Closing One Door, Opening Another

As the old saying goes, when one door closes, another opens. In this case, I was the one closing the door on what I had been doing for close to three years: exploring the live streaming sphere for alternative platforms that I could share with others.

I've spent close to a decade live-streaming in one shape or another. From the early days of showcasing family-friendly games that I could share with my daughter, to reviewing indie games, to switching fully over to finding and sharing the alternative platforms that would be of interest to other creators who have become tired of the major players in this space. From Owncast to Peertube, and many other platforms in between, it's been a great ride finding these gems.

I've been struggling recently to get content produced on a schedule that would've been conducive to my own needs. Unfortunately, over the past several months, that wasn't to be. I had to take a good look at what was making me happy with this path, and deep down I wasn't finding anything that I was content with.

This is where I decided that perhaps it was time for me to just walk away from it all. My passions were leaning more in a direction I had been enjoying for a few years lately: spending time out in the garage woodworking. I enjoyed the feeling of actually building something and had already finished several pieces I use constantly. You might've seen some of my work during my past live-streams. The storage cabinets that make up my background were some of my earlier work, along with the Murphy bed that's attached to it.

My desk is another project I worked on that I wanted to do. With a purchased set of plans, I made some additions and changed a few things that made it a bit more custom for the space where it sits currently.

I started all of these projects without much knowledge of woodworking and learned as much as I could. Are there some mistakes and imperfections? Sure, but that is all part of the process, and getting that feeling of seeing all of your hard work come to fruition is the best feeling to have.

The Path Ahead

When I was contemplating what I should be doing, I kept asking myself what would make me happy. As I mentioned earlier, this was bugging me over the course of a few months. Starting fresh with a project that was completely different in many ways is what was needed.

Learning to go fully into the minimal aesthetic by using just my phone for recording videos out in the soon-to-be workshop is the best bet for getting back to the roots of just creating again. I'm still taking what I've learned over the course of these many years, but getting to the basics of what actually matters the most: documenting the journey.

The Maker Dad

This is where I present my newest project, The Maker Dad. My new home for documenting my journey as an up-and-coming woodworker. My personal thoughts on the processes of creating, learning to be a solopreneur, and sharing my experiences along the way.

The Maker Dad is me and my personal journey. I'm taking my time and being more intentional about the content I publish. I've already created a new YouTube channel for this new adventure, where I'll post what I'd guess would be considered vlogs. The written blog posts will be more in line with my thoughts on different subjects relating to being a maker and creator. This isn't to say that I'll never post tutorial content ever again, more that my main focus is on the physical making of the projects I want to do.

The Podcast

I still intend to go forward with the new podcast I had been planning, The Makers Table, but only changing a few things with it going forward. Making it more about being a maker and the experiences in these interesting times.

Moving Forward

I'm excited to see where this new path takes me. There's something incredibly grounding about working with your hands, creating something tangible that didn't exist before. If you've been following along with my live-streaming journey, I hope you'll stick around for this next chapter. And if you're new here, welcome to The Maker Dad. I'm looking forward to sharing the builds, the mistakes, the lessons, and everything in between. Thanks for being here.

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