who am i?

hey, you found this.

i don't have a neat answer yet. this is a short note i wrote for myself, in case someone asks who i am and i want to remember what i actually meant.

how i think

i like taking a thing apart until i can say it in plain words. a new idea only settles once i can see where it bends. the smooth case is easy to describe. i pay more attention to the moment it stops holding.

i learn by making something small and then correcting it. reading gets me oriented. building is where i find out what i actually understood. i'd rather have a rough version in front of me than a perfect plan that never leaves the page.

i care about the details that change the result. i'm still learning which ones those are. most of the rest can wait.

how i got here

there isn't a dramatic story. i got curious, tried to build things, got stuck, and stayed with the next problem because it was more interesting than the last one. some of it was planned. a lot of it was just following a thread.

i'm early. a lot of what i know came from sitting with a problem longer than was comfortable, and from people who had already been there and were willing to explain it. i'm fine with not having the full map yet.

what feeds it

figuring out why something is confusing, including when the confusing part is my own explanation. if i can't say it simply, i don't have it yet.

making things other people can pick up. a clear note, a small demo, a repo someone else can run. that feels more useful than a pile of half-finished ideas.

time away from the screen. a book, a conversation, a walk when the work has stopped making sense. a lot of the useful thoughts show up there, and come back with me when i sit down again.

...

work in progress. intentionally.

— aditi