For a long time, I had wanted to have a personal website of my own. A place designed to my taste, where I could post writing and photographs and come back to them years later.
I tried a few times, but none of those attempts lasted very long. Since I didn’t know how to code, there was always a limit to how much I could change. Even with a ready-made theme, I would quickly get stuck as soon as I wanted to adjust the details. And learning how to code just to build a personal website felt like a slightly excessive detour.
There was another problem: what to write.
I liked the idea of having a website, but I was never quite sure what I could keep posting there. I would get stuck while building the site, then get stuck again wondering what to write. After repeating that cycle a few times, I usually gave up. My lack of confidence in my own writing also meant that some posts disappeared not long after I had written them.
This time, I asked ChatGPT for help.
With WordPress.com connected to ChatGPT, I could approach the whole process differently. I described what I wanted and asked how to make it happen. We worked through things one by one, from widening the content area and changing fonts to reorganizing the menu and separating the Korean and English versions of the site.
Most of my requests were not particularly technical. I would say that the spacing between two areas looked too wide, or that the indentation in the mobile menu felt excessive. I didn’t need to know the exact terminology. I could simply take a screenshot, point to the part I wanted to change, and explain what felt wrong.
Then I would look at the result and ask for another adjustment if necessary. I made surprisingly few changes directly in the WordPress settings myself.
Little by little, the website started to look the way I had imagined it.
In the past, I probably would have stopped whenever I reached something I didn’t know how to fix. This time, I could simply keep going. Compared with my earlier attempts, the whole process was much easier. I have no idea how many times I said, “Just one more small change,” though.
The smaller decisions were still mine.
I decided how to separate writing from videos, which fonts to use, and how much space to leave around the content. For the logo, I used the word “MOOK,” based on my name, and made the second O red. It represents the lens and flash of the cameras I use for photography and video.
For the short phrase on the site, I chose:
“Remember and reflect.”
That phrase was also suggested by ChatGPT, based on our previous conversations. It felt like a simple way to describe what I wanted to leave here.
Once the website was mostly finished, another question appeared: what should the first post be about?
I didn’t want to stop again simply because I had nothing obvious to write. Then I realized that the process of building this website could be the first story itself. I had wanted to do this for years but had never quite finished it. With the help of AI, I finally did.
That seemed like a reasonable place to begin.
From now on, I plan to slowly fill this space with thoughts about books I read, things I see and notice while traveling, and some of the photographs and videos I make along the way.
I don’t want this to become a site filled with grand explanations or perfectly organized information. I would rather it become a place I can return to years from now and remember what I saw, what I liked, and what I was thinking at the time.
I don’t know how often I will write here. I am not going to promise myself a post every day or even every week. Starting with that kind of promise somehow feels like an excellent way to stop writing altogether.
Instead, I will simply try to leave something here whenever I find something worth remembering.
A book I enjoyed.
A moment from a trip.
A photograph I want to keep.
Or a thought that stayed with me a little longer than expected.
The website is finally here, and so is the first post.
Now the more important part begins: not endlessly rebuilding the website, but slowly filling it.
This post, too, started as a draft made with ChatGPT and was revised several times. In that sense, the same tool that helped me build the website also helped me begin writing for it.
I imagine that is how I will continue using it.
AI can help with the process, but I will decide what is worth keeping.
And this will be the place where I keep it.
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