My first Obsidian anniversary came and went without me noticing. At first, I blogged weekly about Obsidian, creating updates on my effort to move 33,000 notations and journal entries from TheBrain (which I had used for 15 years) to Obsidian.
Eighteen months later, I stand at 7,695 files in my Obsidian vault and a documented movement of 7,201 notations from TheBrain. Apparently, I've added 494 thoughts and journal entries since beginning the transfer process. These numbers are soft, as I deleted all my keyword files (1,400) due to their lack of appeal in the Obsidian platform.
Obsidian's Graph View has attracted me more than most plugins, including core and community. I use the local view daily; however, it has been some time since I examined the universal illustration.
What a mess.
7,695 files in Obsidian Graph View. Screenshot by author
As I studied the interconnected lines, I concluded that my most active thoughts are the nebula's center of chaos. My articles (or books) source information links to reference notes, journal entries, or essays connected to blog articles. Each (most) is color-coded.
I became fascinated with the constellations hidden within the chaos.
Authors that I love act as independent suns in the surrounding galaxy (yellow with a white core).
Authors (white) surrounded by books I have read (yellow). Screen shot by author.
While a week's long course produced the most "flowering" ideas from chapters and notes waiting to be processed (light blue)
“Flowering” constellations. Screen shot by author.
Geographic quadrangles where I have spent a great deal of time hiking or climbing include the most journal entries (dark blue = hike/climb while green = trip report).
Quadrangle graphics and Journal entries. Screen shot by author.
And it is easy to see my stubborn fascination with specific topics (Red = prose, purple = blog)
Red, purple, red. Blog series. Screen shot by author.
My favorite topics draw from a large pool of references (light blue) and the occasional journal entry (green) and spawn additional insights (red) many times without leading to a blog or article (purple). Sometimes, a single idea threads a series of articles.
The Exploration of New Ideas Constellation. Screen shot by author.
I highly recommend that you spend some time gazing at your own Obsidian constellations (naming is optional) if you get a chance.
Written April 27, 2024
Editorial assistance provided by Grammarly.