After nearly two years, I have dredged out my old WordPress site to begin posting once again. Those who read my previous work may notice that all my old posts are gone. They’ve not disappeared completely — they can be accessed over on my Medium page.
The new look and format of this site reflect the new direction in my life, both professionally and personally since I last posted on here. I’m no longer doing anything related to teaching and I’ve more or less moved on from freelance writing and the form of commentary I used to do (the reasons for which I’ll likely expand on in a future post).
Ideally, I’ll post a minimum of once a week – the range of posts I have in mind range from, in-depth commentary and analysis on datasets and other technical tasks directly related to my studies on the one hand. Other posts will be a more informal commentary on either news and issues related to IT, or perhaps general musings on what’s happening in the world and in my life. Overall, it’ll have quite a different, hopefully, more accessible and lighthearted vibe than the previous iteration of my WordPress site did. Now I’m no longer obliged to write like a potential reporter or website columnist, I’ll be free to write more honestly and candidly.
The majority of 2019 for me has been intensely inwardly facing, focusing almost entirely on study and establishing myself within the field of IT at the expense of almost everything else. This has been necessary to a large degree — transitioning from an entirely different field in teaching, with a great deal of uncertainty about the future has required lots of hard work to figure out a clear direction and make up for lost time.
I’m fortunately now well on the way to accomplishing that goal, having identified a professional niche (data analysis and business intelligence), established some contacts in the field and steadily learning the essential technical skills needed moving forward. Partially, this blog, which will double as a portfolio of sorts, is another step toward that end. Maintaining a regular, public blog and the accountability that comes with it is among the most powerful motivators toward this goal.
Bringing back this blog in a new format represents a first step towards finding a better balance between study and my personal life and to become more outward-facing once again. As I wrote for Ordinary Times recently, writing is a core part of my identity and one of my favourite pastimes. This new site will hopefully help me rekindle that passion for writing and blogging I once had.
Scott Davies 