David Gray

When we pay attention to the loudest rather than the most informative-- when we stop seeking information based out of our own curiosity, and simply just accept and engage with that which is presented, we waste our potential as conscientious, creative beings. I saw it, and still see it happening daily, and I know you see it, too: an unchallenged habituation of picking up that phone or navigating to your favorite sites on your computer for instant gratification, for affirmation, or for low-effort entertainment. We become addicted to the digital junk food for our brain, and we've been doing it for so long we hardly even notice our addiction. In the before times I used to have an attention span. I used to read. I used to take the time to collect my own thoughts and write things down. I missed that, so instead of allowing myself to mindlessly scroll I decided to create my own content. I decided to create my own custom blog.

I put this together because I didn't like what I was becoming. I also got sick of the lack of choice when it came to sharing my life events with people on the internet. I no longer wanted to be the product, nor did I want to be manipulated by some algorithm. I just wanted to share my experiences without being exploited. I mean, why, with something gifted with such unlimited potential as the internet have we all just accepted a few major players as vessels for our thoughts, our creations, and our memories? For this project I wanted to minimize as much as possible any external ownership, so instead of just creating content on Medium or Substack or even using a platform like WordPress, I decided to roll my own. After all, the very first blogs were just straight HTML, and I want to bring back that spirit of democratization, of ownership.

In the short time that this site has been live, I have found a new addiction. It is a much healthier one than I had before. I have become addicted to patient contemplation, to crafting what I want to express rather than just swallowing or regurgitating the thoughts of others. There is one thing I know for certain based on this new experience: it feels a hell of a lot better to produce than to consume. Pour the gravy!