Do you mean programming as a job, or programming as an activity/art? They seem two very different things; some people are answering one or the other or a combination.
I noticed some refer to programming as a craft - maybe programming as a job is usually a craft. For myself, I am motivated to write a program because I don't know what the output will be - i.e. not a craft, where the end result is known and aimed for. It's like an experiment - it's worth doing because I don't know what will happen.