Many of my fellow developers would probably relate to this: you built your own website during your time as a student and used it to get your first job or internship. Maybe you maintained it for a little while as you took your first steps into your career.
Before you know it, you haven’t touched that little website in years and you either keep telling yourself you’ll completely rework it someday, or you cut the cord and stop paying your domain name bills. After all, if you’re not actively looking for a job, you don’t really need it, right?
Well, that’s exactly what happened here. For a few years, this website wasn’t much more than a plain “under construction” page with some contact information.
So, what changed?
Digital gardening
About a year ago, I came across this video about “creating a digital garden” by Anna Howard. I wouldn’t do it justice by trying to summarize it in a few sentences, but she talks about keeping a “digital garden” for mindful media consumption, with tools like Obsidian or Notion.
This article by Maggie Appleton explains the general concept really well:
“[Digital gardens] are not following the conventions of the “personal blog,” as we’ve come to know it. Rather than presenting a set of polished articles, displayed in reverse chronological order, these sites act more like free form, work-in-progress wikis.”
This made me consider starting a digital garden as well, but none of the popular tools really clicked for me. Browsing Maggie Appleton’s website (where she also keeps her own garden) convinced me that I’d rather use my skills as a developer to build one than rely on a third-party tool.
The IndieWeb
I don’t remember how exactly I stumbled upon the IndieWeb, but it was love at first sight. The IndieWeb defines itself as a people-focused alternative to the “corporate web”. It’s a growing community of people building and sharing their personal websites, focused on having ownership and autonomy on the web.
Their principles strongly resonate with me, but to be a part of this community, you – obviously – need a personal website first.
If this kind of stuff interests you, I really recommend reading through this beautiful and interesting website by Henry From Online, “A website to destroy all websites”. In it, he writes:
“The personal website is a staunch undying answer to everything the corporate and industrial web has taken from us.”
To be clear, I’m aware that my job is very much a part of the corporate web. I just believe the internet should still be a public space where people can express themselves on their own terms.
Escaping the comfort zone as a developer
I started working as a front-end web developer in 2020, right after finishing my bachelor’s degree. It’s funny how – as a student – you feel like you’ve got a pretty good grasp on anything you’ve learned during your studies. Then you start as an intern or a junior in an actual company, working on real projects with experienced colleagues, and you realize there’s still so much you don’t know. It’s the reason why so many developers struggle with impostor syndrome, even after years of working professionally.
However, I believe you can still end up in some sort of comfort zone, e.g. by working at the same company for a while or by using mostly the same tech stack. It depends on your own learning mindset and the opportunities you get, of course, but the developer world keeps on turning, whether you actively try to keep up or not.
I’m in this awkward spot where I’ve realized I’m in a bit of a comfort zone (“I know what I’m doing”), but I still struggle with impostor syndrome (“there’s still so much to learn”). There are limits to what I can explore and experiment with at work. To really challenge myself and grow as a developer, I need to dedicate time outside of working hours as well.
Relaunching my personal website was a nice first step in the right direction. The next one would be to work on a few personal projects to grow and broaden my skillset as a developer, then document the process on this website to have a sense of accountability and motivation.
TL;DR
That’s a lot of words to say that I love having my own personal nook on the internet, while also using it to reflect my growth as a developer.
Thank you for taking the time to read my first blog post!