Why even write a blog?
So I'm starting a blog
The internet is full of blogs. They serve as an inspiring log of interesting projects, concepts and ideas. Reading someone else's carefully crafted thoughts helps me learn and reach deeper understanding. But why add another voice to the existing tempest of content?
I think writing a blog will help me focus. The internet has become such a messy place, jerking your attention left and right in myriad ways. Ads, infinite-scrolling, click-bait, AI-slop. Blogs have become a sort of safe haven, a refreshingly simple, slow and intentional space. They are little pockets of peace and quiet where individuals document their fascination with a topic. And it is this quality of blogs that makes me want to start one myself.
Writing doesn't come natural to me. Laying out my thoughts in a way that other people can easily follow them is not easy. I have written reports, papers, emails, documentation, you name it, but rarely with pleasure. Writing for the sake of writing therefore is a new thing for me. But I am convinced that writing structures my thoughts, and this structuring and the focus it requires is something that I want to train.
In the act of writing, I have to reevaluate my chain of reasoning. This is especially true when writing for someone else's eyes! Articulating something forces me to realize gaps in understanding. Or in the case of programming, I often find that while explaining my problem to someone, I often find the solution myself - a phenomenon known as rubber duck debugging. Writing thus allows me to discover flaws, inconsistencies, gaps and will ultimately strengthen my grasp of whatever topic I'm exploring.
This process also clears away the distractions that come with smartphone-centered life. Even though I've disabled most notifications, my mind gets distracted by my phone many times a day. My phone is a kind of black hole that I can sink my attention into, constantly. But when writing, although it costs considerable effort, this gravitational pull on my attention ceases, and what emerges is focus - focus on my deliberate thoughts.
This is precisely why I think exercising the skill to write is so relevant. It is for good reason that intellectuals and media are discussing the attention economy; obviously there is value in my attention. So if my attention is to be put to use, it may as well be for my own benefit.
Coming back to my initial question; why should I add another voice to the tempest of existing content? Because writing down my thoughts helps me structure my thoughts, understand what I think and allows me to focus in a way that is normally lacking from my life. I think I'll benefit from writing, that's why!
(Final note: while writing this post, I "lost" half an hour skimming the BearBlog Github repo. Clearly there is plenty more to learn in the domain of focus)