#BLOGPHOBIA 3: Facing My Coding Fears
Written by Delta Moxie, ARWB Blogger of the Month October 2013

In the last #BLOGPHOBIA posts we’ve uncovered different phobias as well as identified when phobias or fears are an issue.

By writing these #BLOGPHOBIA posts, one untold fear keeps showing up for me. It’s my fear of learning to code. Like many fears in my life, it shows up as something I resist. The more I resist something, it negatively shows up in my brain as, “I don’t know nothin’ bout coding and I don’t want to know nothin’ ‘bout coding.” {If seeing that in writing grates on your every last nerve, believe me it sounds worse in my head.}

Know what happens next? Coding shows up everywhere. I turn on the TV….there’s a story on Google and all of their world-changing coders working in their fantasy office jobs. I listen to NPR and someone is talking about coding. Click on my favorite site, Arkansas Women Bloggers, and there’s Tech Adventure Club’s Sarah Daigle Scott’spost on…you guessed it…learning to code. I had to read her post. I had to watch the video. Wow. Maybe my beliefs have been unfounded because I was inspired.

I am a person who loves a challenge and finds learning new things exciting.

Then, as if she were in my head and was personally reaching out to me on cue,Jeanetta Darley of The Splendid Things tweeted this:

I took this as a sign from the universe and registered for Code Academy. I even completed the first few exercises. Intrigued, my seven-year-old daughter helped me. We then registered her on Kahn Academy and she jumped into some programming lessons. She was immersed.

Instead of fearing and resisting coding, a seemingly simple shift in my thought process provided the place where I’m allowing it into my life. Give me a spoon and I’ll feed myself some code alphabet soup.

Where will learning to code take me? I don’t know…but I’m open to the possibilities. I mean, maybe one day I’ll be able to improve my blog and even make my header bigger all by myself. It’s one baby step, or one spoonful, at a time.

Thanks to this community of women who generously share their knowledge.

What’s next? I’m considering completing a CodeAcademy course a day for Jacqueline Wolven’s Do Good Work 30 Day Challenge. This will be my third month with her Do Good Work 30 Day Challenge Facebook Group and a coding course a day would fit for me. You can read about the challenge here.

If I gave you a spoon, what would you consider attempting? Share your process of overcoming resistance, fears or phobias. When you resist a fear or phobia does it show up everywhere, like it does for me?

Thanks for reading #BLOGPHOBIA 3. You can find Delta Moxie on Facebook here, follow on twitter @deltamoxie, Google+, and tumblr.