Blogging again

In the olden days…yes, less than 20 years ago… I loved blogging. I loved thinking through my thoughts and writing them down. I loved being able to go back and see what those thoughts were. Work-related blogging brought me good attention when the blogging and design community was small and the amount of content low.

After a while, it just petered out. I was writing longer books, and working more. I had less time to just write. At one point I packed up my old work blog and redirected the URL to my company website. I miss that content – I might see if I can resurrect it.

I did some bits and pieces of writing here. I wrote a bit when I was thinking about personal development, habits and being more effective. I wrote up some great motorcycle rides. I liked doing that too. I liked telling stories, and while riding I liked thinking about how I’d tell the story of my day.

I’ve had a recent change in my work situation – I left a full-time job and am returning to freelance/contract work (at least, I hope I am). I have some book ideas that I’ve started work on, and I have a ton of article ideas. I’ve also thought it would be fun to share more of my sewing and weaving.

All that made me think about what blogging (or really, just ‘writing’) might look like now. It seems that most people are publishing in centralised places – Medium, LinkedIn and Instagram. I don’t love the idea of my content living on someone else’s platform, where I have no control over what happens to it long term (twice I’ve lost a significant amount of photos – once when Flickr shut down my account, and again when instagram did it). But that’s where people read.

Then I realise that for me, writing has never been about being read. Writing for me is figuring out my thoughts, documenting my experiences, looking back through them later. I don’t need to be in a central place, and if I do want to direct attention, I can still do that on the central places without the risk of losing control of content.

So. More writing. There will be thoughts on society, perhaps some philosophy, definitely some weaving, definitely some sewing. Probably photos of hikes in Melbourne. And whatever else I happen to be interested in that day.