Walk the Way
Posted in Personal Web, Psychology on March 25, 2024 by foreverliketh.is ‐ 4 min read
Image Details & Source
toddler’s standing in front of beige concrete stairึ by Jukan Tateisiึ on Unsplashึ
This page was last modified: March 25th, 2024
This post is part of…
IndieWeb Carnival:ึ A project helping motivate people to write more on their personal websites. This monthโs host is basement communityึ, and the topic was โAccessibility in the Personal Webโ.ึ
32bit.cafe Community Code Jam #3:ึ In celebration of its one-year anniversary, the 32bit.cafeึ is accepting submissions on the topic of ‘what has creating a website done for you?’.
Agora Road Travelogue - Mar:ึ A project attempting to encourage individuals to both write and exercise ownership over their content.
Finally, this post is Part 3 in my series on: The Personal Web [#1ึ & #2ึ]
The Paradox of Choiceึ
Whether your desire to make a personal website comes from exploration and inspirationึ, or innate motivation, eventually, rubber’s gonna have to meet the road. Unfortunately, when you finally do commit to the endeavour, you’re gonna be forced to make A LOT of decisions. Decisions surrounding questions you (possibly) didn’t even know existed, and each one with a cacophony of potential answers.
Monsters such as analysis paralysisึ, perfectionismึ and regretึ can rear their ugly heads and overwhelm us in these kinds of situations. Make us wish we had tools like spiceึ, or maybe a time machineึ, to fight them with. Anything to ward off feelings of frustration, anxiety or failure.
But, in the time I’ve spent creating this website, I’ve been reminded, again and again, of the wisdom in facing those very fears head-on. Of the beauty in trying, and stumbling, and falling and getting back up. Of the value in embracing adversity, in wearing your inadequacies earnestly and learning from them.
I Wan’na Be Like Youึ
Not to say that you have to figure everything out by yourself! Here are some strategies that I think are general enough to serve you as well as they’ve served me:
- Give yourself deadlines.
Whether you’re researching a question that’s got WAY too many answers, or trying to push out a blog post, having a time limit can do wonders for that ‘Just Do It’ึ energy.
- Find a role-model.
Or 2, or 3! A “mentor” doesn’t even have to be the person themself, it could just be their site. Webmasters L-O-V-E to talk about how they built their site, or, at the very least, they usually provide a way to contact them.
- Forest for the trees.
There’s A TON to learn in web development. So much, that sometimes I feel it’s too easy to get stuck in the weeds. For example: Topics like accessibility, while meaning well, can sometimes be too much for a budding webkeeper to handle. It’s valuable to remember that: There’s nothing less accessible than your site not existing in the first place.
~ ~ ~
While I wish creating a personal website was easier, the experience is a journey, NOT a destination. A website that is loved will never be finished. There’s fulfillment in the challenging, in doing ’things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard’.ึ
Or, as a friend of mineึ might put it: ‘Suffer the pains, not the chains’.
Contributors: Taoismึ | Rumiึ | Tarzan of the Apes [#1ึ & #2ึ] –> Tarzan (1999 film)ึ –> Phil Collinsึ –> Son of Man (song) [#1ึ & #2ึ] | Barry Schwartzึ –> The Paradox of Choiceึ | Frank Herbertึ –> Duneึ | Devon Avery –> One-Minute Time Machineึ | David Bayles & Ted Orland –> Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking | The Jungle Book [#1ึ & #2ึ] –> The Jungle Book (1967 film)ึ –> Louis Primaึ –> I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)ึ | Nikeึ –> Just Do Itึ –> Shia LaBeoufึ | John F. Kennedyึ –> We choose to go to the Moonึ | Theodore Rooseveltึ –> Citizenship in a Republic / The Man in the Arenaึ | Aaron Leonardึ
Syndicationึ: 32-Bit Cafe | Agora Road | basement community
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IndieWeb h-entry
Walk the Way
Published by foreverliketh.isึ on
A webmaster in time you'll be
The Paradox of Choice
