Hi everyone! Excited to post here. I recently "retired" from full time software development to do my own thing. My post on why"I just don’t want to be a software developer anymore" was one of the more popular things I've written.
I have a large number of interests that I'm excited to pursue. Some people say I have too many interests and I spent a lot of time trying to be more "focused." Then I decided to accept myself the way I am instead of giving up on things I love.
As for making it work, it's still an experiment for now. I have savings. And a few freelance gigs. Plus a bit of passive income from Amazon Affiliates and the Medium Partner Program.
I'd love to explore writing here, what are people on here interested in? Maybe I'll just list some of my main interests and let me know what you folks like.
Shoemaking
I got into shoemaking a couple of years ago. There is a school here in Chicago where I went through most of their shoemaking classes, moving from sandals to more complicated projects like boots.
Here are the boots I made, if you'd like to see the process here is an album
My main goal for the apprenticeship is to develop a couple of products that I'd like to either produce myself or work with a manufacturer to mass produce. Mainly shoes, but I wouldn't mind developing the bag of my dreams either.
Day to day that means honing my skills in the workshop, practicing, and also reinforcing this by teaching classes (IMHO no better way to learn than to teach).
Food
I've been a food blogging for almost a decade now. I used to have a paleo diet blog called Hunt Gather Love. The problem with that is that the paleo diet fixed a lot of the issues I had (mainly chronic GERD, gastroesophageal reflux disease), and then I realized I could get away with not eating it as long as I didn't eat total garbage. Unfortunately a lot of people in that community are a bit religious about it to say the least. I mean I still think it's a great way to eat and mostly eat that way, but I prioritize pleasure a lot in my life which makes it hard to participate in diet culture. Maybe people are moving away from dietary puritanism though?
So I moved on to more "traditional" food writing, which made a lot of sense for me anyway since I have a degree in Agriculture. I was the Food & Drink editor at Chicagoist.com (RIP) for awhile. I had basically no guidance there so I just did random things to see if they'd work. I did longform and shortform writing. I also wrote a bit for NPR's The Salt.
My output slowed a lot around 2015 when I left Chicagoist. The main reason was I advanced in my software career. I got a higher paying more prestigious job, which later I'd regret taking because it would take over my entire life and make it difficult to have hobbies.
Now that it's out of the way I hope to write more about food. Sadly a lot of media outlets in this area have closed or cut back, so I'm exploring less tradition routes. Maybe here?
Spider Farming
I've loved jumping spiders for a long time. I find them really cute and fascinating. A lot of people do not like spiders or are afraid of them, but on the internet I've found an active community of people who love them as much as I do. I run a facebook group that has thousands of members and just launched a website on them.
This is "Little Grey" a bold jumping spider (Phidippus audax). I love her funny looking little "eyebrows."
Coding (as a hobby)
I started coding as a hobby so it's natural I'd stick with it even though it's not my day job anymore. I have been dabbling in a bunch of things to see what I like. So far I'm mainly doing React, specifically Gatsby. I've built a few sites with it and have contributed a bit to documentation. Besides that I've taught some classes and also do code review for people just learning to code.
One thing I've noticed since starting doing it as a hobby rather than a job is my mood is so much improved. I feel happier and more social. I think coding for 2-3 hours a day is perfect for me, I don't think I can do 8 hours ever again. But I do realize that this is a niche and I'm going to essentially have to invent my own career. I'd love to connect with others who have taken this path as well. I know a few (a lot inspired by the "Four Hour Workweek").
Self-Improvement
I love tracking data and using it to improve my life. I have a couple of posts I've been working on with dataviz. One about how I tracked everything I wore for a year to figure out what clothes were useful and which I could just get rid of. Another about how I approached online dating, I waited a long time to write that one because I wanted to actually be able to write it from a successful outcome (a relationship that lasts), which I am now able to.
Anyway, excited to explore here and to hear your feedback!
WOW - those are some widespread and very different interests - Guess you have a lot of stories to tell ;)
If you are into making videos (spider-farming sounds an awesome topic for that), you should check out @dtube - it's STEEM's youtube.
And if you wanna code for some open source project and get rewards - check @utopian-io!
Resteemed you via @welcoming, my blog for showcasing promising newcomers!
Greets, @theaustrianguy
You are one of a kind, welcome to steemit wishing you the best of luck! =)
Welcome on Steemit. I saw you are from Chicago! Beutiful city. I've been there at the end of October for the Obama Foundation summit. I will follow you. I think that can be interesting
You sure have some unique interests. I do think you have come to the right place with your interest in writing and coding. I just discovered The Writers Block yesterday and getting ready to send them my first piece to review. There seems to be all kinds of things for a coder to get into to, to make steemit a real community. I am also interested in reading your articles about self improvement. Something that I always have been interested in myself but never took the methodical approaches you have.
Sounds like you got a good mic of stuff to put out there on the blockchain looking forward to it !
Hey! Welcome to Steemit! This community is amazing but does take some getting use to since it’s a bit different than the other social media platforms.
I joined Steemit December 30th, 2017 and have had a blast networking, learning and earning (actually made some pretty good money so far)!
I will have to say that this is an extremely unique introduction, especially the spider farming. How cool is that? Looking forward to seeing your expertise and opinion on steemit!
Be sure to follow me @entrepreneur916 and Steem On!
Welcome to Steemit! I hope you have a wonderful experience on this platform. I’m also just starting out, pleasure to make your acquaintance. See you around! :)
Wow! You sound like a Fun Lady! 💃
Welcome Melissa
Hi! I’m super happy you joined Steemit! I’m brand new to Steemit and it’s wonderful to see other Steemian’s join the community. Keep posting. I’d love to see more ☺
Be sure to follow my account @zoewilliamson
Best of luck to you!
Great article about why you left coding! I followed you here, and on Twitter, too :) I look forward to seeing more of your stuff.
I love this part: "Some people say I have too many interests and I spent a lot of time trying to be more "focused." Then I decided to accept myself the way I am instead of giving up on things I love."
I can relate. As a Gemini, I tend to get excited about a lot of things, but that's who I am. I've learned to go with it, though I also have to work to focus (yoga helps).
I've followed you, and look forward to your posts! I'm brand new to Steemit, too. You can check out my intro post (link below), if you're interested in learning more about me. :)
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@katrina-ariel/hi-i-m-katrina-ariel-part-lioness-rebel-for-life-author-musician-and-yoga-teacher-i-smile-a-lot
Awwww.... look at you guys making friends already... this makes me so happy!
welcome to steemit! from what it seems you have a really full life! As far as it concerns the topics you can literally write whatever you like and want, it's not like the paleo community you said above so have no restrictions and one last thing
keep the spiders away from me :p
Ah..... you might be the most interesting person on this platform yet! The photo of your little spider is awesome! Apparently breeding insects is becoming a massive business... ladybug breeders can't keep up with demand!
Very, very excited about your posts to come! Keep up the good work, and network well and you'll do amazing! The photo with you and your shoes is so good.. so much fun!
Welcome to steemit !!
I hope you enjoy finding common issues with people and learning new things. you can follow my blog @jangkeum and even give me upvote ..
Welcome! Totally following you because you seem awesome. I feel you on not wanting to code in industry anymore. I left my full-time job over a year ago (which was on a fitness tracker, so I also caught the tracking bug). Now happily plugging away at web apps with my boyfriend but still need to figure out the whole income stream... would love to hear what you discover!
I never thought about having a jumping spider as a pet! They're so cute and I love playing with them so I suppose it makes sense!
Welcome Melissa !
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