Chris WiegmanIt’s been years since I really blogged on here regularly. Sure, I’ll get up a post or two every now and then but I haven’t really written anything since 2013-2014. The irony: for most of that time I’ve spent more time working on the code for this site than I ever have. These last few weeks, even as I’ve plotted and schemed to start writing more, I’ve put even more time to simply changing the site itself without a single post to show for it. This has left me asking why and, after even more time thinking about it than I’ve spent working on the site I think I finally have a descent grasp at what has been going on.
The fallacy of perfection
The first, and probably largest issue I’ve been facing is the fallacy of perfection. That is, if I see anything out of place on the site I cannot bring myself to write a single word until I fix it. As a result nothing ever gets written.
As someone who has worked on hundreds of projects over the years and even managed to build a few large products of my own the idea that it’s all or nothing, if you will, seems foreign to even me but it’s there. What’s worse is I’ve taken it past what is broken to also cover anything I simply don’t like or, more accurately, anything I’m not completely happy with. A perfect example of this is the theme for the site itself which I’ve completely refactored numerous times and tweaked far more over the last few months even as I haven’t managed to make use of any of it.
In other words, I’ve forgotten how to get things done and that all projects, this site included, are in fact works in progress. This is a lesson I need to remind myself of going forward.
Imposter’s syndrome
My second issue with blogging can be summed up in a single word: fear. Without a current project like iThemes Security or Better Google Tasks I’ve convinced myself that I have nothing worth writing about.
The truth of course is that is BS. I’ve spent numerous hours mentoring and helping other developers and other professionals in the WordPress space using the experience I’ve built over the last 6 years working with the platform. On top of that I’ve started projects such as Primary Vagrant and others that still teach me lessons on a regular basis that I can and should be sharing with others yet I’ve convinced myself I’m not worthy to write about any of it.d
We all have our own voice and each of our voices will resonate with others in different ways. It is that combined voice along with our shared experience that means we should not fear teaching or our own insecurities and should instead use them as a reason to write or otherwise express ourselves in our own way. This is a lesson I need to remind myself of lately.
The WordPress world is changing
The third reason I find myself blogging less these last few years is I often feel as if WordPress is the only thing I can talk about while at the same point finding myself branching out into other technologies such as I’ve done with Primary Vagrant and, lately, with a lot of code in Laravel.
As I’ve said time and time again WordPress is a tool. It is not, itself, the final product. As I’ve branched out so have others and the technologies I’ve been working with might not have the community around them like WordPress has had but there are still people who could benefit with lessons learned in the same manner as I do each time I wind up on another developer’s blog while searching for the answer to my own questions.
Of course, not all writing has to be about professional interests either. For almost a year now this site has been divided into “technical” and “personal” posts going as far as to having separate feeds, mailing lists, etc for each. As my interests in areas such as minimalism and others have grown there is no reason why my writing can’t expand into those issues as all.
It’s time to write again
So with all that… It’s time to recognize that this site will always be a work in progress (including the content on it) just as much as any other product has been. It’s also time to remember I have a voice and that voice doesn’t have to only about WordPress. I’m still learning every day and now I need to remind myself it’s OK and, in fact, good to share those lessons.
I can’t wait.