A Whim, Two Days Late
Written By: Zachary Kai » Published: | Updated:
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- Reading Time: ~3 min (at 238 WPM)
- Word Count: 763
While I abhor plans and get myself into holes of spur-of-the-moment decisions…
I'm participating in Blaugust this year.
Perhaps I'm not fulfilling the requirements, because I didn't post an announcement or anything until today, which is two days into the challenge. Granted, I only decided around 3:00 this morning, when I woke up and couldn't for the life of me get back to sleep.
Since I'd already posted last month's IndieWeb Carnival entry on the first day of August, perhaps that counts? Since the requirements have changed, I don't have to post every day.
Why Daily Challenges And I Don't Get Along
I've attempted various daily challenges, from Inktober to Weird Web October last year, and I've often struggled to finish doing something every day. Perhaps due to lacking mental discipline, but also a constant need for novelty and a tendency to rebel against even the most gentle of rules, whether I imposed them on myself or someone else imposed them on me.
The Case For Constraints
I'll admit I still love structure.
I've found the best creativity comes within constraints, and my life is easier within them, which is why I only make my zines out of secondhand material (except when printing them.)
It's easier to work within constraints than within unlimited possibility, as intriguing as that seems.
Same reason my site is static HTML, with a few PHP scripts for automation.
No static site generators. No JavaScript. Nothing against either; they're excellent. But I don't want to retool my site for the seventh time, because I know I would if I allowed myself the option.
Reiterating this in public is another way to stop myself from even contemplating it! Social pressure does wonders for many things, which is why it's very potent.
The Actual Prompt
That's a long preamble to this post's topic, from Nerd Girl's wonderfully constructed group of prompts: what made you decide to blog this year, and what are your personal goals?
Many things I attempt in life are on a whim, no specific goal comes to mind. If I had to make one…writing's always good, and participating in the personal websites community is also always good.
Being provided a structure to do both at around the same time is even better!
What The Indie Web's Given Me
I'll be honest. As someone who struggles with socializing, maintaining friendships, and feeling judged sometimes by different facets of society due to the choices I've made in the way I live…
I struggle with groups. They're overwhelming in many instances.
So I really appreciate how life-giving discovering the indie web community's been. I know I'm not the best at consistent engagement. I'm flaky, I take forever to reply to emails, and I don't always do what I said I'd do. I'm sorry for that. I'm trying to work on it by clawing back the number of things I agree to, and the contexts in which I agree to them.
But the indie web community means everything to me. I wouldn't be who I am now otherwise.
Why Blaugust, Specifically
The other part of that question was: why did you decide to do Blaugust this year?
The only reason is that, as the lovely Keenan once said, essentially you have a good friend or someone you admire doing something and your immediate urge is to want to do the same. For me, it was the lovely people in a group chat I love reading but don't participate in as often as I'd like. They were discussing joining Blaugust, and I'd never heard of it before.
There's Always Another Corner
It's amazing how you think you know everything about the indie corners of the internet, and the next day you wake up and discover another other facet.
I was transcribing a podcast interview (which will be soon) which mentioned the community who writes on their websites about math. I had no idea that was a thing!
But of course it's a thing. Why did I think it wouldn't be?
It's brilliant how the internet is forever evolving, so there's always something new to discover. Which is perhaps why I like it so much: there's always new interesting things. You never run out of things to do, or people to meet, or wonderful things to discover. It's a gift.
The Short Version
The summary is: I thought it'd be fun.
I'd like to write more often. I'd like to engage with the lovely folks with personal websites more often. And the group chat I'm a part of unintentionally encouraged me to do it.
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Tags: personal · reflection · blogging · indieweb · community
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