For over a decade I have written almost daily in a private journal, but the commitment to writing publicly every single day comes with its own benefits. I love the ritual of consistently and regularly clarifying my thoughts, and putting them where another human can read them. Because I create for me, I would continue to write even if this website had an audience of zero.

There is an interesting phenomenon that happens with creative works: When we create authentically, being true to who we are, our work is more attractive and appealing. Our imperfect ideas can become great hits when we create because we want something to exist. Conversely, when we put on a false self in an attempt to please others, our work suffers. Our resulting work is not true to who we are, and it can become devoid of passion or love.

If people like [the work of other famous writers], terrific. But if I set out to write that way, what would’ve come out would’ve been hollow and lifeless because it wasn’t me.

—Stephen King, Rolling Stone interview

You may have noticed that my website does not have a comment section, or any concept of liking, starring, favoriting, or upvoting. I don’t run analytics, and I don’t even check my CloudFront statistics to see which posts get the most views. I am writing for me, and I am writing to a very specific audience: The small group of people who want to read what I love to write about. I’m not interested in which articles resonate the most, because I’m not writing to resonate or drive page hits.

When it comes to your most important work, do it for you. Don’t let what means the most to you do be driven by the whims of someone else.