Hello Again, World
I’m strongly considering switching to a static site made using Hugo, which would reduce the technical complexity significantly while also allowing me to craft a more bespoke site, one that feels more personal.
Well, here I am, making good on that consideration, only three years later.
A lot has changed since last I wrote. I have a daughter now. I quit my job and started my own counseling practice. The United States is being systematically dismantled. Y’know, fun stuff! There’s a lot I want to write about, and have wanted to write about for some time.
What kept me from writing was not a technical issue, it was my big dumb human brain (which I say with affection).
See, my brain, as I’ve recently been reminded, does not like doing things half-assed. If I’m going to do a job that’s important to me, I want to do it well. When it came to my website, I had a vision of a fancy “digital garden” much like Maggie Appleton’s beautiful website. I wanted to earn some IndieWeb cred, inspired by handcrafted sites like Lizbeth Poirier’s Ritual Dust, and so I told myself that making this website well would mean writing all the HTML and CSS myself.
Dear reader, though I know enough HTML and CSS for that to be possible, the three years without results should be ample proof that it is not feasible, certainly not at this stage of my life. Like I said, I have a tiny human and a brand-new business to take care of, and have you seen how much is on fire right now??
I realized this week that I had backed myself into a stupid corner. I was aching to write, and telling myself that I couldn’t do that until I had built my bespoke, artisanal website was just silly. I was being silly.
So, here’s a version of my website that is not sporting a beautiful Spencer original theme, but is instead using something off the shelf (Congo), and, more importantly, is alive and running because of that.
Good thing there’s not some sort of lesson there.