Sjoerd Blom

No WhatsApp for a moment, suddenly quite vulnerable

Sometimes it does not take a major incident to realise how dependent you are. I only really noticed it when WhatsApp stopped working the way it normally does. Nothing dramatic. No sirens, no power outage. Just a sudden silence on the channel you unconsciously rely on for everything from “are you on your way” to “can you call me for a moment”.

I wrote briefly about it in Temporarily Without WhatsApp: How Fragile Our Digital Reachability Is. It was only half a day, but it felt as if something self-evident had disappeared. And that is exactly the point. Digital dependency only becomes visible when it falters.

A fascination with ancestry

As long as I can remember, I have been interested in my ancestry. Who were the people before me? Where did they come from? And how did their lives influence my own? Those questions became even more intriguing because my family ties extend far beyond the borders of the Netherlands. Not only within our own country, but also towards Hungary and Slovakia.

Introduction

I have been meaning to write something on my personal website again for quite a while. And, as usual, I keep promising myself that this time I will really pick it up properly. Only to publish nothing for months on end. By now, I know that pattern all too well. Still, this moment feels different. Not because I suddenly developed better discipline, but because the foundation of my site has changed. And that foundation brings a sense of calm.

This morning I decided to do some housekeeping in WhatsApp. Old videos, endlessly forwarded GIFs, voice notes I don’t even remember the context of anymore. All in all, about five gigabytes of data. Nice and tidy, I thought.

Until later that morning.

Suddenly offline

Out of nowhere, my WhatsApp account was blocked. No notifications, no chats, no way to send or read messages. Nothing at all. As if someone had silently pulled the plug.

Despite my work outside the internet sector, I continue to actively contribute to the WordPress community. Simply because I enjoy doing so, and because I like sharing my knowledge and experience with others. Over the past few years, I’ve worked hard on organising WordCamp Europe, which took place in Athens from 8 to 10 June 2023. Together with Evangelia Pappa and José Freitas, I spent almost two years preparing for the event. In previous editions of WordCamp Europe, my role was mainly focused on leading teams.

After a long period of weighing things up, I finally made the decision last week. I’ve decided to do something I actually wanted to do back in secondary school and that was almost 40 years ago now.

I’m going to properly get my chef’s qualifications. In September, I’ll be starting an accelerated chef training programme. Thanks to my experience in hospitality and as a chef, albeit without formal qualifications, I can complete it within a year instead of the usual two.