Why Part 1: Why not?

Most questions about the efficacy of creating one’s own blog will be weighing cost and benefit. Tom Scott’s Awesome vs Effort Spectrum comes to mind. A blog is not a large event or something which is good at forging permanent memories one can be nostalgic about.

I reject this utilitarian thinking. Although useful as employed per Tom Scott on what projects to work on, it can also be a masterful tool of procrastination in other hands and other contexts. The reality is, having my own blog has been on my mind for years upon end, but it has always been just below the surface of being acted upon. Only three semesters of university oppressing my creative muse have managed to corner my brain far enough, that it needs to let off the steam.

Not to say that this is a purely non-technical project. This is not a Wordpress blog with Drag-And-Drop UI elements. This was created by scripts, sweat and Hugo. And as such, it was and is a learning opportunity which has intrinsic worth.

Why Part 2: Verbalizing

Having my own blog, although one of the most prominent ideas of my early twenties, is and will definetly not be the only thing pummeling my brain. In true “never trust how you feel about your life past 9pm” fashion my brain likes to indulge in the “honeymoon” period of several projects right before I fall asleep. Notably, I seem to never get past that honeymoon period.

Thinking is easy, making is hard. Or in the case of purely literary projects: Verbalizing is hard.

Now I could of course just keep a diary or private note collection. But I’m afraid that will probably fail due to…

Why Part 3: Mitteilungsbedürfnis

German for “desire to tell others”

I have a great need to share what I think and create. I think there is a pop cultural idea of the shut-in academic who writes their manuscript for 10 years and only then releases it. Although there are isolated cases of that, most academics are still people (I think). The most well-known and studied form of communication for Enlightenment Thinkers was of course letters. Same for the Ancient Rome.

Having to translate letters of Seneca has given me an incredible feeling: It has been two millenia and I can still relate to these ancient people and their philosophies of life. I think most people who love their craft and especially people who like thinking really hard about stuff like talking to like-minded people. Yes, they like hearing from like-minded people, but they especially like being the one doing the talking.

This does not mean I’m in delusional enough to think I’m the next Seneca or Newton whose letters (or in this case blog) will be preserved for millenia to come. But it does mean that I saw how much fun they were having and wanted in on it.

A Warm Welcome

So I welcome you, reader. Let’s have fun! I’ll do the talking.