Why I'm Starting a Blog

The core of this post started as my own assessment of whether a blog was right for me. I clearly thought the pros outweighed the cons, and maybe you will too by the end.

Initial Hesitations #

The idea of having my opinions in the public domain never appealed to me very much. I convinced myself that blogs were reserved exclusively for experts or the very successful (and ideally for those lucky few in the intersection).

But like so many restless people in their 20s who feel guilty when they aren’t being productive, considering starting a blog was inevitable. Between reading Paul Graham essays and listening to productivity-focused podcasters (Tim Ferris, Cal Newport, etc.), I never really stood a chance. Maybe I was just looking for a new excuse to be productive in my free time. More likely, I just secretly wanted strangers to think I was smart. Regardless of the initial motivation, once I actually sat down and gave blogging a fair appraisal, the benefits started to stack up.

Deeper Understanding #

One of the main appeals is writing as a tool for deeper understanding. The process of breaking down complex concepts and articulating them in your own words forces you to really grapple with and internalize the material. Writing is thinking, and writing blog posts serves as an intellectual exercise to clarify thoughts.

This approach also encourages an iterative learning process. By regularly revisiting and writing about topics you’ve previously explored, you deepen your understanding and uncover new layers of complexity that you might have missed during initial studies.

Knowledge Repository #

We’re living in an era of overwhelming information flow, and it’s all too easy to read something valuable one day, only to forget it soon after. By starting a blog, you can create a repository for capturing key learnings and ideas in a more permanent way. While I don’t think this can replace a fully-fledged knowledge management system (like Obsidian), having a place to store writings you’ve spent more time on provides a useful view of what has been interesting or important to you through time. In the future, I’ll be able to look back on old posts and reflect on how my thinking and opinions have evolved over the years. Hopefully, future me won’t cringe too much at these earlier posts…

Building New Skills #

Usually, the more you do something, the better you get at that thing. One would thus hope that writing more often results in you becoming better at articulating your ideas clearly and concisely. Time will tell if this holds true for me.

In addition to the improved writing skills, a blog also provides an opportunity to learn a range of technical skills. This is an optional benefit since you could just use an out-of-the-box blogging service like Medium. As someone who likes to tinker, though, being able to experiment with front and back-end frameworks through the blog creation has been a fun and practical way to learn. This website started as a Dockerized Flask Python app, hosted on a Raspberry Pi at home (and accessed via Cloudflare tunnels). While this worked, it was a bit too cumbersome to add new posts, so I’ve since switched to a Hugo/Cloudflare Pages pipeline. See this post for why I chose Hugo and this post for how I set it up.

Going Public More Often #

There is value in making a habit of routinely creating content and shipping it into the public realm, regardless of how polished or profound it is. Too often, we hold back our opinions out of fear they aren’t novel enough, or wait to accomplish something “great” before sharing it. I’m hoping to overcome some of these mental hurdles by committing to regularly publishing posts here for the whole world (or even just 5 strangers) to see.

Another benefit of having a public presence in this form is the potential to connect with people with similar interests and passions. If you publish content regularly, you increase the chances of people discovering you and initiating unexpected opportunies. This could lead to opening of doors you did not even know existed.

The Bad #

Unfortunately, there are also some downsides to having your own blog. The 3 main ones that came to mind were:

1. Not everyone will agree with your views. This could have knock-on effects on your personal or professional life.
2. Having your ideas online means more room for misinterpretation or for your words to be taken out of context.
3. Writing posts and maintaining a blog can require a significant time investment, especially if you’re trying to write quality posts on a regular basis.

Conclusion #

Overall, I do think the benefits outweigh the potential negatives. I’m hoping that starting this blog will be a transformative experience for me. Whether you seek to improve your writing skills, connect with like-minded individuals, or simply share your thoughts with the world, blogging offers a unique and valuable outlet. If you’ve ever considered starting a blog, I encourage you to take the plunge—you might find, as I have, that the benefits far outweigh the hesitations.