🌱 about the korok4est 🌱
“Ya ha ha! You found me!” — Korok (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
What Is This Place?
Welcome to my korok4est—a living, growing digital garden where I’m documenting my journey through a major life transition. Unlike traditional blogs that present perfectly polished thoughts, this is a space where ideas grow organically, connections form unexpectedly, and the messy process of growth is celebrated rather than hidden.
Just as koroks hide throughout Hyrule waiting to be discovered, insights and connections are scattered throughout this forest—sometimes in plain sight, sometimes requiring you to lift a particular rock or solve a specific puzzle.
Why “korok4est”?
The name blends two core elements of my identity:
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🌱 Koroks - These adorable forest spirits from The Legend of Zelda represent curiosity, discovery, and unexpected joy. They embody the delight of finding something hidden in plain sight—similar to those “aha!” moments that happen when we make unexpected connections between ideas.
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🌲 Forest - A digital garden isn’t organized like a blog or portfolio with a rigid chronological structure. It’s more like a forest with winding paths, hidden clearings, and canopies that connect in surprising ways. Some areas are well-tended; others remain wonderfully wild.
The “4” in korok4est? That’s partly a playful leetspeak nod to my emerging technical identity, and partly an acknowledgment of the four key departments of Master Le, Inc. that contribute to this space.
Not Just Another Blog
This isn’t a blog. It’s not a portfolio. It’s not even a traditional personal website.
The korok4est is:
- A living document that evolves as I evolve
- A thinking environment where I can watch ideas connect and grow
- A healing space where the painful transition from medicine to tech becomes a journey of integration rather than abandonment
- An experimental playground for both technical skills and narrative expression
- A reflection tool that helps me make sense of radical identity change
Core Values of the korok4est
1. Growth Over Perfection
The korok4est celebrates progress over perfection. Half-formed ideas are welcome here because they represent genuine growth. Just as seedlings need time to become trees, concepts need space to develop before they’re fully formed.
2. Connection Over Categorization
Traditional knowledge systems obsess over rigid categorization. The korok4est prioritizes connections between ideas, acknowledging that the most interesting insights often live at the intersections. Nothing exists in isolation here.
3. Iteration Over Completion
Nothing in this garden is ever truly “done.” Pages evolve, connections strengthen, and ideas mature. This approach mirrors how understanding actually works in our minds—not as static facts but as constantly evolving networks.
4. Integration Over Compartmentalization
My journey from medical student to tech explorer isn’t about abandoning one identity for another—it’s about weaving them into something new and uniquely valuable. The korok4est mirrors this through its interconnected structure.
5. Play Over Productivity
Productivity culture obsesses over measurable outputs. The korok4est values playful exploration, knowing that joy and curiosity are more sustainable drivers of genuine growth than external metrics.
How to Navigate This Space
Unlike traditional websites with clear navigation menus, the korok4est invites wandering:
- Follow wiki-style links that connect related ideas
- Explore the main-trails for more structured pathways
- Discover sections maintained by different departments of Master Le, Inc.
- Visit the incubation zone for emerging thoughts
Areas of the Forest
The korok4est contains diverse landscapes, each tended by different departments:
🔍 Clinical Reasoning Grove (Detective Le)
Preserving and extending clinical knowledge, differential diagnosis frameworks, and healthcare insights. Includes The Game of Clue exploration of clinical reasoning as detective work.
đź’» Technical Clearing (YOG1TRON)
Documentation of my technical learning journey, programming projects, and explorations of healthcare-tech integration. Features projects like Clinical Rotations Game and web development experiments.
đź’• Memory Garden (Heart Le)
Reflective spaces for emotional processing, memory integration, and narrative development. Home to personal essays on transition, grief, and growth.
đź‘‘ Integration Canopy (Master Le)
Overarching connections between different domains, strategic vision, and holistic perspectives on the transition journey.
Join Me in the Forest
Unlike perfectly manicured botanical gardens, the korok4est invites participation. As you wander, you might notice:
- Paths that could be connected
- Clearings that need more development
- Seeds of ideas waiting for water
- Koroks hiding under conceptual rocks
Your observations and perspectives are welcome contributions to this growing ecosystem.
The Philosophy Behind Digital Gardens
The korok4est draws inspiration from the broader digital garden movement—a reaction against the internet’s shift toward polished, algorithm-friendly content. Digital gardens reclaim the messier, more authentic nature of human thought.
“The Garden is the web as topology. The web as space. It’s the integrative web, the iterative web, the web as an unfolding process… Edgeless, shapeless, connecting.” — Mike Caulfield
For me, this approach particularly resonates during a period of transition:
- It allows space for contradictions and complexity
- It values the process over the outcome
- It creates freedom from the pressure of linear narrative
- It mirrors the actual experience of building a new identity—messy, iterative, and full of unexpected connections
Technical Implementation
The korok4est is built using Obsidian for local knowledge management, with selected content published through Obsidian Publish. This approach allows for private working notes alongside public-facing content, creating a balance between personal processing and shared insight.
Future technical expansions may include:
- Integration with the Claude AI assistant
- Custom visualizations of knowledge connections
- Interactive elements for certain clinical reasoning concepts
An Invitation to Wander
So pick a direction and start exploring. Follow your curiosity. Lift rocks to see what’s underneath. Collect seeds of ideas to plant in your own garden.
And if you hear a faint “Ya ha ha!” as you discover something unexpected—that’s exactly as it should be.
Last tended on: March 13, 2025