What I’m doing…

One of my goals this year is to develop my first web app and I thought it would be fun to look back on the progress I make over the year. So from now on, I will start to write weekly updates as the project continues throughout the year.

Over the past year, I started to journal which turned out to be one of the most impactful decisions I ever made. I have struggled in the past with voicing my thoughts, feelings, dreams, and aspirations out loud so I naturally was drawn to writing. Starting out was a bit difficult as I was new to the whole thing and had no idea what to write about. I tried using prompts at first and those helped me find my footing but I continued to use the same prompts everyday and they soon became mundane. I eventually transitioned into free writing and it has been great but I think more can come out of my journaling experience.

I am a chronic podcast listener and have started read on a more regular basis. I take in a lot of info, write notes, and sometimes expand on those notes in my current journal. However, I rarely revisit any of those notes or journal entries. It’s a shame because there is such good info in there.

So what exactly have I decide to build?

The goal is to create something that helps you remember, reflect, and learn things with purpose. Something along the lines of a smart journal. My idea is to have a place where you can write notes and the app will help you revisit those ideas throughout a period of time offering you a chance to journal about them and reflect on why something spoke to you. So many good things get lost in the overconsumption of content these days. I feel that myself and a lot of us are quick to throw ideas under the bed and forget about them far too soon. Ideas that might genuinely help you.

Anyways…

You may have various journals within the app. A dream journal or gratitude journal perhaps. These journals might have specific guided prompts based on the goal of your journal. You can add notes or ideas to the journals where they best fit.

The journal needs to be easy to navigate and simple. I just want people to write more about whatever it is they desire.

What I’ve done so far…

I started this whole thing off with learning a little HTML which was enjoyable. I spent a couple hours with this and did a basic HTML course and followed along in VS code. At the same time I was reading Levelsio’s Book “Make” and his philosophy revolves around just starting. Build with what you know and are comfortable with. For me, that is quite literally nothing. I have no experience with coding hence my reason for doing the HTML course. So after I finished the HTML course I was going to try and learn some CSS but instead opted for downloading Cursor. Since then I have fully relied on AI to build what I have now which is below.

Pretty amazing what you can do with this technology. I have found the most difficult part being the prompting. You have to be very specific and direct with what you tell Cursor AI to do.

There is still much to do not only with the frontend but the backend as well. I have not a clue what do with the backend and that’s okay. Just taking it day by day and focusing on one page at a time.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this and hope there was something of value for you.

Maybe something worth journaling about…