My Blog is Dead. Long Live my Digital Garden

Since I started writing in 2017, I haven’t been the most consistent. Every year, I set ambitious goals to produce numerous articles, only to accomplish very little. Looking at the timestamps, my last entry was in 2020, the year of the Pandemic. From 2017 to 2022, I have only written 15 articles. This is low on many standards and not what I envisioned when I began writing.

Upon reflection, the reason was not my lack of ideas. I have over 100 blog post ideas written down in Notion. If there’s anything I’m good at, it’s coming up with ideas and great titles for my blog posts.

However, I tend to spend an excessive amount of time writing and editing each article, striving for perfection. When I get tired or overwhelmed, I start tweaking the design or adding unnecessary features to the website.

I recently came across Rach Smith’s note on digital gardens, and it struck a chord with me. I have always referred to my website as a digital garden but never adhered to its principles. Whenever I set out to write, I get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work I seemingly have to do.

Yet, I’ve realized that the goal is to write for myself. If others find value in my words, that’s wonderful, but if not, that’s perfectly alright. It doesn’t have to be flawless; there’s no requirement for a minimum word count, an elaborate deep-dive, or intricate illustrations. It can be a brief snippet, a random thought, or anything that resonates with me.

Looking back, I’ve come to accept that very few people read my blog apart from myself. I rarely share what I’ve written, as I’m naturally reserved on the internet and prefer to lurk rather than engage. While I do receive some traffic, it is minimal, and most likely, it’s just me clicking on my posts.

I believe the main thing preventing me from publishing more frequently is perfectionism, overthinking, and fear of being judged harshly. By adopting the mindset of treating my site as a digital garden, I hope to overcome these mental barriers.

I intend to contribute my knowledge to the internet and share what I have learned. Consider this blog my public journal, a means of learning rather than striving for complete pieces of work.