A Zettelkasten Adventure
The year is 2022, and after a long journey I arrive in the country I have been longing for. It's the 2nd of March and I've been on solid ground for a long time. It's not far from the beach to the next big settlement. Forum Zettelkasten is written on a big sign at the entrance to the village.
The street is a hive of activity. The people here seem very friendly and open. Small groups have formed on many corners, chatting animatedly. I approached them to listen to some of their conversations. They noticed me and greeted me warmly.
Unfortunately, I don't understand their language. Some words sound familiar, others are completely new to me. Now I'm standing right next to them. The word Zettel is repeated several times - the word I had already read on the big sign. I try to say it in my own language. They don't seem to understand me either.
Luckily I always have a piece of paper and a pencil with me when I'm out and about. I draw a few lines and some symbols. The joy is great. The others also know this way of communicating with strangers.
What does your journey look like? Do you have a map [1]? Where are you travelling from?
Reference
[1] Azgaar. “Azgaar’s Fantasy Map Generator.” https://azgaar.github.io/Fantasy-Map-Generator.
Edmund Gröpl
100% organic thinking. Less than 5% AI-generated ideas.
Howdy, Stranger!
Comments
You are a hopeless romantic, aren't you. :-)
It started on october 2022.
My journey did not take place on comfortable highways :-)
So many little streets traveled, so many dead ends.
A very zettelkastic voyage.
The spark was the need to have a syntax to express links in a software I was making.
I discovered the syntax of links in markdown. Good, I will implement it in my software.
Oh this markdown is beautiful, it is easier to write than html, it is almost plain text, let's study it a bit.
With which software can I write markdown? Let's see Logseq, Dendron. Mmm, don't convince me. Let's see this Obsdisian.
Beautiful software! It is what I have been looking for years to realize an old dream of mine, to represent my notes in a single hypertext system. Is seems very complex, I need videos for learning it.
Let's look for a video in Italian of Obsidian. However, there is very little. Let's see this video. They talk about Obsidian. Hmm, wait, who is this Andy Matuschak? Interesting. And this Zettelkasten, what the hell is this stuff? Very interesting. Where is it discussed? In this green colored forum.
So it began. Starting from a couple of square brackets, I met a thing that changes me a lot. Before that I was a victim of the information ocean of Internet, now I've restarted to think and learn.
My odyssey began with simple note cards and evolved into a lifelong exploration of wisdom’s intricate web.
The year is 1981, and I find myself at the beginning of a journey that would span decades, traversing through time and technology in pursuit of the ever-elusive wisdom that lies intertwined within the threads of knowledge. It started with the humble note card—a small, unassuming piece of paper, yet capable of capturing the vastness of thought. These cards became my companions, each one meticulously filled with the musings of great minds and the whispers of my own reflections. They were my gateway into the intricate web of relatedness that underpins all wisdom.
In those early days, the process was simple, yet profound. I would sit first with a fountain pen, then a writing machine, its keys clicking rhythmically as I transcribed my thoughts and discoveries. The act of writing was both a meditation and a method, a way to etch connections between ideas, to map out the landscapes of knowledge that I sought to understand. Each note card was a node, a point on the map, and as the years passed, the connections between them grew, forming a complex, beautiful tapestry of understanding.
As the world around me changed, so too did the tools I used. The dawn of the computer age brought with it new possibilities. No longer was I bound by the physical limitations of paper and ink. My notes, once confined to drawers and my beloved yellow pages, found new life in the digital realm. The first computers were like the early explorers of uncharted lands—clunky, slow, but full of promise. They allowed me to organize, search, and retrieve my thoughts with a speed and precision that was previously unimaginable.
And then, as the years rolled on, came the birth of „The Archive“—a name that brings a smile to my face because of the wonderful people creating it. This is no ordinary archive; it is a living, breathing system, designed for the Zettelkasten method, a way of note-taking that resonated deeply with my early practices. In The Archive, my notes were no longer isolated fragments, but part of a grander scheme—a vast network of ideas, each one connected to another, forming a web that mirrored the interconnectedness of knowledge itself and my vast field of interests.
The journey through the Zettelkasten is like walking through a well-tended garden, each note a flower blooming with insights, each connection a pathway leading to deeper understanding. It is here that I can see the fruits of my labor, the culmination of years spent capturing the essence of ideas, threading them together into something meaningful and enduring, wondrous and yet to be written further and further.
The year is now 2024, and I arrive at new destinations nearly every day — at places I have longed to reach but never expected to exist. On the last day of August, I find myself in a land that feels both familiar and foreign. The village before me bears the name „Zettelkasten Forum“, a name that calls to the very heart of my journey.
I very much like the energy of the place. Here, in this village of kindred spirits, I have found a new way to connect, a new language that transcends the barriers of speech. And so, the journey continues. The map I carry is no longer a mere guide; it is a reflection of the path I have walked, the places I have been, and the wisdom I have gathered along the way. Each note, each connection, is a step forward, a move towards the ever-expanding horizon of knowledge.
Perhaps you too carry a map, one that leads you through the landscapes of thought, the territories of wisdom, and the endless possibilities that lie within the Zettelkasten method.
The container ship on which I was a stowaway capsized off the shores of Zettelkastium in March 2021. The ship was utterly destroyed, and the dragons and seagulls who swooped in ate the supplies. I have no idea what happened to the crew--they could be here, they could have escaped, they could have drowned, or worse--I have heard nothing and don't want to think about it. The pattern of punctures to my container and, torn from what must have been immense talons, a hooked claw sliding on the floor, suggested that some accursed creature lifted the metal box off the sinking ship and dropped it ashore. The bottom of the container cracked open enough for me to dig my way out at low tide. It was covered in barnacles when I left. Since I made landfall, it has become difficult to stop writing, some outside the Zettelkasten. I have no desire to return home.
GitHub. Erdős #2. Problems worthy of attack / prove their worth by hitting back. -- Piet Hein. Alter ego: Erel Dogg (not the first). CC BY-SA 4.0.
@andang76 said:
I'm with you there.
@Martin said:
Very well written!
@ZettelDistraction said:
I know the place.
My notes indicate that I first caught a glimpse of the zettelkasten.de territory in 2015, probably via this blog post of Dan Sheffler. I had found Sheffler because he used some of the same apps that I used, and still use, for my work. I started following the zettelkasten.de blog, and I watched as the forum started in 2017, but it didn't seem like my scene back then, so I was just an occasional lurker from afar, as if I were peering at the territory through binoculars. Eventually I too ran aground, and it's been a party in the LaTeX Red Light District ever since.
Me too!