letting go of the past

Olympus 35RC / Agfa Vista 200

I've had to let go of a lot of things lately. While renovating my place this spring, I took a long look at many items I'd be hoarding for years and decided to break the emotional link with them. It has been hard, but very liberating. Finally I have the room for that creative working space I've been dreaming about for ages.

For some reason, I'd also been holding on to a few things that didn't make any sense. I had been paying for Internet access in multiple ways. Like many people nowadays I love and rely on the Internet. I, however, have been on the Internet for a long, long time, since before it was a thing. Back then, you had to take special measures to get fast, reliable connections from home. I found that I had been holding on to some of these old ways of thinking about the Internet and technology in general. I had accumulated a lot of obsolete technology that though still worked, were now either unnecessary or inefficient. Those had to go.

Another good example is this very blog. Google bought Blogger centuries ago, but neglected it in favour of Google Plus, their social networking platform. Like many Google products, it is free. Kind of. It's main competitor is the also free Wordpress.com platform. To me, each platform has one thing that beats the other; Wordpress has the looks. The themes are just gorgeous.  Blogger on the other hand gives you full permission to advertise on your blog. Even though I really love the flexibility of Wordpress - via themes - Blogger has been my preferred platform over the years.  I think also that the archaic interface of Blogger appeals to my love of old things.

Prior to last week, I had customised this blog to suit my aesthetics within the limits it affords. There are many tweaks I'd love to make, but Alas! I do not posses the required programming skills to make these changes. Well, I do. It is the time and bother that I don't have. So, I found a look I loved, and stuck with it.

Recently, Google seems to have started caring about Blogger, all of a sudden. They have added some modern looking themes that are simple and responsive. That's HUGE for me. I have spent a little time picking one and tweaking it to suit my needs. At first I was reluctant actually. I promptly went back to my old look the first time I attempted it. See, since most of the content on this blog is based around photography(analogue photography in particular), I didn't think the overtly modern fonts suited the look and feel of the photos. I have since made some tweaks that look better to me. The main thing is that I am in a "letting go" mood. I am willing to try new things.  Embrace change. All that good stuff.

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