I launched tinyo11y today. There is already a blog post explaining why I want to build it. But here I want to write down why I really want to build it.
Steve and I are expecting our first child in October. As I become closer and closer to being a mother, I felt a desperate urge to prove to myself that I am still a maker and I can still build things.
This is obviously laughable. Countless women have proven that an additional identity as a mother does not overshadow their other core identities. But I was not sure.
tinyo11y is the biggest, most complete project I have ever shipped myself. It took 3 months, 168 commits, 7k LoC, and about 70 hours of focused work. I did it alongside of a demanding full time job. Overall, I am quite pleased with the result, and that I did not give up in the middle.
The fact that I did not give up in the middle gives me a small hope that the idea has legs. I guess we shall see. Even if I only end up getting a trickle of users, the plan is that is enough to keep me busy and iterating, during the 6 month maternity leave.
(This is obviously laughable again. Countless people have told me that I would want to do nothing, and could do nothing, other than caring for my child during that period of time.)
But you know what, like the popular saying goes, "My feeling is valid", and my struggle is real. At least right now I've addressed my anxiety in a productive way, and I pat myself on the back for that.