I just started with vanilla emacs, and used it for not much more than writing notes in org-mode. It was a few months before I started editing my config files,

I just started with vanilla emacs, and used it for not much more than writing notes in org-mode. It was a few months before I started editing my config files, first to get rid of the start up message, then to handle some org exports, then to do a little python programming. Your config file grows as your use of emacs expands. I now use it for programming, task management, email, calendar, accessing remote files, git, and occasionally a little note taking. The worst thing you can do with emacs, when starting, is to look at other peoples .emacs files. It's just intimidating