I started my blog again using Hugo

I started my blog again, with Hugo, on Christmas Eve. (Actually, it’s just a coincidence.)

Several years ago, I already owned a blog, built with Hexo, decorated with a carefully chosen theme, and armed with a comment system called disqus.

My previous blog

Unfortunately, For about 8 years, I only wrote 3 articles on it. The reasons could be various, generally speaking, the following ones:

Perfectionism procrastination

It is impossible to say there were no valuable ideas that came into my mind and that I wanted to express during the last 8 years. Every time it occurred, I would think: “Is it good enough to share?”, “It is really valuable enough to tell others?”, “Can’t it be better after a longer period of my thinking?”

In the end, it turned out stillborn.

Complexity of publishing posts using Hexo

8 years ago, GitHub Actions was not available yet. Publishing an article using Hexo required a lot of work, including writing, previewing locally, generating static files, and deploying.

So, my laziness was also a factor in not cranking out articles.

Failed to install Hexo on my new laptop

Yeah, this reason was the decisive reason. I just could not install the Hexo and recover the old writing environments after buying and switching to my M1 MacBook Pro.

By the way: I really want to condemn the disgusting npm all out. It is so rare that I successfully install all dependencies using npm without any problems about which I need to consult Google or Stackoverflow etc that I would buy a lottery ticket immediately when it does.

Reasons I start again

First of all, I conquered the 3 problems thereof.

In late 2019, I watched the open course Positive Psychology or Harvard Psychology 15.04, taught by Prof. Tal Ben Shahar. From that time on, I have been on an odyssey to overcome perfectionism (in the last year, it progressed at a blazingly fast speed). Up to now, I have the confidence to say that the obstruction caused by perfectionism in writing has already been kicked out of the way.

And I switch to Hugo, which helps me solve the rest 2 problems.

Desire to express

The desire to express one’s thoughts can be part of human nature. After clearing out all impediments, it emerged automatically.

Leave something in the world

Sometimes, I would think of the day I leave the world, no matter in what ways, naturally aging or unexpected accident. I hope I can leave something in the world.

Record my life footprints

A few days ago, when I read again what I wrote several years ago, I felt a sensitive attachment inside me, nostalgically laughing at how silly I used to be and how mature I am now if setting it against the old self.

I had to admit it’s an inarticulately wonderful experience that I want more.

So I decided to record my life more, writing whatever I want, recording without worrying about others’ judgments. And sometimes rereading them can be a nice experience.

(Transformation from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset can be a piece of evidence of how successfully I have overcome perfectionism. And this topic will inevitably be a large proportion of this blog’s spectrum of content.)

Help others if I can

If any of my posts can help others, I would be very grateful.

Reasons using Hugo

It cannot be simpler: I hate to use Hexo. I hate to use software written in NodeJS and love those written in Golang.

However, Hugo will not be the ultimate solution. Precisely, it is not a problem of Hugo or Golang, but of all static blogging tools. Due to its staticity, some richer features are not available, for example, the comment system or purchasing system, etc.

In the foreseeable future, I will write a blog platform using Golang(Backend) and Flutter(Frontend).

What I’m gonna write

It’s not a technical blog or programming blog. It’s a platform that I can write everything I want.

Therefore, any of the areas that I am interested in has the chance to be a topic.

So, hope you enjoy it.