We can all agree it’s been a rough few years. Covid changed the world in many ways and as with anything, there are good changes and bad ones.
In many ways, I’ve been very lucky. All my people stayed safe and were able to work or retire. My job sent me to work from home early on and I have been there ever since. None of us had to worry about making ends meet and have made it through the worst of it. I’m extremely grateful.
In other ways it’s been a challenge. My home was an apartment with two elderly cats and a husband overseas. Lockdown alone was hard. Really hard.
I had too much time to think.
Which led to having too much time for realizations. Which led to a lot of conversations with myself. More arguments than anything else! Followed by emotional breakdowns.
But then… then I had time to put the pieces back together. Not just put them back together. I got to decide how I wanted to put them back together. That first year ended up being my own spiritual retreat and it was the best thing to ever happen to me. It gave me the chance to get comfortable with myself and my life. It’s a difficult thing to examine who you are as a person and evaluate every aspect of your life. But self evaluation leads to growth, and by the Gods, did I grow!
First I knew I wasn’t happy.
The biggest piece of that was my marriage. I had to end it and start the divorce process. As anyone whose been through it knows, it’s a long, hard process, even when both parties agree to it. This process is still ongoing.
Next, I had a lot of unhappy people around me and they were negative. Sure I was unhappy too, but I was positive and trying to improve my life. These people were pulling me down and holding me back. Some of them downright sabotaging my attempts at self improvement. I talked to everyone to express my concerns and hopes for better relationships. In the end I had to make some tough decisions and cut ties.
That first year ended up being my own spiritual retreat and it was the best thing to ever happen to me.
The worst part of it all was having to put both my fur-boys down.
Oscar (14) and Allister (18) died two years apart after getting old on me. They had good long lives, with me from the beginning. I loved them with all my heart, but they each came to the end of their journey. It was time for me to make that difficult choice all pet owners face eventually. I was with each of them right to the end. My heart still aches for their little head butts, paw grabs, mews and purrs. But I know they’re at peace and I treasure the time I had with them. They saved me so many times over the course of theirs lives. Their companionship and love will stay with me the rest of mine.
The little family I’d been building for years was gone.
I found myself sitting in the same, now empty, apartment and struggling with my mental health. Things became very dark for me. I was spiraling and I needed to find something to put my energy into.
I spent weeks trying to figure out what to do with my life. There were things I could study. There were skills I could brush up on that would help with my work, but none of those things excited me. So I kept looking. One day I came across a Reddit post about a middle-aged man. He was happy with his career but thought down the road things would change and he’d need to find something new. He wanted to start training in a new field in case he had to make a quick career change. He asked Reddit for guidance and almost every answer was coding.
There it was. One of those a-ha! moments.
And how the fuck did I not think of this sooner????
I love computers. I love learning programs and playing around with new things. I’ve played and dabbled with all kinds of computer related topics. From Basic coding in the 80s to html websites. I’ve used Linux systems and a ton of different open source software. I’ve even built PCs for fun! Give me a new program to learn and I’m like a kid in a sandbox (pun kinda intended!).
Then the question became… what could I do if I actually tried to learn?
The research began. I joined all the relevant subs on Reddit and read sooo many posts. I Googled. Read reviews. Compared programs. Then made a decision… Front End Developer, followed by Graphic Designer.
A second thought wormed its way into my brain… why not document the journey? Sure it’s mostly for myself, but others on the same journey might find it beneficial too. Down the road it might also be a way to showcase what I can do for future professional growth.
And you know what? I’m excited. Like really, really excited!
More excited than I’ve been about anything in a very long time. I guess that’s a good thing! I said I needed something positive to put my energy into and I found it. The current plan is to start with CS50 (Harvard’s online Intro to Computer Science). From there, I’ll move onto The Odin Project. Everything is free and online, so I can study at my leisure from home.
So here we go. The first steps. The beginning and the blog of my journey to learn to code. Buckle up! It’s going to be fun as heck! Or is that just me because I’m a total geek???
Have I mentioned that I’m excited?
Coding Blog
- posts coming soon!
Current Projects
Programming Socials
- Github: aFlawedUnicorn (coming soon!)
- Scratch: aFlawedUnicorn (coming soon!)