(This is adapted from a post I wrote for the Obsidian forum: https://forum.obsidian.md/t/lets-show-erica-and-shida-some-love/34704)
Hey everyone!
In the midst of our note-taking frenzy (and other geeky things we do with Obsidian/Dynalist), I thought it’d be nice to take a moment to reflect on our experiences with the app(s) and show Erica and Shida some much deserved love and appreciation for making the tools that have clearly improved so many of our lives! I’ll start. 
For me, it all started when I first discovered Dynalist way back in 2017.
Having hit a roadblock with Workflowy’s item-cap and limited features, I immediately fell in love when I started using Dynalist. The free version was already significantly better than Workflowy (at the time), let alone its paid features that totally rocked my socks off. (To this day Dynalist is still a rock-solid tool compared to a lot of existing alternatives.)
But what really connected me to this app, wasn’t the app itself. It was the people behind it, both the creators Erica and Shida, and the community around it.
When I realized this amazing tool was built by two fresh graduates like myself, my jaws dropped to the floor in admiration. Their synergy somehow made this front-end/back-end dream-team that gave us all these amazingly useful features that still blow my mind to this day.
Not only that, they were real people that answered our questions and took in our suggestions (and criticisms) and did their best to improve our user experience. Real people that, in turn, inspired a small but vibrant community that shared their knowledge and their goodwill with everyone.
Eventually, this success led the way to the next piece of magical software, Obsidian. Having experimented with Dynalist, they upped their own game to build something with even more mind-blowing wizardry, and this time, with the introduction of plugins, the outpour of ingenuity and enthusiasm from the community would make this app [[insert another magical adjective]]. The rest is history.
Erica and Shida, thank you both so much for all that you’ve done. The apps you’ve built, the communities you’ve inspired, and the lives you’ve improved and enriched.
I’m excited to see how it all evolves from here and what you have up your sleeves. But we must remember that you’re both full-grown adults now, with a totally new world of responsibilities (Erica is a MOM!!).
You’ve already left an amazing legacy (not an overstatement). So don’t push yourselves too hard, take care of yourselves and your loved ones. Adulthood is hard, and your personal lives take top priority.
And don’t forget, your community’s got your back.
