Why I set up my own website

So, I’m finally back to blogging.

My last attempt at keeping a blog was with 1Up.com (now dead). I started writing over there back in 2005, with posts mostly related to gaming and the few posts I made that weren’t always gaming related.

And then I stopped in early 2008.

I don’t know why, but user activity on 1UP was kinda going down — plus I found it hard to be regular at blogging. I’m not the only one. I know several people who got into blogging but never kept at it. Sometimes they quit out of boredom or they just never felt like sharing their thoughts anymore. Or they were just too busy. And it’s funny because despite this, people still come up with tools which make it easier for you to share with everyone what you are up to. And these new means somehow get people interested again.

I have a Twitter profile and a Facebook profile — so why did I buy 6 domains (2 personal and the other 4, well, I won’t talk about them right now) and pay $71 for hosting at JustHost?

Firstly, I’ve always wanted to get back to blogging. Secondly, I’ve traveled quite a lot in the last 5 years; taken a lot of photos and always felt like sharing my experiences with everyone (or at least whoever was interested in knowing about them). Given how often I Facebook-share my personal take on something or post some link I discovered online, I felt I had enough to post regularly on a personal blog again.

And I’ve always wanted my own domain.  Unfortunately, mithun.com is owned by some architecture firm based in Seattle so I just registered mithundivakaran.com and the domain you see above. Trust me, I tried every other good combination I could involving my name.

But why start a website now?

That has to do with work. As in, where I work. For the past 12 months, one of my biggest ambitions was to buy a house. Everything was focused on finding a good investment and then wondering about the finances. The pressures from family were annoying and the amount of work I was loaded with wasn’t helping ease my mind — but I had to live with it. I had a few job offers where I had to consider career longevity and funding for all the things I needed to procure as I reach 30 (I’m currently 27). But I was reluctant in moving to an organization where I knew I wouldn’t be happy. If there is one thing I’ve learned in the past 6 years is that, with a good job – money isn’t everything.

And then in October end, I finally had an good option to consider. It looked good and the prospects seemed fine. But it came with a catch. I had to give them a ‘yes’ immediately — which I couldn’t because I was asked to wait by the guys I currently worked for. The company was going through a pivotal moment in its history as well. New CEO (a promising CEO) but still, no firm strategy. And having spent my whole career life with this company, I was myself curious to know where the company was headed. It was disappointing to let go of what could have been something better but there was another reason. I was only 3 months away from completing 7 years with what is essentially, my first job.

A week after I let it go, things then got worse. News of layoffs, even worse news that what I’m working on would eventually get shut down. Worried faces everywhere, senior leaders themselves bailing out. It all got a bit too much. Nobody had any clue as to what would happen but then one day in mid-November — I just stopped caring.

The built-up collective frustration of losing out on a lot of opportunities (not just work, some personal too) finally hit its peak. I just wanted to get away from it all. Work, some people, e-mails, office politics, expectations, etc. I’ve wanted to travel abroad again, I wanted to click photos and instead hoping for some chance it would happen, I decided to make it happen. I had saved up enough anyway.

I was also contemplating buying a good camera for a long time. This year, first it was the Panasonic GH1. Then it became the Canon 7D. The reviews looked good and I had a chance to get it cheap(er) through someone I got to know via someone a friend at work knew. I paid for it, booked my tickets to get out of the country, bought my domains and paid for my hosting. All in the span of a few days. I spent a lot of money and since it was all on the card, never really felt the pinch of it all.

And voila. I’m back in the country and here is my website. I’ll be talking about what happened in between all the buying last month and now in the next few posts — and trust me, I do have a lot to talk about!

I hope this site grows. I hope people like it. But more importantly, I hope this site gets me somewhere. I’ll do my best to keep my readers entertained but please note:

This is my website. I will write about whatever I want and however I want. You may offer your feedback — but don’t expect me to change much. If you don’t like what you see, you may simple leave.

Peace.