I started writing on xyzdigital.com a few months ago. I didn’t and still don’t have a clear goal in mind, but it’s getting there slowly. I’ve decided I would like that page to focus on high quality and high effort posts. So far, I think only Exploring-Mozilla-Text-to-Speech lives up to that desire.

The first several posts were a helpful reminder how difficult it is to put actual words down from the swirling thoughts in the mind. Tonight my brain was uncomfortably active telling me to “write the next post”. The only problem is that I don’t yet have planned what the next post is. This spin-off is my attempt to keep the thoughts flowing with a much lower threshold for publishing. I hope to include all kinds of things here that I find interesting. If I’m willing to share personal things on Instagram or Facebook, then why wouldn’t I share things in a space that I actually own. This is effectively my public garden that you are welcome to walk through. If you find it interesting great, if you’re already bored, you know where the exit is.

I was asked recently, “why blog instead of just journaling?”. If I’m doing it now, than presumably subconsciously I have decided I prefer it over journaling at least for certain things. I think the bulk of it comes down to sharing. I could come to the most profound realization in a journal, but much like the tree that fell in the forest, if no one’s around, does it really matter? Part of that is maybe selfish, but the other part is wanting to share my experience on the off chance that someone can learn something from it. Any one that knows me knows that in a group setting I don’t really speak much. I find it difficult and exhausting to have to compete with others for “airtime”. Shift things to a one on one setting and you’ll probably have a hard time getting me to stop talking. I enjoy learning about others and diving deep in to what drives people and the thoughts they have.

A blog is more like a monologue. You, the reader, are not able to change the course of this “conversation”. You can stop reading, but that doesn’t change the words that appear here. Each word and paragraph has a small chance of triggering some thought or emotion for yourself. I have been doing a lot of reading lately. I listed out the books that I have read this year alone and it’s at about 20 so far. The focus has been pretty heavy on self-improvement and understanding humans and relationships. I felt and often still feel that I struggle with all of this. If I struggle, then surely others do as well. Each book helped me better understand the struggles I was having and how to handle. I’m by no means perfect now, but am a lot better off than I was just over a year ago.

The point of this post and this blog is to help me practice converting thoughts in to words. It is very much a prototype. Things will change, shift, and evolve. Posts may get rewritten or deleted as I better figure out what it is I’m trying to do here. My main goal is to get the words down as a first draft so it can be massages in to something that makes more sense. If you are still reading, thank you for taking the time out of your day. I value your time and you should too, if anything here doesn’t feel worth your time, remember you are not obligated to read it. If you have anything you’d ever like to respond to, you can find my email at the bottom of the page.