This content originally appeared on Go Make Things and was authored by Go Make Things
I keep thinking about this post about burnout (and the included video) from my web dev site.
One of the things I’m really struggling with is that I don’t really know what makes me happy or gives me purpose anymore.
I used to be able to say “turning my ideas into stuff through code.” Then, over time, it was “seeing my students launch and build careers they were proud of.”
But with the industry the way it is right now… I just feel so meh about everything.
I don’t think work should be the sole driver of fulfillment, but as someone with ADHD, it at least needs to be fun or I’ll hate it.
And so a I feel a bit rudderless at the moment.
The current state of everything, and the overwhelm it triggers, certainly doesn’t help either.
I recently read book 2 in Becky Chambers’ fantastic Monk & Robot series. A core theme of the book is around the main character no longer finding fulfillment in the things they had previously enjoyed.
They loved what they did… until one day they didn’t.
“Do you remember what you said when we were there, about how nothing needs a purpose? How all living things are allowed to just exist, and we don’t have to do more than that?
“I’m good at something that helps other people. I worked really hard to be able to do it, and I benefited from the labor and love of others while I did so. I’m able to do what I do because everybody else built a world in which I could do it. If I just say ‘Thanks for all of that, but I’m running off to the woods now,’ how is that fair? That doesn’t sit right with me, not at all. I’d just be a leech if I did that.”
This hit really hard when I read the book a few weeks back.
Not because I’d feel like a leach, but because we’ve been trained to need a purpose, but just existing is enough.
I put this out there because I have a suspicion that someone reading this probably feels the same way right now, or has at some point. And if that’s you, you’re not alone!
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This content originally appeared on Go Make Things and was authored by Go Make Things
Go Make Things | Sciencx (2025-02-20T14:30:00+00:00) Rudderless. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/02/20/rudderless/
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