The idea of creating a personal blog has often crossed my mind, but usually in an abstract sort of way. There are many aspects of owning a blog that have appealed to me.
A blog could be:
- A way to share the knowledge I've accrued
- A source of encouragement to try something new
- A playground where I can mess around with personal projects
- The ability to learn in public
- A chance to become a dragon 🐉
I've toyed with the idea of creating a blog many times before. I've even go so far as to build out a couple of websites over the years that could serve as a place to host a blog. But until now, I've never actually written anything to put on them.
Always when I've considered creating a blog before, I've stumbled into the same problem.
What am I going to write about?
Well, to be honest, I still haven't completely answered that question. But at least I want to get started writing something.
Sharing Knowledge#
I think, perhaps, the biggest reason I've been stuck is that it is easy to feel like I am not enough of an expert in anything to be able to write about it. But I don't think this is a valid way of thinking. Teaching something to others is one of the best ways to learn it yourself. And besides that, why do we think that only experts have any value to give from writing? Many times, I have been helped along to a solution by someone who was themselves fumbling along. The only difference is, they decided to share that learning experience with others, so why can't I?
Plus, if I really think about it, I do frequently spend time explaining things I have learned to other coworkers. So perhaps having a location I can assemble some of that knowledge will prove useful. Maybe someday, I will get a question about something I have all ready written about, and I can point someone to that post.
But even if that doesn't happen, I think the creation of this blog is still a valuable exercise.
Trying Something New#
For the most part, I love trying new things. That's probably a large part of the reason I ended up as a developer. So anything that serves as an excuse for me to learn something new is exciting to me.
Development Playground#
This website will give me a playground where I can mess around with fun new technologies in a production environment. But more than that, I am excited about the chance to learn new things through writing about them.
Learning in Public#
Often, the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else. Writing down your knowledge will force you to organize and frame it in a way that will improve your own understanding. I don't know if anyone will end up reading this blog. But even if they don't, I still expect to find the exercise of writing articles here useful in furthering my own knowledge of the things I choose to write about.
And if someone ends up reading this, perhaps they will be able to catch some of the mistakes I will make, and I will gain another opportunity to learn that I wouldn't have otherwise had.
Becoming a 🐉#
Wouldn't this be cool?
Apparently this doesn't happen very often. Or so I've been told...
But at least I will get a chance to share my strange sense of hummer with the world. Perhaps you will find it amusing.