In a way, this is total overkill for a static site. If I have the repo cloned on my machine and I want to publish a new post, I can do it in two commands: #+begin_src bash stack exec site build scp -r _site/ deploy@mrlee.dev:/var/www/www.mrlee.dev/ #+end_src It’s flawed compared to using ~rsync~, as it won’t remove existing files, but it does the job in less than a second or two.

Back when I worked at Typeform1, it really surprised me that they casually used a system of extrinsic motivation to reward good work, and to appreciate and recognise others. That’s a long-handed way of saying that they used a service called Bonusly2 and integrated it with the company chat app, which at the time was HipChat3 (hands up if you remember not using Slack?). We had an internal currency called Typecoin (TC)4 and you had a budget of 250 a month to offer to your fellow colleagues as an extra way of saying thanks, or shouting out.

A couple of years ago I enrolled in a coaching course with Coaching Development[^1]. It cost a fair whack and, even though I was unable to complete the course due to the severe decline in my mental health at the time, I still maintain that it’s the best money I’ve ever spent, and what I learned has stuck with me and essentially guided me towards a different path through life that I would otherwise never have taken.

I first ‘got into’ programming back in 2003, or 2004. I can’t remember the exact time, but it was at the point where Geocities and AngelFire were still a thing, as was Myspace. The in-thing was to host your own phpBB forum and, much like people will do with forks on github, branch off existing communities into your own ad-riddled alternative. I remember being involved in a few and, actually, a small number of them turned out to be quite successful.

One of the most wonderful things I’ve seen on the internet in recent years is our growing willingness to be vulnerable, together. I have to admit that this wasn’t really a ’thing’ for me until I’d read Daring Greatly by Brene Brown1, as well as Rising Strong2. As far as self help books go, I don’t think I would actually categorise them as such. Even LinkedIn these days is full of posts of people sharing their failures, admitting mistakes, dropping their egos, and being authentic with each other in favour of presenting a flawless persona.

It’s taken me quite a while to settle on a particular look and feel for this blog. Rather than just having an outlet for writing, I wanted the creation of it to be a learning experience too. Hugo1, Gatsby2 and Zola3, with Netlify CMS4 as a fancy interface for writing posts on top of it all. Each attempt left me feeling less inspired than the last. Eventually I stumbled across Hakyll5 and, after finding a CSS ‘framework’ that gave the appearance of a terminal UI6, I felt like I had enough to get things off the ground.

I’ve been no stranger to depression and burnout. The former is more or less something I’ve grown to become friends with, as bizarre as it sounds. And as dark and troubling as those times have been, at their worst, they’re equally the reason where I find myself where I am now, having experienced all that I have. I wish Trump didn’t abuse the words ’tremendous’ and ‘beautiful’ so much, because there can be great beauty in these harrowing experiences once you can look back on them and see how you’ve grown, changed, since.