An Ode To My 5000 Followers
You’re proving the world wrong every day, and I love it…
The months and years kept passing, and I kept writing. No one told me to. Sure, I received encouragement along the way, but plenty have proven that encouragement is cheap, and its effects wear off near instantaneously. Looking back on the over eight years on this platform alone, I would have kept writing anyway. With or without encouragement, because as weird as it may seem, for me, it was never about writing, nor was it about the money, but the ability to express myself. I get struggling artists now. They can’t help it. I can’t help it. But it is reassuring to see that writing about the things that matter to me, still works.
I hadn’t a clue what I’d write once I hit 5000 followers, or whether I’d write anything at all. I kid you not, I am literally making it up as I go, I’m riffing, and whatever comes out, that’s what you’re going to read. All 5000 of ye. Well, those of ye who are still around, that is, but it’s definitely addressed to everyone who followed me since 2015. You didn’t have to, but you all found reasons to do so. To read, and express your intent to stick around. Don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t or decide at one point that you won’t. Whether you kept reading or you stopped, I’m sure you had your reasons. All probably valid, and it’s part of both our journeys. Yeah, both our journeys, because this is a dialogue, remember? Every article I wrote since 2015 was an invitation for dialogue. It’s really that simple.
I’m not selling you content. Not a single story of mine here is based on “what people are looking for”. Not selling you courses on how to use the very platform you’re reading this on, not selling you riches. If you’re a paying member, all I am selling you are stories that originate in my head, things that either inspire me, or frustrate me.
Some perceive me as a content creator and sometimes, to simplify things, I do refer to myself as one among others, but deep down I kind of despise that term. What I’m trying to be is a columnist on Medium or wherever life might take my writing. I talked about this briefly before. Writing for me is not about what people want to know, what the SEO muses might suggest I tackle that day or week of the month. Not a single article of mine cares about SEO. I write, I proofread, I hit publish. That’s the process.
I like to think of myself as an anadromous writer.
I swim against the current. Upstream like the Sturgeon, Salmon or the Hilsa. Look it up. Cool fish. I look at what everyone else does, and I do the opposite. I don’t write content. I write stories. That’s what I’m selling you. A little bit of me, in every story that you read here or elsewhere. All I can hope is that my readers love it enough to click and keep clicking and reading. And when they don’t, I’ll just shrug it off as not everyone likes me. 🤷♂️ Nobody does. There is no such thing as liking everyone. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sure, the extra money is nice. It certainly subsidises my LEGO purchases, and some of ye contributed to that. Not a cheap hobby, but it’s what makes me happy, so know that you made me happy. But money is like an erection. Sometimes you have it, sometimes you don’t. When you have too much of it, you have a problem. When you don’t have enough of it, you also have a problem. But I would have a much bigger problem if I wouldn’t have a place to write, a place to have the dialogue I so desperately need. And over the years, 5000 of ye decided to be part of that dialogue, or maybe just listen in from the sidelines, but it still warms my heart that you did that. Most of ye did that, knowing nothing about me. Some of ye even subscribed, and trusted me with your inbox, that I wouldn’t flood it with garbage. I honestly do my best, not to.
I’m humbled by each and every one of ye thinking, “hey, this guy’s stuff is interesting, I’d like more”. Because at the end of the day, I’m just a regular ol’ dude in the heart of Dublin, telling you stories about tech, software development, LEGO, accessibility and occasionally, writing — the stuff that I feel passionate about. Random thoughts that turn into articles that days or weeks later, get hundreds or thousands of reads.
I’ll admit that for a long time, I didn’t like how Medium called articles, stories. But I get it now. It only means something to people if it’s a story. Regardless of the topic, a little bit of us, the writer’s DNA, has to be baked into it. Content is for the unimaginative, stories are for the storytellers, the ones with thoughts to share. Well, I can certainly do that. I have been doing that for over eight years and 5000 followers.
I guess I’ll have to do this writing thing until I have nothing left to say. Fat chance of that ever happening… 😜
Attila Vago — Software Engineer improving the world one line of code at a time. Cool nerd since forever, writer of codes and blogs. Web accessibility advocate, LEGO fan, vinyl record collector. Loves craft beer! Read my Hello story here! Subscribe and/or become a member for more stories about LEGO, tech, coding and accessibility! For my less regular readers, I also write about random bits and writing.
