What I Want from This Website

So I've had this itch to have my own website — a vague picture of what I want to do with it. I've put a lot of work into it already now, and as I now try to clarify my intentions, I am asking myself: what do I want to get out of this?

I want to grow in the practice of writing.

I'm a strong believer in the idea that writing is thinking. Writing articulately is invaluable, and it's something I'd like to spend more time doing. Putting a thought into writing is not the simple relocation of the idea from your head to words on a page, but indeed plays a critical role in the formulation of the thought itself.

Whenever I invest time in writing, I never regret it. The time I spend produces clarity and new ideas that may not have emerged otherwise.

I haven't been doing any writing in public, and I'd like to.

I want to stretch my comfort zone.

I have a hard time sharing work that I'm not perfectly happy with, and for me that makes it difficult to feel comfortable sharing much at all. I have an extremely critical view of my own work. It's so easy to see the flaws, shortcomings, and ever-present room for improvement.

I'd like to have a healthier view of this and be more willing to share things even if they aren't what I consider my best work, or that don't meet my highest expectations or desires.

I want to play my part in making the internet what I want it to be.

I believe that the internet has so much unmet potential, and a lot that's wrong with it.

I will be exploring more of what makes up the web that I love in a future post, but one element I value about the internet and would like to participate in is the free dissemination of useful information in a way that really allows the web to shine.

As I said before:

I want this to be my little corner of the internet that embodies the web that I wish were more ubiquitous. No ads. Just sharing a small part of my life with anyone who might be interested.

I want people to find it inspiring, useful, and educational.

Although I want to do this for its own intrinsic value and the value that I will derive from the process itself, I do want others to see and value it.

I think there is a lot of value in documenting the process of learning, designing, and building. I find that for some of my favorite content, the end result — or even the subject matter — is of secondary importance to me. The most interesting part is the deep exploration of the process. That's what I seek to create.

I want to learn from others.

Writing and sharing is a catalyst for learning. I believe that the process itself will be a learning experience, but I also have hopes that some of the learning will happen after publishing, too.

Sharing things on the internet opens one up to all sorts of criticism, and I welcome this.

I'm inspired when I see people online who have fostered and cultivated healthy and helpful communities that they can interact with and learn from as they share what they are doing.

The internet can also be a toxic place, with unbound negativity and nastiness. There is no shortage of people who are eager to tell you what you did wrong, how they would have done it better, or even why you shouldn't have done it in the first place.

My goal is to seek out, appreciate, and humbly consider valid criticisms. Ignore the haters. Don't feed the trolls.

I want to do my best work for myself.

For years as a freelance software engineer, I have invested myself deeply in the work of my clients while largely neglecting my own projects, ideas, and online involvement. This neglect has bothered me for a long time, and I'd like to do a better job of investing in my own personal work.

It's not that I haven't spent time on my own projects — but for the most part I have not seen them through to fruition.

I'd like to spend more time creating my own work, with this site being both a place to share it, and also part of that work.

I want to keep looking forward.

Most of the things I've been planning to post on this site are reflective in nature. I want to keep a healthy balance of reflecting on and sharing things that are now behind me, but to also keep pushing forward to new things.

Steve Jobs:

"If you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what's next."