Why I'm Open-Sourcing My Website!

I’ve open sourced this website! I was a little anxious about doing so because it exposes all the bumps and imperfections. Here are the reasons why I did it:

1. Learning in Public §

Open-sourcing is one form of learning in public (another being blogging). As a concept, learning in public deserves its own blog post, but I’ll just list a few benefits as applied to open-sourcing the website.

• I’d like to improve my work, and open-sourcing it increases the chance that someone provides useful feedback.
• Learning in public results in a larger body of work that can open up opportunities and that one can point to as reference.
• Maybe someone will find a use for my code.
• Helps me practice being in public, as well as expressing myself.

2. Lightweight Commenting System §

My site already has enough of a footprint, so I didn’t want to add more by introducing a heavy commenting like Disqus. Instead, I found utterances, created by Jeremy Danyow. It’s a lightweight commenting app that hooks into your github repository, and only works if your repository is public!

Edit: I have now moved to giscus, a similar system!

3. Exposure Therapy §

After years of mental health struggles, I’ve finally found therapy systems that work for me long term, and that I can continue maintaining on my own. These are ACT, DBT, and CBT. By exposing my work and thoughts to the world, I am practicing some of my values (ex action, courage, completion) ala ACT, attenuating anxiety ala CBT, and regulating emotion ala DBT.