A Journey of a Thousand Miles

For quite some time I’ve thought about adding a blog to this website. I’ve had the domain for a number of years and have intended for it to contain meaningful content, as opposed to merely facilitating my email address at my-own-name-dot-com. All the networking/career-building advice I’ve read has concurred with this intention. “Start a blog!” they said. “It will be fun!” they said.

But I’ve been stuck on too many particulars to get the thing off the ground. What should I write about? Technical stuff? Career stuff? Business stuff? Should I write about GIS or Java or .NET? What should the website look like? Should I use WordPress or design my own fancy-pants framework to show off my PHP or ASP .NET skills? What in the world makes me think my skills are worth showing off or writing about? How will I get people to read what I write? Should I share my blog posts on Facebook or LinkedIn? Do I really have the guts to do that? On and on the thoughts would swirl in my brain and I would get no closer to publishing this blog.

It was Lau Tzu, the founding father of Taoism who said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” I could sit here forever with swirling thoughts and a blank website, or I could take the first step and write a blog post.

One Step at a Time

So, here it is. I’ve taken a step.

The thing about first steps is they are often faltering. I have an infant son whose first step was ungraceful and didn’t take him very far. For a while, I didn’t think he was ever going to walk more than two or three steps without falling. But he had to start somewhere. He is now learning to walk down stairs. He is hesitant and reaches for an assisting hand before having enough courage to step down. He’s made a lot of progress from that first step, but he still has a long way to go.

This blog post doesn’t say much, other than: “Hey, I’m taking a step here!” I’m not explaining any deep theories of computer science. I’m not discussing the top five mistakes to avoid in a job interview. I’m not giving you any great take away. This is merely my “Hello, World!”

I could use some assistance from this point in order to make progress. So this blog post is also my hand reaching out. I’m interested in discussion with like-minded individuals, fellow travelers on this journey of a thousand miles. People who can help me make progress. People I could even collaborate with. (Maybe people who can teach me to not end a sentence with a preposition.)

A Good Traveler Has No Fixed Plans

Where is this blog headed? Well, it was also Lau Tzu who said, “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” “Oh great,” you say, “Now this will turn into the aimlessly wandering, never ending blog.” I hope it will be a little better than that. I do have certain topics to write about in mind: technical, career, business, etc. But I honestly don’t know where exactly it will go. It will grow as I grow.

And now… With a HEAVE! And a HO! And a click of the PUBLISH button… This blog is ROLLING! The first step has been taken.