Such an inspiring article. It's kind of impossible to not want to write something great after reading your post here. Also, "Steemmates" must be the smartest term I have read in a while, will definitely plagiarize that one off of your article ;)

The thing I could add that has helped me greatly in connecting to people on steemit is not browsing the "trendy" things, but instead search steemit for your topics of interest. And then comment on what you find, even if the article is months old. Chances are, you will build your tribe effectively because through your passions you will automatically connect to the right people, who probably have a high chance of being interested in your stuff as well.

as for progressing:

It can not be repeated often enough, it's like learning any skill: the beginning is tough and many people will give up. Only the ones who pull through the tough beginnings get to come out successfully. and it's probably perfect that way.

Starting to play the guitar will make your fingers hurt, your arms cramp and nothing will sound remotely like your rock heroes - it's frustrating to say the least. And then, after a few weeks if you stick with it, you notice you kind of get the hang of it, while many others have dropped the instrument because it was too much work ;)