from that by discussing price. Nagging about missing out on a piece feels entitled. I almost always had my chance and who am I to complain? I should focus on the positive. On all of the beautiful pieces, I do own.

But I find collecting needs a bit of obsession. Maybe even more so with NFT. In the end, the only thing collectors are paying, often large amounts of money, for is the somewhat emotional concept of ownership.

So I realized it hurts because I care. Here are my NFT - including the Gazer that is the subject of this Etch - that hurt the most and their stories. The ones that got away: https://deca.art/Maxorgel/the_ones_that_got_away

Those aren't the most valuable NFT that I missed. Not by far. They aren't the NFT I most wish to own either - although there is a significant overlap. What they are though, is the NFT that hurt the most to have just missed. The ones I really could have owned.

These are the what-ifs. What if I would have been online that one day? What if I wouldn't have been online that other day? What if I would have read a little more, understood a little sooner? What if I would have had a little more eth that moment, sold that other NFT a little earlier? What if I would have learned a different lesson from buying and selling and not selling before?

I will never know the answers to those questions. But I can try to reduce the chance of regret a bit by remembering the past. For myself and maybe even for others. But not too much. Because it hurts because I care.