The Purpose of this Publication

I thought I’d write a quick piece sort of introducing how I decided to start this blog, what I’m planning to put in it and where I want to go with it.

A little over a year ago I made a commitment to myself to write a minimum of 500 words everyday. It was prompted by me starting at a coding bootcamp called MakerSquare, now rebranded to Hack Reactor. It was a new chapter in my life. An extremely intense few weeks where I was learning a lot, and so I wanted to track my experiences. But it was a private journal, meant only for myself.

It was tough at first since I had never done anything like this before. At first I often struggled to find the words I wanted to use but over time things flowed a lot more easily. I wanted to become a better writer and by staying committed I gradually improved. I even noticed how it positively affected my thinking and my conversations. So I kept the journal going long after I graduated.

But eventually it all started to feel like a grind. I felt like I had plateaued and the quality of my writing wasn’t getting any better. It became a chore rather than a thing I looked forward to. It became easy. And so I started slacking.

Something that appealed far more to me was something I called ‘Thoughts of the day.’ One day I basically started to posting things to Facebook during moments of ‘inspiration.’ They were a mix of technical, philosophical and interpersonal topics. Ideas and opinions that I had come up with that I felt were authentic and original.

It was much scarier than journaling because there was a chance people would actually see it and comment on it, and it was more challenging because I had to force myself to bring value to others. I had to make it interesting and relevant.

The response was very positive though and I even made some people uncomfortable with the things I was sharing. A few were even worried that I was losing my mind, mostly because it was so different from what they were used to seeing posted. It was an exhilarating feeling to be able to reach that many people in such an authentic way but it also made me take a step back and really try to figure out how I wanted to proceed.

So I made a Medium account and started writing a little bit here and there.

But it wasn’t enough. What I needed to do was similar to what I committed to doing a year before. I figured out that unless I was actually posting something every day and pushing myself to a higher standard, I wouldn’t continue to improve my writing.

But more importantly, I wouldn’t be able to express my ideas effectively.

Because the ideas I’m trying to express I haven’t been able to find elsewhere. And I feel like they are extremely relevant for the times we live in.

Technology is a big topic I keep coming back to. So is human nature. I also touch on fundamental topics in science and its applications, among many others. In a way I’m still trying to define the theme. My goal is to get people to think differently and more deeply about subjects that they might not normally give a second thought to.

But the ultimate goal is more constructive than instructive. I want to create a vision for the future that people use themselves. That they can build on, be inspired by and share with others.

Because I feel like the world today has become very destructive. Everyone is a critic. Everyone is placing blame and pointing fingers. Focusing on our apparent differences rather than trying to build bridges and understanding. Acting from a place of fear rather than hope or reason.

Hopefully someone will actually read what I write, but first I actually have to write something.

So that’s what this is: A commitment to write and post something every day.

To build that vision I’ve had that until now has only existed in my mind.

To finally make it real.