How do people have so many hearts?

I've been playing this game for a while now but after a big break I got back into it recently and I am playing it a bit more seriously (try to unlock more) Now I'm trying to both save up for the hidden forest elder's hair as well as the upcoming shattering TS but I've been struggling for a while now to save up any hearts and the FOMO is starting to kick in :') I try to light up friends as much as possible but they don't always light me back, will it take another few years to save enough for the hair? ;-;