On reigniting a forgotten passion
I was about 12 when I randomly encountered someone’s personal corner of the internet. I had no idea how I got there. All I remember was being mesmerized by the bright lights and vivid colors that hypnotized me into submission. I couldn’t take my eyes off it even if I dared. Under its pretty navigation side bar was a shining button that kept calling my name..
.. affiliates.
From one site to another, I started hopping around and travelling the small world of personal graphics site and networks. I had absolutely no idea what any of those meant, all I knew is that I loved it.
But I was 11 and dumb. An inspired little kid with zero understanding of what’s happening, just pure vibes.
Fast forward to more than ten years later, I graduated Computer Info Systems in university.
And I still don’t understand how they did it lol.(jk)
Discovering Neocities in this modern era was the biggest blessing 2024 bestowed upon me in its early conception. I’ve known about this site for months in 2023, but I’ve only felt nostalgia from browsing through the wonderful communities and personal homes. It was like I was transported back to my childhood days of wonder and curiosity.
It didn’t occur to me to create my own until I was forced to face the reality that I needed to something with my degree.
In other words, Neocities saved me.
I picked up visual studio, something I barely got to use when I was in school but always found cool. I opened a tab and searched for a beginning tutorial on HTML - how to actually start to be exact. I learned about the “!” trick for autofilling the code from scratch, and the rest is history.
So far I have 3 unfinished layouts. I’ve been enjoying designing and coding so much that I felt.. really content. I could barely go to bed that first week of coding out of pure excitement. I didn’t want to sleep I wanted to keep coding. My body clock wakes up earlier than normal feeling extremely exhausted because my brain could not shut the fuck up about it all night. I would toss and turn in the middle of my sleep half conscious, and immediately I would think of my website. There was not a single moment I wasn’t thinking about it. I rarely feel “happy” these days so I truly count the times when my heart feels like it’s about to burst butterflies.
I loved the feeling of trial and error; doing something until it finally works. The feeling of relief and excitement with little accomplishments and small steps seeing the fruit of your hard earned labor. Your messy baby (code). It was all coming back to me and I’ve never opened my arms wider than before to welcome it.
Though I stopped coding for a bit to focus on other projects like my blog and stuff, I still want to continue working on it. I have a new vision in mind that I want to pursue, so my main portfolio is under construction as I create the content I want to be known for.
I hope that soon I can finally share my own home with the world.