Thoughts On a Public Digital Garden

Here are my current thoughts on this website in relation to other tools-for-thought I enjoy using.

Notes and blogs #

As much I love the idea of tending to a digital garden, I've come to the conclusion that I want to keep my notes and my blog separate. I have been writing in my Obsidian vault for a while now, but I don't think hosting all of my notes publicly can bring me, or anyone else for that matter, any value or joy. In my experience, digital gardens are fun to explore for a while, but I much prefer reading "traditional" blogposts. I think my are.na is a great public #second-brain. Anyone truly interested can scour through my channels and a get a good sense what I'm thinking about and what I'm vibing with. I'm all for working with the garage door up, but some notes are best kept private.

The main process to figure out is the pipeline from note to blog. Interaction-wise, it should be controlled by text only, no buttons, no extra formatting and ideally no copy-paste. Just type something into the note's Front Matter that automatically turns it into a blogpost. Or makes it public. I don't (want to) know what a blogpost is and isn't.

Website as a homepage #

My main goal is to use & reference my website (almost) daily. It is first and foremost mine. A tool for thought, but more generally a tool for digital being, or just for being. Just a tool. Not really a portfolio, not a SEO-maxed blog, not something you link to in your bio just to get traction on a new product. No bullshit. It can become all those things, and more, but slowly and organically, with new features emerging out of my actual use. The MVP is for me. Later, my website can become more inclusive and/or participatory. This website is my homepage.

Ways I Would Like To Use a Website #

Posting texts, mostly reflections on things I learned, made, read and done. They should be atomic, focused on a single topic.

Editing these texts continually. The posting is more of a start than a finish.

Opening a window into my life for anyone interested. Sharing up to date information about myself.

Presenting my work in a way that is easy to navigate and explore.

Tracking some metrics about my #rituals. Sport is good example - I want to have a place for marking PR's. Why do this in public? I think it will make me more accountable. Also it just seems like a cool thing to do.

Aggregating and categorising content from different places. Are.na + Obsidian basically, but in a structured, non-intrusive way. Linking channels on are.na to tags/notes in Obsidian.

Experimenting with the interface and interactions. Hopefully building a tag based search and general keyboard interface.

Principles To Keep In Mind #

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