What does autonomy mean to you, over the years I had to deal with bouts of depression. The one thing I know will likely trigger a downward spiral in my mood is a feeling that I have no agency in my life. Building my own site gives me agency over something that I feel is important, and that is how people see me on-line.

I'm not doing a great job of showing that right now, because I don't think the site is how I want it to be, yet. But, It's mine, and I have the option to make it into something I can be happy with. When someone comes here I want them to get a sense of what I'm about, what it is I do, what I could be.

A lot of people who advocate for indie-web principles say they want the web to be more like it was in the '90s. Well that's something to aim for, but you got to remember back then websites were crap. Don't get me wrong we were working with some very basic tech back then, and it wasn't like we knew what we were doing or what we could do. How many spinning skulls does one page need?💀 The shear number of "Under construction" banners, badges, and animations.😵‍💫

The modern web does look a lot neater, maybe we did lose a little creativity along the way, but the UI & UX got better.

If the aesthetic you're going for is lo-resolution pixel art more power to ya. But for gods sake it can be done with a design in mind. If you want big bright colours, nice, but learn some colour theory contrasting or complimentary matches that still leave the text readable.

Who am I to tell you how to design your site? I think mine looks like utter arse. It's nothing like I want it to be. But it's mine, I can make it as good or as bad as I want. Ideally it'd look like the most amazing site anyone has ever visited and I would be hailed as the next... I have no idea, I'm not a designer. What I'm getting at, if anything, is this is My content and My site, and I do love it.

Build you corner of the web. Show your awful designs. Write about how it go the way it is. Why did you list all your favourite pokemon and why isn't Charmander number 1? What is your go to way to make Ramen noodles interesting? And then tell me who inspired you, tell me why, when & where.

Having control over your data on the web is what the indie-web is about, not what it looks like. It's not about weather or not you have an RSS feed or support Webmentions, ping-backs or openGraph. All that is extras that make it easier for people to find you and interact with you. To let you know you've been seen, or not. It's up to you, you have control.

Being part of the indie-web, small-web, or a federated instance means having the autonomy over your content.

Stay Lucky 🤓