I store this garden in my Github, and I push changes manually via Github Desktop. This means I can open the app and see at a glance everything I learned and gave thought to since my last sync. Evidence of progress in the diff.

My friend introduced me to the concept of digital gardens, which I found to be a useful medium for myself to organize my thoughts and record my learnings.

A digital garden is akin to a public and digital commonplace notebook. I love things like this: seeing and sharing not just the result of a project but the process of creation. The tangled and unrefined thoughts.

It was inspiring to learn the precise label for this practice, and to browse a curated list of various digital gardens . And so I commit to building this little knowledge base for my future self and anyone who happens to pass by. Posting in public imposes a certain level of refinement and accountability that is particularly effective in motivating me.

I expect this to at times be a jumbled, disorganized mess. My current (in progress of tagging) attempt at wrangling it all together is:

  • rock - something stable
  • root - notes on foundational concepts
  • seed - a starting thought, something with potential to sprout and branch into other rabbit holes
  • sapling - something more substantial but still growing
  • fruit - something whole, a project or a refined piece of writing, that is a product of everything else
  • leaf - one off, like notes on a piece of media
  • signpost - to aid in navigation

favorite digital gardens:

I have always loved finding little time capsules from my past; here’s to creating those more intentionally.

Side note: this is a fun, alternate application of the medium I learned about in a digital and experimental arts course, hypertext. Non-linear, link-driven writing and storytelling.


nice articles on the subject from bella