Finally fulfilling a ten-year-old goal of starting a blog and posting something.

Today was the final day of orientation for ITP.  Thanks goes out to the residents for giving us great workshops on creating documentation and how to create a blog, then forcing us do it.

I’ve been wanting to since I started coding, but each time my fear of public writing has turned into infinite procrastination.

One of the biggest takeaways from this talk is that even if you build something amazing, if no one sees and learns from it, then it’s pretty wasteful.

Personally I’ve made many innovative things I’m proud of, and I should be sharing it with the world, in particular the process to get there and all of the learnings.

Why it’s important for me to maintain a blog:

• If I document challenges and solutions to problems that worked and didn’t work, I can revisit them in the future when similar situations arise.  Others can learn from this too, and treat it as a resource.
• When something is accomplished, it’s important to sit back and appreciate it, and getting in the habit of writing about victories in the blog is a great way to pause and do this.
• Most software is ephemeral - a blog that documents what was created helps make it last and maintain a legacy.
• To share and transfer knowledge.
• In the past, I created a content management platform that a company which was involved in the project copied, blogged about, then sold as their own proprietary product.  If I had written about and published what I made, this would have provided proof of intellectual ownership.  I plan on making everything open source.
• It will help me get better at organizing and communicating my thoughts and opinions.
• It will encourage me to check-in, become aware of, and note my state of mind during times of stress and joy.

I’m looking forward to opening up a new window into my world with you all.   Here’s to the new chapter on my adventures into the recently possible at ITP!