Ok, so I’ve been struggling with this website. I’ve been hung up on what to do with it… what my intention is, what my purpose is, *really,* for keeping it. I’ve been struggling to reconcile the fact that what I’m moved to share these days is mostly not particularly related to what this site was originally about: long-distance hiking, van life, and cheap travel abroad. I’ve been hung up on worrying about SEO because I have a plugin that constantly reminds me I’m not doing it right. I’m probably gonna get rid of that fucking thing. I’ve been struggling with what to post and when. I’ve been struggling with posting, because the site originally had a black background, which I liked the look of, but meant I couldn’t just toss out a quickie post; I had to build it out in my theme, because the WordPress editor assumes a light-colored background, so posts would appear blank. So many annoying and aggravating barriers, so much worrying about how posts are going to land, which is the opposite of being authentic, and so the site withered, neglected, yet again.
Fucking Christ, this was supposed to be fun.
The reality is, all of these issues were really no more than a reflection of the confusion, lack of clarity, and struggle I’ve been experiencing in my own inner life the last several years, since SuperClassy the van-living, thru-hiking, public lands advocate was murdered by a vindictive ex, and I didn’t know who I was anymore, or what the hell I was supposed to do with my life, such a huge part of my identity lost.
It’s been a wild time since I found this little pueblo, nestled in the Colombian Andes, with its strong energy, and amazing vibe that lends itself exceptionally well, at least for me, to spontaneous mental and emotional healing. I’ve had so many earth-shaking and life-changing breakthroughs and insights since I arrived. All it appears to have taken was to allow myself the time and space to rest, and be here, where I am flowing in a way I’ve never experienced, and feeling healthier, happier, and more at peace than I ever have.
So, today, I decided I’d had enough. I’m frustrated over having marinated and percolated with this abundance of ideas, thoughts, and shares for so long; it’s time to start putting them out there. Where and how they land, frankly, is none of my business nor my concern, because when I sat down and girded myself for a long, drawn-out free-writing session around the question of what exactly the fuck do I want to do with this site, the answer came almost immediately, in one sentence: I want this site to be my external brain. Later, a couple of other things came up as well, but that initial knee-jerk response is ultimately it. So how others choose to think or feel about what’s cookin’ in my brain is on them. If *I* find it concerning, *then* we have an issue.
Then, I wrote down my perceived barriers to making this happen, and each of those more or less also brought instantaneous and fairly easy-to-implement solutions:
- It’s virtually impossible to make a post quickly and easily. Fix the site so it’s easy to post. (this post is my test run)
- I’ll post something that isn’t perfect. You’re just gonna have to plug your nose, accept that you are not perfect, and not everyone is going to love or even like what you post (or you), and do it anyway.
- I have too many ideas or things I want to share and they’re all disorganized +/or seemingly random. Welcome to having a brain! If it’s a quickie post, just post it! If it’s a more complex or in-depth share, start a note in Evernote and share it when you’re ready to let it go. Over time, the site will organize itself, organically.
- I have no idea where to start. Start with the next thing that comes up. Who cares what it is? Don’t worry about the ideas you’ve already had. If they’re meant to come up again, they will.
Post whatever you want, whenever you want…
Just start!
So, now I’m excited! I’m tired of clutching onto things I want to share like I’m fucking Gollum. Sharing will make me feel happy, especially since there are no deadlines – I can relax into that and have that fun I was promised in the brochure.* I feel like deadlines, too, are antithetical to authenticity.
I realize there are a lot of issues with the site. And as I start getting into actually posting instead of thinking about or wishing I was, it’s a given that they will eventually start to annoy my perfectionist ass, and I’ll fix them. At this point, posting is more important to me than, for example, fixing the Insta feed I’m probably gonna get rid of anyway, because fuck Mark Zuckerberg, and fuck Meta. A huge part of my motivation to get back into this site is my desire to exit the Metaverse, decentralize social media, and know that I can post whatever the fuck I want, and not only retain the rights to my own damn content, but no one can censor it to avoid upsetting whoever it is we’re pandering to today to protect our billions of dollars.
So, yeah. I’m here, I’m fucking stooooooked, and it’s probably gonna get weird. But hey… it is my brain, so if you know anything about me at all, it’s to be expected.
SuperClassy is dead. Long live SuperClassyAdventures…
Let’s do this thing!
* there was no brochure