It’s being years since I have written anything here, or on any social media. My interactions were minimal, and my last post was in 2020. Years of silence, ideas floating around in my head but never making it to the page. This morning, as I watch the sunrise, my daughter still sleeping peacefully, I am finally ready to share why I stopped, and started writing again.
The Beautiful Pause
My world narrowed down to the most wonderful, demanding and captivating little creature - my daughter. The first few months were a blur with sleepless nights, precious moments and adjusting to the parenthood.
She is two years now, and watching her discover the world has been the most incredible experience. The way she points at airplanes, the way she pretends to be a bird or a lion, her curiosity at even the tiniest details, how she does the one thing we tell her not to and laughs after that, and finally the confidence in her eyes when she knows that her dad is right by her side - It is magic.
My focus was not on the world outside, but it’s entirely on her and my loving wife. And I wouldn’t trade those precious moments for anything.
The Comfortable Trap
Another reason I stopped writings is because my professional world has become ‘Comfortable’. Same projects, same challenges, same routines. I was good at what I did, my work was stable, predictable and stagnant.
Don’t get me wrong, the job was great and my manager was even more helpful. He encouraged and provided me with opportunities to grow, which I refused to let go of my comfort. I am thankful for that job I had and the flexibility it provided to be able to spend most time with my daughter.
Comfort is seductive, it tells you not to push yourself. While it is pleasant, it also meant that there wasn’t a drive to grow, reflect or write about.
The Social Media Fatigue
Ah, there it is, the social media. Remember, when it used to be fun? you used to scroll down the feed and learn something, catch up on friends and have some real conversations with someone? Those days are long gone.
My feeds have became an endless stream of digital marketing posts, clickbait headlines, and people pushing agendas. Everyone seemed to be selling something - a course, a lifestyle, a mindset. The real conversations I used to have with people, turned into watching a bunch of short podcast clips where everyone seems to be expert on everything. The genuine connections I used to find, got buried under layers of manufactured content.
The platforms that once felt like communities, now feels like advertising billboards where everyone are shouting, but no one is listening.
And then come the algorithmic chaos. A random social media algorithm decides that it is more important to show me a random person’s fake mansion than showing my friend’s first home purchase. I just didn’t felt the need to write anything meaningful that would just get lost in this chaos.
The Googly
For those from non-cricket playing countries, googly is a way of bowling where ball spins opposite way of what batsman’s like to expect. It’s a slang for saying when something unexpected happens. A alternative for curveball.
Life threw a googly, a layoff in the toughest of the markets. It is unexpected, sudden, and terrifying. I was in layoffs or job changes before, but this time it hit different. Hundreds of job applications and not a single response. Bills, payments were all stacking up.
Looking at job descriptions, and responses, made me question myself. Was I being relevant? The first few days were fine, thinking I would find an alternative soon, but after that, the next few weeks were dark. I started questioning my skills, my worth, my daughter’s future. Thankfully I found a new job of my liking.
But the entire experience made me reflect on myself. Professionally, when was the last time I was curious? When was the last time, I was genuinely excited? Where are my goals list? …
The layoff didn’t just take my job away, it gave me back my curiosity.
The Drive to Reconnect
While I was living in a bubble, or in Mr. Trump’s style " A Beautiful Bubble", the world around me kept spinning. New technologies emerged, new ways to think about old problems, and more communities being fostered around shared interests.
With what happened in past few months, it made me realize a need to be more connected - personally, socially and professionally. Instead of just giving up in the world of algorithmic chaos, be a part of making it better. Be a part of conversations again, sharing some genuine and meaningful interactions and learning.
What’s Next ?
So here I am, writing again, rediscovering the questions.
I am writing this on my blog first and then share it everywhere. It is intentional.
In a world where everyone racing to monetize on content, where platforms rise and fall faster than ever, I want to own my content. LinkedIn might be a professional network today, but who knows what it will look like in a few years. Twitter transformed into something unrecognizable. Facebook, it is heading towards the same fate as Orkut and Myspace. Tiktok gets banned at will. Instagram keeps changing it’s algorithm.
This little corner of internet, it is mine. My thoughts live here first, in a place that I control. If you want to find some real thoughts, my genuine reflections, they will be here, not buried in some platform’s feed competing for ads and attention.
I don’t know what exactly I will be writing about, but I plan to write about diverse topics, technologies and web development, philosophy, mythology and leadership, parenthood, …
All I know is I am excited again - to explore, to share, and to connect with others.
Thank you for being here. If you are in a similar place - someone just caught up in responsibilities, or someone who is just coasting professionally, or just feeling disconnected from the things that used to excite you - remember, it is never too late to start again.