web revival!
As I was internet sleuthing (idk what else to call this), I have found myself amongst a myriad of anti-corporate websites, forums, and even re-activated my old Gaia Online account.
Loads of nostalgic memories punched me in the face, and I probably spent about 3 hours just perusing it all, re-discovering YouTube poop, and overall, I am joyous at the creativity found on personal websites.
Throughout this search, I found the term Web Revival and whoa -- that's a pretty good description of what I have been internally craving!!!
From the site linked above, I have also learned about the term web crafting, and equally found resonance; a rekindling of what I loved about creating and customizing my own sites, forum profiles, and more.
I don't know how I found myself down this rabbit hole, but I'd like to thank my intuition for wanting to get off popular social media sites and to find a "better" place to gather online.
There's an excitement that's brewing within me -- I want to create a Neocities site and tinker around with what kind of spaces and sprite collections I can create.
(( Yes, I have found Dragon Cave again and have claimed 3 dragon eggs that I'd like to hatch. Please consider viewing them to help them not die. Thanks, hehe! ))
This whole fiasco started when I wanted to make an interactive text-based fiction game through Twine. I have been dreaming of a more creative and immersive way to offer tarot readings to interested parties, and thought that brushing up on some basic HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and gamified elements would make a fun experience.
Combined with lending my husband my PC while his PC is waiting for a CPU replacement (long story short: Intel 13th gen CPU led to degrading and constant crashing on his setup), I have been using my Macbook Air 2020 M1 laptop as my main computer and found myself in a much more creative headspace.
This type of challenge (losing my main PC setup and forming new habits with the MacOS as my temporary replacement) has done me more good than I could have imagined. Deep down, I knew my relationship with my PC setup was unproductive. I was constantly finding myself in old patterns that I've had for years, refreshing social media platforms and trying to stay updated on all the happenings there while simultaneously not feeling like I was posting enough to be relevant.
In a nutshell, this left me depressed, hopeless, and wondering why I couldn't keep up with consistently posting like I did in my younger years of marketing my brand.
Breaking out of my normal routine due to losing access to my normal routine, i.e. forced adaptability, always renders successful for me. While I logically understand I can make a new decision and form new habits all the time, it usually isn't until environmental changes occur that snap me out of the constant loop of same shit, different day.
When forced into the present moment because everything is novel again and having to find your swimming legs, sink or swim, I will swim until there's no tomorrow. And boy, did I swim hard, and now I have found refuge on an island or perhaps, islands that resonate with my inner child, expanding my creativity and permission to have fun, experiment, and run wild. Express and tinker for the sake of expressing and tinkering. The pure joy of it without worrying if it was falling under my brand expectations and yada-yada.
If it's not clear enough, I love what I'm discovering on these lands. I want to contribute to these lands in meaningful ways. If I'm understanding correctly, the best way to do that is to do what I'm doing now. Sharing my voice, unfiltered and unfettered, and learning new/old tools and transforming them into modern contexts and encouraging others to join along.
What I particularly enjoy is that people are friendly and open about resource-sharing, often linking and crediting to other like-minded people & places. It's not tough to find treasure and a sense of camaraderie even from internet strangers.
I guess it would be hypocritical for me not to include some links to people I've found interesting today...
There's so much more to geek about, but I feel content with leaving this as is for now.
New post tomorrow? I'll keep posting and experimenting so long as it feels fun and right. I hope to meet other Bear bloggers and follow along their journey, but I'm still so green to how this all works.
I did set up a newsfeed on Inoreader so I'll be able to check out sites and blogs that are interesting. While I have been around blogs since BlogSpot (now Blogger) days, I am embarrassed to say I never set one up before.
It's fun to learn new tricks despite these old bones. (Not that 30 counts as old... but with over 2 decades online, I might qualify as an internet veteran somewhere).
Ty for being here! ♥︎