I've been running my life on VimWiki[0] and calendar.vim[1] for over a year now, and while I'm sure hardcore org-mode users will scoff at its shortcomings, it's been perfect for me. I don't know why it isn't more widely used.
I'm also a vimwiki fan. Used to use emacs just for org mode but didn't find the extra effort worthwhile for the returns. I haven't used calendar.vim ... I will tomorrow, thanks!
As a long time vim user, could I persuade you to try spacemacs in evil mode? I always liked the idea of the superior emacs ecosystem, but couldn't leave the brilliant vim command language. I found that this gives a good balance.
I was under the impression (from trying exactly this) that the vim keybindings conflict heavily with org-mode's keyboard shortcuts. For example, the table shortcuts didn't work at all for me in evil mode.
It may not work for everything, but spacemacs includes packages with evil bindings for the common modes and i use vim style org commands without hassle.
Or just accept that emacs is objectively better software and switch to it? Evil mode is by far the most complete/true to vim vim emulation that exists, as far as I know.
It's easier said than done. I decided to switch about a month ago, and after playing around with evil mode for a week, I gave it up in favor of emacs-std bindings. The core editor evil emulation was flawless. All my 20-year muscle memory commands just worked without a second thought.
When going into other packages like org, magit, etc. I noticed that all their default bindings were emacsey as well (for obvious reasons). I realized that I would be forever mapping evil bindings into new packages every time I wanted to use something new, so I gave it up as a bad job and just bit the bullet and switched to stock emacs without evil. I'm like halfway through the learning curve (I hope!) and it's tough. I've always had the caps lock key mapped to Ctrl anyway, but I still feel like my pinkie is about to fall off. After using vi/elvis/vim for almost 25 years, I do admit that I like emacs, but "just switch" still means a period of remarkably reduced productivity to many.
(Yes, I know that for any popular package someone has published evil mode bindings and use-package makes them trivial, but it's not the point.)
I did the same as you. Also took the learning as a challenge. It's also just so nice sometimes to start anew and learn something from zero. (I do also understand it takes time. But take it as motorcycle maintenance ;)
EDIT:
Also with emacs: you get synergies with the default mode of bash.
Regarding moving Ctrl, my experience is that the pinky finger just isn't strong enough to handle the Ctrl key in emacs even when Ctrl is bound to caps lock. I think it's more comfortable to swap Ctrl with Alt (or whatever key is adjacent to the spacebar) so the thumbs can be used for Ctrl. This is beneficial even in other software, since Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, and Ctrl+X are pretty common.
Thanks; I have, but I thought I might as well try to do it right. If after another month or so, I still have "Emacs pinkie", I might just bite the bullet and go to evil mode.
And yet the remaining 10% makes me want to go on a killing spree every time I try switching to it, while the remaining 10% of IntelliJ or VSCode seems perfectly user-friendly to me to tolerate.
I'd rather just port any possibly interesting features to (Neo)vim rather than having to deal with all the baggage that comes with Emacs. And this is the conclusion I make after many attempts at switching over the years--I just cannot stomach its way of doing things.
I think the fact that evil and spacemacs are en vogue right now changes the game a little bit. The debate doesn't seem to center around what editing method is best but which editor does 'Vim' best. There's a strong case that it's no longer Vim itself but projects like neovim or Emacs.
