I can relate to that. I'm not interested in crypto-whatever and fear the moment where someones asks me how a blockchain works. Though I learnt quite a lot about how Steem works because I wanted it to work for me, wanted to know how to do the things I wanted. But it was a steep learning curve. And like you I never could have done that without communities. For me it was the Needleworkmonday and the German DACH-Discord. Both gave me kind of a homezone. NWM was a place away from all these crypto-gurus and gamers etc. and the DACH-Discord provided me with a place to ask even the most stupid questions :) I think in a way being part of a quite small community with a common language makes things easier. It's easier to find your place, your niche if you're only one of 1000 and not one of ten thousands.

In my head I know that Steem is money (kind of) but it doesn't feel that way. Perhaps that's the roleplayer in me, but SP is more like Exp in a game. Hey, they even talk about levels: redfish, minnow, whale. In the last fortnight I spent the equivalent of 15 Euros from my rewards to buy Steemmonsters while I would think twice about paying the same amount in Euros for something non-essential. Maybe that will change when I pay for something "real" for the first time with Steem: in August there will be a German Steemcamp where you have to pay with Steem. I started to put Steem + SBD away for that purpose into Savings - finally a use for that feature ;)