Well, that was unexpected.

Picture this: You're cranking out features, planning priorities on a design system, preparing for upcoming conference talks, watching the news closely to see how the COVID-19 pandemic is progressing and if your travel plans will be affected. And should you really purchase that inexpensive flight to Amsterdam now or hold off while things shake out. Suddenly. BOOM! You receive a layoff notice and magically have a lot more free time on your hands.

Yes, I am one of the masses that has been caught up in the series of layoffs and hiring freezes prompted by COVID-19. Admittedly, it's not the best way to be able to focus on personal projects, and it's not the first recession I've navigated through. This one is recession number four, and they all have their specific nuances and how it's shaped the workforce culture. That's a story for another time, though.

For now — while I take a look at my resume and start the search for the next great thing — I'm going to continue with the 100 Days of Gatsby Challenge and leverage what I learn to spin up a digital garden. With a design twist. Once this site is in an MVP state, I'll be noodling with some of the finer points, then looking at some older projects and will choose which will benefit from a refactor to use more modern tooling.

Now that this article is published, my digital garden is in offical MVP status! Hope you enjoy it... and if you want to hire me for engineering, design, or speaking, you can head over to my About page.