(Can someone find the level to check this? Eh, it’s good enough.)
As someone who found his calling early on in childhood coming up with new structures and objects out of Legos or Lincoln Logs to build thriving cities in games like Sim City 2000. 3000, and 4, I still find myself enjoying that creative process as an adult but in different outlets. Sadly, the days of playing with Legos is in the past. Though if the opportunity of time and space to build was available, I’d jump at the chance without a second thought and the spend the day coming up with something amazing.
I continue to create, but at a slower pace and with greater focus and an intentional purpose behind it. I am very aware that my time, energy, and attention are all limited resources. Even the time I spend writing here on the blog is less frequent but purposeful when posted. It’s important to me to be picky in what I invest in, so that I give my best.
Living in the programming/tech world, part of my job is to create and support things and help my team do the same. Websites, networks, phone systems, databases, whatever is deemed necessary or requested by a paying client. The goal is to plan projects out carefully and build properly the first time around so that whatever we make will last and stands up to scrutiny and a good beating from end users. If you don’t invest some time and effort in up front, that type of project doesn’t hold up too well in the long run and you end up looking bad in the process for not making a better product in the first place.
Recent events combined with shifts in culture surrounding the idea of creating things has consumed my thoughts for some time. I will expand on this in future posts, but the theme remains the same: slow down. In many ways, this theme has been permeating my life starting some months ago leading up to my sabbatical trip then planting deep roots while I traveled. It’s clear there’s something to this I need to dig into. Who wants to grab a shovel and join me to see what we find?