I started over. If you’re one of the dozen or so people, and-or web-crawlers, that frequent this site, it’s probably obvious without stating. Don’t mind the construction tape, things are going to be messy around here for awhile. Like a butterfly escaping from a cocoon of questionable stylistic design decisions a new Solsma Dev™ rises from the ashes. Look around – it’s pretty minimalist right? The focus of this site (and any site) should be on the content – any flashing lights or accoutrement only distract from le plat principal.
Check the date
Yep – it’s January 1st (2023 for interested time-travelers). The neighbors fireworks haven’t even stopped and I’ve already posted the most cliche “new beginnings” post of 2023 – but I promise, the timing was merely coincidental. I’ve been using my holiday break to refresh the old self-promotion springboard and today just happened to be the day I gave-up trying to refresh my existing site and decided to go tabula-rasa. And you know what? I should have a long time-ago. “Starting over” isn’t starting from zero, it’s the beginning of a new approach backed by the knowledge you gained the first ten-times through. Whenever I start-over on a project or an endeavor I’m always reminded of a story regarding Thomas Edison. Cue the flashback…
December 10, 1914
A massive explosion rips through the night sky of West Orange, New Jersey, almost as loud as the fireworks my Texas neighbors light off for every corporate holiday. Beaconed by the ravenous fire emanating from the cratered shell of dozens of industrial buildings, all of the local fire departments converge on the decimated (former) factory of Thomas Edison. Onlookers who join the unraveling hysteria find Edison already on the scene. To their dismay, Edison appears content, even… giddy? Charles, Edison’s 24 year-old son approached him with equal confusion only for Edison to wave him off, declaring: “Go and get your mother and her friends here, an outbreak of a fire like this in your entire life might not be seen again!”
“Although I am 67 years old and my strength has gone and I am completely exhausted to control the fire – it matters not; for tomorrow, I will start all over again ”.
Thomas Edison to a New York Reporter in regards to his factory fire
Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. Edison knew this better than most – just like Winston Churchill to whom that quote is attributed to. Now that I’ve reached my quotation quota for the week, I’ll sign off on this: starting over can be scary, but the fear is usually before the action, not after. You don’t need to have the giddy (almost psychotic, lets be honest) enthusiasm Edison had to start a new project, or revive an old project, or completely start over, you just have to start.
