It’s Been a While!
A recommitment to the discussion
I admit that I have let the ball drop on adding more blog posts for some time now. Part of it was due to changes in my personal life, part of it was to reassess the validity of the endeavor, and part of it (the largest) was my own laziness.
It can be easy to let a project die if no one requires you to do it, and yet you feel like you have to do it. Undoubtedly, much has been said about this in the productivity community, often termed "resistance." I have learned much from their advice on how to break past the "resistance," but at the end of the day, whether you end up getting something done and doing well relies entirely on whether you genuinely believe it is important to do. Whether you believe it is important simply because your job relies on it or because you believe in the work you are doing and the value it brings into the world, what you believe about your work defines the work you do (or don't do).
I still believe in this work. I believe it is good for me to practice my writing, articulation, and argumentation. I also think it helps me make sense of what I'm learning in my Master's degree in User Experience Design. Whether anyone reads it or not is their business, not mine. It is up to me to invest in my writing to engage with the industry's current trends. I am recommitting myself to dive back into writing with consistency and discipline.
Moving from dictation to dialogue
However, you might wonder, "If your goal to continue writing about UX is merely personal, why bother posting it online? Would not a simple Word Doc or notebook suffice?" Let me be clear, my writing is for my development as a critical thinker about UX, but ideas don't live in a vacuum, and lasting ideas are best formed and developed out in the world in a community of good thinkers.
…what you believe about your work defines the work you do (or don't do).
Sharing my thoughts in blog form avails multiple benefits. For one, published work offers new ideas, perspectives, and resources for others to draw from. It makes your work a service to others and more than a developmental project for oneself alone. For another, published work puts its quality to the test. Whatever is typed in private can seem pure and unquestionable unless submitted to the public's critical eye. This kind of accountability, in turn, motivates the writer to write more carefully and to get their facts straight and in order before publishing.
For these reasons and many more, I'm committing not only to keep writing but to keep writing in public. In fact, I plan to publish these posts in spaces where people frequent more commonly to engage in comments and discussion. I plan to start with places like Medium and LinkedIn, but I'll be open to changing or adding platforms as time goes on. I want the experiences I share to represent more than mere dictation. I want it to represent a dialogue with others who share the same interest.
For those who have read the blogs up until this point, I hope they have been helpful and enjoyable, few and small as they may be. I'm excited for what is ahead and how I (and even the blog) might grow as a result of this. I hope you'll join me!
