2017 Year in Review: My First Two WordCamps

As 2017 comes to an end, I keep thinking about how this year managed to feel both fast and slow at the same time. So much has changed in twelve months that I wanted to stop and write it down, for a few reasons:

1. To remember the good parts and the hard parts
2. To hold on to the small moments I want to keep forever
3. To share the trips that opened a new world for me
4. To look back at the choices I made and what came out of them
5. To thank the people who stood beside me

Starting with thank you

Let me begin with the last reason, because it matters most. Thank you to my family, my friends old and new, my colleagues and everyone who encouraged me this year in ways big and small.

Inspiration comes from strange places for me. This year, a lot of it came from my 15-month-old niece, Aadiyah. She does not have a single tooth yet, but she refuses to eat baby food. She wants apples, fried chicken, cookies, guava, pomegranate, all the hard food you would think is impossible without teeth. And somehow she manages it. It takes her forever and it is clearly hard work, but she never gives up halfway through an apple. Watching her, I kept thinking: if she can do that, I have no excuse.

The year I found the WordPress community

2017 is the year I got involved in the WordPress community. I started working with WordPress products, and honestly, I struggled a lot at first. Everything was new: the products, the people, the way open source works. But every struggle taught me something, and slowly the struggle turned into confidence.

My first two WordCamps

This year I attended my first two WordCamps, and both changed how I see my work.

The first was WordCamp Singapore 2017, held at the Microsoft office. It was my first time meeting the global WordPress community in person. People I had only seen online were suddenly standing right in front of me, sharing what they build and why they give their time to open source. I came back with a notebook full of ideas and a feeling that I had found my people.

Then came WordCamp Jakarta. By the second WordCamp, I was not just watching anymore. I was meeting people, asking questions and starting to understand how big and how welcoming this community really is.

A new look for my website

I also revamped my personal website this year using Elementor. This new page builder is life-changing. For someone who is not a developer, being able to design a page exactly the way I imagine it, without writing code, feels like a superpower.

What I learned

Two lessons stayed with me this year. First, you have to keep evolving and exploring to grow. Comfort is nice, but nothing new happens there. Second, stay grateful, and show that gratitude to the people around you. Not just in your heart, but in a way they can actually feel.

Looking ahead to 2018

I am always excited for a new year, but 2018 feels different. Mostly, I want to keep going in the direction I found this year. At work, I want to keep building and learning. I want to go deeper into the WordPress community and give back more than I take. And in life, I want to travel more and see countries I have never seen before.

To everyone reading this, I wish you a happy and creative new year. See you in 2018.