Why these notes exist

Hello there. This article is an attempt at explaining, to you as much as to myself, why these Notes exist separate from Articles.

Why do I like writing?

I’ve asked myself this question in the past and thought about it a lot. But I was asking myself a high-level question that is compromised of multiple questions, which didn’t help find a good answer.

• Why do I publish some of my writing publicly?
• Why do I write some things in private, and don’t publish them?
• Why do I write at all, as a hobby?

Each one of these questions has a different answer, but lately, I found myself thinking about the second one.

Why privately?

Some obvious advantages come with writing in private:

• Discussing feelings I don’t want to share publicly
• Freedom to explore ideas I’m not ready to commit to or share
• A safe haven, away from judgment

I find that a big reason I left many articles unpublished is that I’m concerned with publishing low quality, unedited articles. I call them articles for a reason, they should be of high quality, as good as I can make them within a reasonable time investment and my skill. I like to do things as best as I can make them.

When I was about seven I was cleaning an ancient, big disco player we had in our apartment. Why I was cleaning it escapes me.

When I was about to be finished, my father asked me if I had also cleaned the crevices. I had not. The disco player was made of wood and had many openings which were nothing but dust catchers. I wasn’t planning on spending time cleaning those, I was seven!

I remember vividly my father telling me that “if you’re going to do something, do it properly”. To this day I repeat this mantra to myself, which memory probably modified beyond recognition. I want the things I do, the things I show the world, to be as good as I can make them.

But not everything has to be of the highest quality, there should be a space for us to play, to be free-er from expectations, even if only our own.

These Notes are just that, an attempt at free form writing. A safe haven for me to express ideas without worrying about polishing them up, or polluting my main blog’s funnel, or whatever else excuse I was using that stopped me from publishing.

I’ve started reading about Digital Gardens, places on the internet where you can create without worrying too much about the outcomes, I think that describes this small part of my digital life quite well.

Notes are my digital garden.