Hello, World!
This is the first-ever post on my website! I have been thinking about creating a place on the internet where I can publish things for the entire world to see, but have never taken the next step to actually do it. I always came up with reasons why I shouldn’t:
- I have nothing interesting to share.
- I may lose interest or motivation.
- It’s too much effort.
- No one will read this anyway.
As with starting anything, reasons to not do something are usually illegitimate, as they are just assumptions about what may occur once you start doing the thing. To know whether any of these reasons turn out to be true, one must try the thing. That is what I am doing now. I am trying the thing. And I have some reasons why I want to try the thing.
Why I want to do the thing
Recently, I have had the urge to actually create something that can be seen by other people. I create plenty of things for myself or those around me: little programs to help speed up some workflow, a sensor to measure $\text{CO}_2$ in the livingroom, a drawing to put away in a box. These things are rarely seen by anyone. There is something about creating something and sharing it with the world. You think about the outcomes differently, more deliberately. There is a sense of vulnerability, which I find can really enhance the effort put into the process.
Beyond sharing some creation, sharing thoughts and opinions about a particular topic may help one form those exact thoughts and opinions better. By choosing the right words and the right sentences, you need to think deeply about the topic or idea that you are trying to express. This can deepen understanding and solidify arguments. Maybe something I thought I understood well or strongly believed in may have some flaws that become visible when being formulated for others to read.
I am also hoping to strengthen my writing skills. It turns out, I actually write very little long-form content in my daily life. Usually my writing consists of four-sentence emails or four-word text messages. I write for myself in journal entries, but as no one (and I mean no one) reads those, there is little incentive to actually put effort into the prose and how I want to convey a message. Writing these posts should give me an opportunity to practice writing more clearly and understandably.
As a person who appreciates good design, I want to try my hand at designing something myself. In this case, this exact website! Designing a website, I found, is a great way to obsess over small details and tweak components to get it just right. This process brings me joy, and I can imagine that the design of this website will be something that I will be filing on from time to time.
Lastly, I hope that some of the things I share here can add at least a little bit of value to someone’s life. Maybe you learn something from here, maybe something here inspired you, or maybe you just enjoyed the read. My motivation to share things on this site is intrinsic, but adding value is of course always a positive side-effect.
My vision
I am super excited to start this journey, and my vision for this site is to have a central place on the internet that I can call mine. Here you will find things I learned, things I created, things I thought about, things I observed, things I accomplished, and just things that interest me at the moment. I plan to share writings about every fortnight and also add some other little things here and there alongside my writing. I will try to keep things up-to-date and factual, but as errors can always occur, please let me know about these and I will correct them.
Enjoy! Because I know I will!