42. What are the conversations you lurk around? #LifeWideLearning16@bhwilkoff
— Zac Chase (@MrChase) February 11, 2016
I want to be able to code.
I want to be able to start with an idea and make it happen by tapping out a few hundred lines in objective C or Javascript. I want to be able to look at what is going on behind the scenes of my WordPress install and know all of the reasons why my blog is loading slowly or causing my hosting provider to keep contacting me for hogging all of the CPU power on a shared server. I want to be able to make an app or extension that people can instantly use and find value in.
Instead, I hack things together. I copy and paste code and hope that it works. I string long and convoluted workflows together because I can’t build more elegant solutions. I fiddle with style sheets and send terminal commands at random to see what sticks.
It isn’t for lack of trying, either. I took coding courses in high school. I have started many a MOOC on software development. I have even paid to be a developer for the App Store and submitted a few things that I could figure out how to compile together from ready made services. This does not mean I know how to code.
Rather, it means that I lurk around code.
I read huge amounts of articles on Medium in regards to building apps and starting up companies filled with nothing but elegant code. I watch as companies compete for millions of dollars in revenue in spaces that I saw coming, but couldn’t pull the trigger on because I lack the ability to implement my own ideas. I have conversations about what I would build if I only could build.
I don’t blame others for this shortcoming. I know it is only because I lack the will to make it happen. I sit back and wait for others to program their futures. I will write mine in words and hope that a few hyperlinks, videos and workflows are enough to get me through.
